Eggaip llll ppfoifil. 
 
 A, MELVILLE BEJ 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 arW37496 
 
 Essays and postscripts on elocution 
 
 3 1924 031 784 832 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031784832 
 
Essays and Postscripts 
 
 -ON- 
 
 ELOCUTION, 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER MELVILLE BELL, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 " PRINCIPLES OF SPEECH and DICTIONARY OF SOUNDS ;" 
 
 " PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION ; " 
 
 "VISIBLE SPEECH AND UNIVERSAL ALPHABETICS; '' 
 
 " SOUNDS AND THEIR RELATIONS ; " 
 
 "LINE WRITING," 
 
 &c, &c, &c. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 ■48 UNIVERSITY PLACE, 
 EDGAR S. WERNER, - 
 1886. 
 
Copyright 1886, 
 
 BY 
 
 A. MELVILLE BELL. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The author's systematic treatises and text-books on Elo- 
 cution, Alphabetics, Defects of Speech, etc., have long 
 been honoured with a wide circle of students. To these 
 Works the reader must be referred for a complete develop- 
 ment of the subjects discursively treated in the " Essays 
 and Postscripts " which compose this volume. Of the 
 latter, the author can only hope that they may, at least, 
 prove incentives to further study on the part of interested 
 readers. 
 
 Washington, D. C, 1525, 35th street. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 I. The Science of Elocution i 
 
 II. Faults in Reading and Speaking 7 
 
 III. English Pronunciation 9 
 
 IV. English Phonetic Elements 29 
 
 V. Alphabetics 33 
 
 VI. The Function of the Pharynx in Articulation, 37 
 
 VII. The Relation of Tones to Language 41 
 
 VIII. The Tones of Speech S3 
 
 IX. The Instrument of Speech 57 
 
 X. Respiration in Speech 63 
 
 XI. Phonetic Syllabication 65 
 
 XII. Accent 69 
 
 XIII. Emphasis 73 
 
 XIV. Rhythm as Affecting Reading 77 
 
 XV. Rhyme as Affecting Pronunciation 83 
 
 XVI. Expressive Speech 87 
 
 XVII. Action. 93 
 
 XVIII. Class Characteristics of Delivery 97 
 
 XIX. Defects and Impediments of Speech 103 
 
 XX. Orthography 113 
 
 XXI. Visibility of Speech 119 
 
 XXII. Imitation 123 
 
 XXIII. Reading and Readers 135 
 
 XXIV. Oratory and Orators 149 
 
 XXV. An Alphabet of Orators 157 
 
 XXVI. A Shadow-Class of Students 173 
 
ESSAYS AND POSTSCRIPTS 
 
 ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 I. THE SCIENCE OF ELOCUTION. 
 
 To what extent is there a Science of Elocution ? Fifty 
 persons may deliver the same language in fifty different 
 ways, and all may be equally effective. Can there, then, 
 be a Science of Delivery ? The answer is, that there can 
 be, and that there is, in so far as there are points of agree- 
 ment between the supposed fifty, or between all speakers. 
 Principles may be acknowledged as universally true, and 
 yet they may admit of different applications in given cir- 
 cumstances. Every thought is many sided, and it may 
 present one or another of its facets to the observer, accord- 
 ingly as it is viewed from different standpoints. All 
 students of the subject may agree that a certain quality of 
 utterance is indicative of a certain sentiment; but the 
 presence of the sentiment and the applicability of the 
 quality in any given case may, nevertheless, be a subject 
 for diversity of opinion. There are, undoubtedly, Prin- 
 ciples of Delivery, which must be admitted to be scientific, 
 because their uniform working may be traced from speaker 
 to speaker, and from nation to nation. 
 
