the life of a public speaker or singer
that conduces to health of body and mind, such as the vigorous use of
the breathing apparatus, the favorable effect of praise expressed in
one way and another, etc., but even with the most successful, all this
may be more than counter-balanced by other unfavorable factors. When
one considers the necessary travelling, often including night
journeys, the late hours, the concentrated efforts essential to
success, the uncertainty of the public taste, the rivalries,
jealousies, exhaustion, etc., often associated with a public career,
it must be clear that no one should embark upon it without counting
well the cost. For one with mediocre ability, imperfect training,
voice of very limited range, power, and quality, feeble will, an
imperfectly developed body, and indifferent health, to enter on a
public career is practically to court failure and to ensure
disappointment and unhappiness.

It is to be remembered that never was the world so exacting of the
artist, and never were there so many aspirants to popular favor, so
that the competition in the ranks of the actors and singers, at
least, is very keen. At the same time, there is room for a certain
class of persons--viz., those with good health, excellent physique,
first-rate ability, self-control, sound moral principles,
perseverance, industry, musical feeling, and artistic insight, with
vocal organs trained like the muscles of the athlete, and, in the case
of singers, sound musical knowledge and an exacting and reliable ear.

Considering that the actor, often the public speaker, and the singer
are constantly being put under excessive strain, it follows that (1)
such persons should begin with an unusually good physical
organization--others can scarcely hope to get into the first class,
even with the best abilities; and (2) because there is a tendency to
exhaustion of the body and mind through emotional and other
expenditure, the public voice-user must take precautions, on the one
hand, to prevent this, and, on the other, to make good his outlay by
special means. He needs more sleep and rest generally than others, and
he should counteract the influence of unhealthy conditions on the
stage or platform by some quiet hours in the open air, all the better
if with some congenial friend, sympathetic with his aims, yet
belonging, preferably perhaps, to another profession, and who will
speak of topics other than those that are ever recurring in