nothing until you are _sure_. If all the world says _No_, your
business is to say _Yes_ and to _prove it!_'"

The other helper of this period was John E. Lovell.

In a column of the _Christian Union_, of July 14, 1880, devoted to
"Inquiring Friends," appeared this question with the accompanying
answer:


"We heard Mr. Beecher lecture recently in Boston and found the lecture
a grand lesson in elocution. If Mr. Beecher would give through the
column of 'Inquiring Friends' the methods of instruction and practice
pursued by him, it would be very thankfully received by a subscriber
and student.

"E. D. M."


"I had from childhood a thickness of speech arising from a large
palate, so that when a boy I used to be laughed at for talking as if I
had pudding in my mouth. When I went to Amherst I was fortunate in
passing into the hands of John Lovell, a teacher of elocution, and a
better teacher for my purpose I cannot conceive. His system consisted
in drill, or the thorough practice of inflexions by the voice, of
gesture, posture, and articulation. Sometimes I was a whole hour
practising my voice on a word--like 'justice.' I would have to take a
posture, frequently at a mark chalked on the floor. Then we would go
through all the gestures, exercising each movement of the arm and the
throwing open the hand. All gestures except those of precision go in