 The first of these Principles is, that the Tones of the 
 voice in speech are all more or less inflected — from grave 
 to acute, or from acute to grave — and that each vocal 
 flexion conveys with it a meaning, or one of a series of 
 
2 The Science of Elocution. 
 
 meanings, instinctively associated with it by all persons. 
 Thus the inflexion from grave to acute (') expresses incom- 
 pleteness, anticipation, interrogation, dubiety, entreaty, 
 deference, modesty, desire, and all attractive sentiments; 
 and the inflexion from acute to grave C) expresses pre- 
 cisely opposite meanings, namely : completeness, satisfac- 
 tion, assertion, confidence, imperativeness, disregard, 
 haughtiness, hatred, and all repellent sentiments. The 
 two vocal movements are thus the negative and positive 
 poles of logical and sentimental expressiveness. [See 
 " Tones of Speech:"] 
 
 The Key, or pitch, of the voice ; and also the Rate, or 
 time ; and the Force of utterance, accord with the import 
 of the language, and the speaker's expressive intention. 
 A high key may be combined with gentle force, a low key 
 with energy, and a quick or a slow rate with any degree of 
 force, or with any key. Each of these qualities has its 
 own inherent kind of expressiveness, and thus the modula- 
 tive key, the rate, and the force of utterance must be con- 
 ceded to be scientific elements in Elocution. 
 
 The Cl^Kular division of sentences is a very important 
 part of good delivery, and, as this is governed by definite 
 rule, it also is entitled to be considered a Scientific element 
 in Elocution. The divisions indicated by marks of punc- 
 tuation merely guide the eye to follow the structure of a 
 sentence. A reader who should make his oral divisions 
 correspond to those marked off by commas, etc., would be 
 a very bad reader. In intellectual reading, every portion 
 of a sentence expressive of a separate fact or circumstance, 
 is given by itself. The grammatical subject, and its 
 adjuncts; the predicate, and its adjuncts; the relative 
 clause, and every clause expressive of a how, when, where, 
 why, etc., are made to stand out distinctly from each other, 
 
The Science of Elocution. 3 
 
 yet with such modulative alliances, as clearly denote and 
 maintain their mutual relations. The cultivated reader has 
 other means besides that of pausing for the manifestation 
 of the logical divisions of his sentences. He will use the 
 refined appliances of a shift of key, or of pitch, or a turn 
 of inflexion, rather than resort to the rude stopping-brake 
 under all circumstances. But, whatever his method, he 
 will be governed by the principle of uniting no two words 
 between which there is not a mutual relation in sense. 
 The graduation of pauses, in accordance with a supposed 
 time value of the different marks of punctuation, is erro- 
 neous and fanciful. 
 
 The laws of Emphasis demand recognition as chief 
 elements in the Science of Elocution. There are three 
 sources of emphasis : (I) novelty of thought in the con- 
 text; (II) contrast to a preceding contextual thought; and 
 (III) suggestion of unexpressed contrast. The first is the 
 weakest, the last the strongest kind of emphasis. But 
 novelty of thought is the most important emphatic prin- 
 ciple, because it involves the corollary, that any thought 
 which has been previously expressed or implied in the con- 
 text is, in virtue of want of novelty, unemphatic. 
 
 No subject furnishes a higher intellectual exercise than 
 the application of these laws of emphasis to the various 
 kinds of composition, in prose, poetry, and the drama. 
 Elocution has been degraded by nothing more than by the 
 whimsical and false views which have been entertained in 
 reference to emphasis. Important grammatical words, to 
 the exclusion of words belonging to the subordinate classes 
 — adjectives in preference to nouns ; adverbs to verbs ; 
 contrasted words without reference to their novelty ; and 
 often merely sonorous words — have been selected for the 
 declaimer's rant and mouthing. In the guiding principles 
 
4 The Science of Elocution. 
 
 above presented, a true scientific basis is established for this 
 grand department of elocution. 
 
 Gesture, like emphasis, has been most misapprehend- 
 ingly applied and taught ; but here, also, principles can be 
 adduced to justify the addition of oratorical action to the 
 scientific departments of elocution. Gesture — including 
 attitude and motion — is, properly, merely an accompani- 
 ment and enforcement of language ; not a pictorial transla- 
 tion of words, but an embodiment of the spirit of utterance 
 by suggestion of unexpressed particulars, and, chiefly, by 
 showing the effect upon the speaker himself of the thoughts 
 and sentiments involved. When action takes the place of 
 language, it is pantomime ; and when pantomime takes the 
 place of oratorical action, the result is tautology;' for 
 nothing needs be, or should be, expressed by gesture which 
 is fully conveyed in words. Imitative action is only ap- 
 propriate when the object is to ridicule or to excite to 
 merriment. 
 
 The mechanical part of gesture ought to be mastered by 
 every speaker, so that he may be enabled always to move 
 with grace, or stand still with ease. But he should also 
 know when, as well as how, to move, and, chiefly, when 
 to stand still. 
 
 An idea has been worked out with much detail for the 
 government of gesture by physiological — and often fanci- 
 ful — principles, assigning certain physical regions to certain 
 classes of sentiments, etc.; but, while perhaps applicable 
 enough in pantomime, such principles would be out of place 
 in oratorical action. The sculptor or the painter might 
 avail himself of them for his dumb exhibitions ; but the 
 speaker is not dumb, and gesture must, in his case, be sub- 
 ordinate to language. 
 
 Inflexion, Pitch, Time, Force, Clausing, Emphasis and 
 
The Science of Elocution. 5 
 
 Action all having been shown to be under the government 
 of Principles, to which appeal can be made for the regula- 
 tion of elocutionary effects, enough has been said to 
 prove that, although the Art of Delivery has been too gen- 
 erally treated as if it had no scientific basis, such a founda- 
 tion really exists. Something, no doubt, remains to be 
 done for complete formulation, but the Science of Elocu- 
 tion is certainly in its main particulars already developed.* 
 
 * For full practical details of the subjects referred to in this Article, 
 see the Author's " Principles of Elocution " (Fourth Edition). 
 
Faults in Reading and Speaking. 7 
 
 II. FAULTS IN READING AND SPEAKING. 
 
 Few persons read naturally; that is, with such tones, 
 pauses, accents, etc., as would be given by the same per- 
 sons in conversational speech. The general tendency is 
 towards monotony. The level uniformity with which words 
 are ranged before the eye on the printed page, seems to in- 
 fluence the voice to a corresponding sameness of pitch. The 
 inflexions tend to a continuative rise, in accordance with 
 the feeling that each clause is only part of a visible sentence, 
 and each sentence only part of a visible paragraph. A 
 good reader will pronounce clauses and sentences as if each 
 of them stood alone. The influence of preceding thoughts 
 will be manifest in his delivery ; but subsequent sentences 
 will be ignored as completely as though he did not see them, 
 and had no knowledge of their purport. Thought by 
 thought is the principle of reading, as it is necessarily of 
 speaking. 
 
 Good reading requires a steady eye, to prevent confusion 
 of line with line. A wandering eye is a common cause of 
 blundering. A reader with this habit might cure himself 
 by using a mask over the page, exposing, through a slit, 
 only one line at a time. Indeed, all reading would be 
 improved in natural expression by the imaginary employ- 
 ment of such a covering over all but the clause in process 
 of being read. 
 
 The mode of utterance which is generally used in con- 
 versational speech is quite unfitted for public address. Few 
 persons are aware of this fact, or of their own condition in 
 this respect, until they attempt to speak before a large 
 audience. The habitual elision of vowels and the running 
 together of words, which are not intolerable only because 
 not altogether unintelligible in ordinary conversation, can- 
 
8 Faults in Reading and Speaking. 
 
 not be understood from the platform. The speaker seems 
 to masticate or swallow his words, instead of forming them 
 for the benefit of the listeners. The throat-sounds, which 
 are of secondary importance in conversation where even 
 a whisper may suffice for communication, are the most im- 
 portant elements in public speaking. 
 
 In private speech, the syllables of words are not indi- 
 vidually presented to the ear, but a conglomerate of sounds 
 intended to mean a series of words is delivered with a single 
 impulse of voice. An example — noted from the utterance 
 of a fairly good speaker — may be quoted as an illustration. 
 What was intended, was "Shall I give you some more?" 
 What was heard (and understood) was : " Shligvusmore ? " 
 
 In public speaking, every syllable must have its own vocal 
 sound, and the rate of utterance should be more deliberate 
 than in conversation j while the voice should be resonant 
 and sustained, in proportion to the distance over which the 
 auditors are distributed. 
 
 Public speaking is analogous to scene-painting. The 
 effects have to be projected to a distance, and they must be 
 -made correspondingly strong to be properly apprehended 
 by the mass of hearers. The style of utterance adapted 
 to be distinctly heard over a large area would be disa- 
 greeably intense to a single listener, just as a picture to be 
 viewed from a distance, looks coarse and patchy to a near 
 inspector. But the faint outlines and delicate shadings of 
 a gallery-picture would be thrown away, because invisible, 
 on a theatrical curtain ; and the soft effects of conver- 
 sational speech are equally lost and unappreciated, because 
 inaudible, on the platform. 
 
English Pronunciation. 9 
 
 III. ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. 
 One of the results of the inadequate alphabet by which 
 the English language is written is that the pronunciation 
 of a word cannot be gathered from the spelling, but that 
 a special directory is needed in the form of a " Pronounc- 
 ing Dictionary.'' The fact is very remarkable in connec- 
 tion with an alphabetically written language ; for the mere 
 analysis of a word into its letters ought to be the same as 
 the analysis of the sound of the word into its phonetic ele- 
 ments. The very purpose of alphabetic writing is defeated 
 when this result is not obtained. Verbal combinations of 
 letters form pictures to the accustomed eye, and we learn 
 to recognise them from habit, and smaller groups of letters 
 have varying sounds in different words without much per- 
 plexing us, because each word has its own pictorial aspect ; 
 but when we meet with a familiar group of letters in an 
 unfamiliar word, we do not know which one of the many 
 sounds of the group is the one intended to be used. We 
 become accustomed to common words and are not liable 
 to mistakes in pronouncing them; but the commonest 
 words present a perpetual puzzle to foreigners. A native 
 speaker will read without confusion that " the bishop had 
 met with a mishap ;" but a stranger to the language might 
 justifiably pronounce the sentence : " the bish-op had met 
 with a mish-ap," or, " the bis-hop had met with a mis-hap." 
 We discriminate the three sounds of ng in the sentence 
 " the singer lingers in danger ; " but a foreigner might very 
 naturally read the letters with a uniform sound, as "the 
 sing-er ling-ers in dang-er;" or, "the sing-(g)er ling-(g)ers 
 in dang-(g)er;" or, "the sin-jer lin-jers in dan-jer;" or he 
 might show his accomplishment by imitating our intermix-^ 
 ture of the different sounds and say : " the sin-jer ling-ers \ 
 in dang-(g)er." 
 
io English Pronunciation. 
 
 We use one letter for the two sounds in candle and cellar; 
 one letter for the three sounds in game, gem and giraffe; 
 and one combination of letters for the three sounds in 
 character, charm and chaise; but a child might pardonably 
 read of " a candle in a kellar," instead of a cellar ; or of " a 
 kild being taken for a karming drive in a kaise,'' instead of 
 a child taken for a charming drive in a chaise. Our sounds 
 are continually playing hide and seek with the letters ; we 
 find them nowhere (now here), and when we look 
 again they are n o w h <t r e (nowhere). 
 
 These illustrations show something of the source of the 
 difficulty attending the regulation of the pronunciation of 
 English. The reader will notice that English pronuncia- 
 tion and the pronunciation of English are two different 
 things. English pronunciation refers to characteristics 
 peculiar to Anglican speakers ; the pronunciation of Eng- 
 lish refers to the phonetic characteristics of the language 
 wherever spoken. 
 
 Speech is made up of phrases, phrases of words, words 
 of syllables, and syllables of elementary sounds, or of let- 
 ters, according as our analysis is phonetic or orthographic. 
 In correcting any faults, or acquiring any excellences, the 
 shortest way is to begin with ultimate elements. On the 
 principle of the old economical maxim: "Take care of 
 the pence and the pounds will look after themselves," if 
 we are careful to make our elementary sounds of standard 
 quality, our syllables, words and phrases will need little 
 special attention. Unfortunately, this is a point respecting 
 which few of our pronouncing dictionaries offer any guid- 
 ance. For example, the sounds of the vowels are called 
 long, short, broad, close, obtuse, obscure, etc. ; but if a reader 
 wishes to know the characteristic quality of any given 
 vowel he is simply referred to a key-word. Thus "long a" 
 
English Pronunciation. ii 
 
 he finds, is heard in the word "fat e." But what is the 
 sound heard in the word "fat e ? " This is what he wants 
 to know, and what the dictionary does not tell him. Even 
 the classifications " long," " short," " obscure," etc., are 
 founded on letters and not on sounds. Thus in Worces- 
 ter's Dictionary each letter has its special symbol for 
 " obscure," but the reader has no means of knowing 
 which, if any, of all the obscure sounds are the same in 
 quality, or what is the precise quality of any one of them. 
 The key-words for " obscure «," for example, are sulphur, 
 famous, and deputy ; but the u in deputy has nothing in 
 common with the u in famous, unless, indeed, we can con- 
 ceive the pronunciation dep-uty to be intended. This 
 cannot be ; yet this is what the notation teaches. Sounds, 
 of course, can only be perfectly represented by special 
 phonetic symbols ; but the characteristics of a sound can 
 be described, and they can even be denoted to the eye 
 with approximate accuracy by diacritic signs attached to 
 common letters. The student of pronunciation wants to 
 be informed in some way of the standard quality of every 
 " long," " short," " obscure " or other sound of every letter. 
 The only English dictionary which has hitherto fur- 
 nished this information with approximate accuracy in its 
 " Scheme of Sounds " is that of Smart, in his " Walker Re- 
 modelled ; " but the great dictionary now being published 
 by the Philological Society of London enters fully into this 
 important department of orthoepy. Is the sound of " long 
 a" an ultimate phonetic element, or can it be resolved 
 into component elements ? Undoubtedly in English usage 
 long a (as in fate) is a compound sound, commencing with 
 the sound of French e and terminating with an approxi- 
 mation to the sound of English e. Let this be understood 
 in connection with the key-word and a standard is supplied 
 
12 English Pronunciation. 
 
 for the pronunciation of all words containing " long a." 
 The sound of " long o " is also, in English usage, a com- 
 pound of two phonetic elements, the second being an ap- 
 proximation to the sound of oo. Let this be stated in 
 connection with a key-word such as " note," and a stand- 
 ard is supplied for the pronunciation of all words contain- 
 ing "long o." 
 
 A-ee and o-oo are the standard English sounds of the first 
 and fourth of our vowel letters ; but a different standard 
 might of course be adopted elsewhere. For example, in 
 Scotland, long a and long o are pronounced without the 
 tapering termination ; and, in America, also the closing 
 glide is very generally omitted, perhaps because the dic- 
 tionaries do not mark it. But although American ortho- 
 epists might adopt the monophthongal instead of the 
 diphthongal sounds of a and o as their standard national 
 varieties, the same key-words might still be used in Amer- 
 ican and English pronouncing dictionaries, yet without 
 conveying a hint of the dialectic differences. K.ey-words 
 must themselves be phonetically interpreted, before they 
 can be used as guides to the sounds of other words. 
 
 Pronouncing dictionaries generally, including those of 
 Worcester and Webster, refer the sound of a in care, air, 
 etc., to the key-word "fate," and the sound of o in ore, 
 four, etc., to the key-word " note," giving no indication of 
 the effect of the sound of rin modifying a preceding vowel. 
 In this the orthoepists have simply followed their predeces- 
 sor Walker ; but they have at the same time shut their ears 
 to some of the most patent varieties of English sounds. 
 
 The so-called " long a " and " long o " have entirely dif- 
 ferent qualities before r, from the ordinary sounds of a and 
 o. The letter r, besides, has a sound of its own, of which 
 no notice is taken. In such words as vary, glory, various, 
 
English Pronunciation. 13 
 
 glorious, etc., the pronunciation indicated by these eminent 
 lexicographical authorities, whatever it is intended to be, is 
 certainly not English. 
 
 The terms "long" and "short" have, in general, no 
 other effect than to distinguish different sounds of the same 
 letters. This is a totally distinct thing from quantitative 
 difference, which can have reference only to relative dura- 
 tions of the very same sound. By " long a " is meant the 
 sound of a in fate, and by "short a" the sound of a in 
 fat. The true short sound of our " long a " is not heard in 
 English. It is the sound of et in French. The use of the 
 terms " long " and " short " in reference to unlike qualities 
 of sound ought to be discontinued and deprecated, because 
 it prevents the appropriate designation of allied sounds in 
 other languages. 
 
 Our vowel letters have first their " name " sounds a, e, i, 
 o, u. The precise quality of each of these must be settled 
 before they can be used in key-words to teach either 
 English pronunciation or the pronunciation of English. 
 The vowel letters have also regular " second " sounds, as 
 in (g)nat, net, (k)nit, not, nut. These should be called 
 " second " instead of " short " sounds. In English pro- 
 n'unciation, the*"' '"second" " s"ouhds~are" really short in quan- 
 tity, but then the sound in fat is not the short of a in fate, 
 the sound in met is not the short of e in meet, etc. In the 
 usual pronunciation of English in America these so-called 
 short vowels are made long, and they are also compound 
 in quality. The English " second " sounds are monoph- 
 thongs; the American, although theoretically the same, 
 are practically diphthongs. The two dialects are diverging 
 in many points for want of a standard for the pronuncia- 
 tion of the ultimate elements of the language. The defi- 
 niteness which pronunciation acquires from a distinct per- 
 
14 English Pronunciation. 
 
 ception of the separate elementary sounds will well repay 
 the little trouble of individually revising the phonetics of 
 our a, b, c. 
 
 The divergency of American and English phonetic prac- 
 tice seems to be less a modern departure on this side of 
 the Atlantic, than a survival of early English characteris- 
 tics ; just as many words which have been classed as Amer- 
 icanisms, are, in reality, old English terms which had 
 dropped out of use in their native land. The compound 
 quality of vowel sounds appears to have been a very gen- 
 eral characteristic of our language in its early stages, if we 
 may judge by the marked prevalence of diphthongal vow- 
 els in existing provincial dialects. The use of pure mon- 
 ophthongs for the second sounds of the vowel letters, as 
 now heard in England, should perhaps, therefore, be con- 
 sidered as a modern refinement. An example, in a few 
 lines of Tennyson's " Northern Farmer," illustrates the 
 diphthongal character of many of the dialectic vowels. 
 
 " Wheer asta bean saw long and raea liggin' 'ere aloan ? 
 Noorse ? thoort nowt o' a noorse : whoy, doctor's abean an' agoan : 
 Says that I moant 'a naw moore yaale : but I beant a fool : 
 Git ma my yaale, for I beant a-gooin' to break my rule. 
 
 " Doctors, they knaws nowt, for a says what's nawways true: 
 Now soort o' koind o' use to saay the things that a do. 
 I've 'ed my point o' ya'ale ivry noight sin' I bean 'ere, 
 An' I've 'ed my quart ivry market-noight for foorty year. 
 
 ' ' What atta stannin fheer for, an' doesn bring me the yaale ? 
 Doctor's a tottler, lass, an a's hallus i' the owd taale : 
 I weant break rules for doctor, a knaws naw moor nor a floy : 
 Git ma my yaale, I tell tha, an' gin I mun doy I mun doy." 
 
 Excellence of pronunciation depends primarily on a 
 clear syllabication of words. An uneducated speaker 
 knows words and phrases in the aggregate only, and de- 
 
English Pronunciation. 15 
 
 livers them as wholes ; for were he to attempt syllabic pre- 
 cision, he would make the most ridiculous blunders, and 
 perhaps would not accomplish the pronunciation of the 
 same word twice in exactly the same manner. An educated 
 speaker should spell his words to the ear as accurately as 
 he spells them on paper. The indefmiteness of letters is 
 the great impediment ; and sounds must obtain an inde- 
 pendent existence in the mind in order that this difficulty 
 may be overcome. Every syllable should be a stroke of 
 the voice, as definite as the stroke of a piston. Those who 
 aim at being really good speakers will, therefore, be careful 
 to cultivate a habit of syllabic articulation; and, in the de- 
 livery of words, as in the writing of them, to show a 
 perfect knowledge of their component elements. 
 
 But what is a syllable ? This, from the variety of defini- 
 tions given, has not been found an easy question to answer. 
 A syllable is a single impulse of voice through a fixed (as 
 distinguished from a transitional) oral configuration. All 
 vowels make syllables, because all vowels have fixed con- 
 figurations ; and the vowel may be preceded or followed by 
 a glide, a consonant, or a combination of consonants with- 
 out affecting the unity of the syllabic impulse. Thus, ah, 
 owe, fear, flowed, fourths, friends, are all monosyllables. 
 But, according to this definition, a consonant might make a 
 syllable if its configuration were momentarily " held " or 
 fixed. And this is true. In English utterance, some con- 
 sonants are often syllabically pronounced ; thus, / and n in 
 apple, table, needle, given, risen, eaten, even, and a host of . 
 other words. Compare the two pronunciations of " even- 
 ing,'' and you have at once the test and the proof of the 
 accuracy of the above definition of a syllable. The word 
 " eve-ning " (the fall of day) is a dissyllable, the medial 
 n being merely transitional; but the word " e-ven-ing " 
 
16 English Pronunciation. 
 
 (participle of the verb to even) is a trisyllable, because the 
 n has a momentarily fixed configuration. 
 
 The division of words into syllables to the eye does not 
 always correspond with their division in pronunciation.* 
 The former has reference to etymology and to letters ; 
 the latter is governed solely by utterance. In the words 
 dabble and table, for instance, we have two consonants in 
 the one case, and only one in the other, after the syllabic 
 vowel ; but the consonant sound is equally single in both 
 words. The doubling of the consonant in dabble is merely 
 an orthographic expedient to show that the a has its 
 "second" sound, and not its "name" sound. If the dif- 
 ferent vowels had distinctive symbols, no person would 
 dream of dividing such words on different principles, as 
 we have all been taught to do, but the division would be 
 la, la j da, da. The syllabic association of consonants, 
 with vowels, as in d a b,dab, is the result only of our im- 
 perfect alphabet; yet it has led orthoepists to distinguish 
 what they call "stopped" or "shut" vowels as a separate 
 class. There is no physiological ground for the distinc- 
 tion. Voice, the material of vowels, is formed in the 
 throat; consonants are formed in the mouth ; and "stop- 
 ped " or " shut " sounds are stopped where their sound is 
 produced; that is, for vowels, in the throat, and in the 
 throat only. All vowels are more or less affected in their 
 termination by the consonant or other element that follows 
 them; but "stopped" vowels are not more, or otherwise, 
 affected from this source than vowels of other classes. 
 
 The mouth has other functions to perform besides those 
 of articulation ; for it is also the organ of mastication. The 
 action of the mouth in mastication is always from open to 
 close, as it rolls, and grinds, and pushes back the morsels of 
 
 *See "Phonetic Syllabication. 1 
 
English Pronunciation. 17 
 
 food. In articulation the mouth moves to mould and give 
 egress to the breath or voice emitted from the throat ; and 
 the action is, therefore, the reverse of that in mastication, 
 or always from close to open — that is, from consonants to 
 vowels. Any consonant between two vowels, therefore, 
 belongs in utterance to the following, and not to the pre- 
 ceding vowel ; and a group of medial consonants will only 
 be divided when they cannot all be pronounced monosyl- 
 labically ; or when they belong to different parts of com- 
 pound words ; as in con-junc-ture, u-ni-ver-sal, in-ter-view, 
 etc. On this principle, such a word as critical is not 
 divided phonetically into crit-ic-al, but into cri-ti-cal. The 
 "stopped" vowel theory is further disproved by singing; 
 for a singer has no more difficulty in prolonging the nomi- 
 nally " shut " vowel in that than the open vowel in they. 
 Speakers, too, must sometimes prolong and swell their 
 sounds, to render words expressive; and all vowels in 
 effective delivery require a fulness of utterance beyond 
 that which, according to the theory of "shut" vowels, 
 could be given to these elements. 
 
 One of the principal characteristics of English pronun- 
 ciation is the accent, or stress, by which some one syllable 
 is rendered prominent in every verbal combination.* 
 Equality in the force of syllables is peculiarly un-English. 
 Frenchmen, and many other foreigners, the Welsh, and 
 the Highlanders of Scotland, find a difficulty in giving the 
 requisite subordination to unaccented syllables, and their 
 pronunciation is monosyllabic, or staccato. The subordi- 
 nation of the less important syllables, in English usage, 
 enlivens the national utterance, and gives expressiveness to 
 words, and variety to the rhythmus of sentences. But it has 
 an unfavourable effect on the clearness of syllabic sounds. 
 
 *See "Accent." 
 
18 English Pronunciation. 
 
 Accentual prominence is too often gained only at the ex- 
 pense of the unaccented syllables, the vowels in which are 
 obscured, or often altogether elided. Thus we hear of the 
 " Pres'd'nt'n's Cab'n't," for the President and his Cabinet; 
 "the 'xec'tive mansh'n," for the executive mansion; 
 "hered'tr'y house 'f parl'm'nt," for hereditary house of 
 parliament; " spesh'l pr'rog'tive," for special prerogative ; 
 " gov'm'nt," for government, etc. The definite distinctive- 
 ness of vowels in unaccented syllables may be taken as the 
 criterion of a good pronunciation. A slight difference in 
 quality between accented and unaccented sounds is almost 
 unavoidable ; but the limit of legitimate change is a narrow 
 one, and he will undoubtedly be the best speaker whose 
 unaccented vowels approximate most nearly to the variety 
 and precision of his accentual sounds. 
 
 An American peculiarity of accentuation, which is very 
 prevalent, although not taught by native orthoepists, con- 
 sists in giving primary force to the terminations ary, ory, 
 ony, etc., as in necessary, extraordinary, literary, oratory, ter- 
 ritory, matrimony, testimony, etc. This is no doubt an easier 
 pronunciation than the nervous English one, " ar'bitrary, 
 nec'essary, or'atory, ter'ritory, tes'timony," etc.; but drawl- 
 ing ease is not a recommendation, and until the change is 
 sanctioned by educated authority, it should receive no tol- 
 erance from the schoolmaster, but be checked by precept 
 and example. 
 
 The English language is characterised by its clusters of 
 consonants, as in etched, changed, fifths, sixths ; and, often 
 as these occur in our orthography, consonant clusters are 
 even more common in our utterance. Thus all our regular 
 verbs ending in k in the infinitive add the letters ed in their 
 preterites ; but the sound added is simply that of /, so that 
 such words terminate in kt to the ear. Rather, they should 
 
English Pronunciation. 19 
 
 terminate in the sound of ki, for there is a little difficulty 
 in making one shut consonant audible before another, and 
 few speakers accomplish the distinction clearly between 
 such words as mast and masked, mart and marked, taught and. 
 talked. The sound of kt occurs also under the orthography 
 ct, as in act, strict, sect, etc. The plural of the last word 
 — sects — few persons distinguish, phonetically, from the 
 word sex, and awkward ambiguities sometimes arise in con- 
 sequence ; as in an instance where the prayer was literally 
 offered up that " all difference of sex " might come to an 
 end. But this is not worse than what may be heard any 
 Sunday from a large percentage of the public readers of 
 the English liturgy in delivering the words " O Lord make 
 clean our hearts," which by careless articulation is perverted 
 into " make lean our hearts." Of course, the spirit of the 
 prayer is not affected, but all who have a due regard for the 
 proprieties of worship will avoid such discrepancies between 
 the letter and the spirit. How often, too, have we heard I 
 the question uttered : " Can the Ethiopian change his kin, 
 or the leopard his pots ? " when the words intended were 
 " skin " and " spots." Such instances show the necessity 
 for care on the part of public speakers in delivering clusters 
 of consonants. In reference to the termination ed it should 
 be noted that these letters are occasionally pronounced as 
 a syllable, in order to distinguish adjectives from verbs of the 
 same orthography, as blessed (adjective) from bless[e)d 
 (verb), learned (adjective) from learn(e)d (verb). 
 
 A common clerical affectation, in always pronouncing 
 ed as a syllable, professionally, is not to be commended ; 
 unless the principle be adopted, which would justify the 
 " twang heard in conventicle," that sacred subjects should 
 have a tone and manner of their own, and so be removed 
 from the sphere of the natural, not into the supernatural 
 
20 English Pronunciation. 
 
 but into the #«natural. Surely, the best usage of the 
 language should be reflected equally from stage and pulpit. 
 
 Dialectic habits are curiously persistent on the tongue. 
 The speech of an old lady in London, who had lived for 
 fifty years in the British metropolis, continued as markedly 
 northern as if she had but yesterday left the banks of the 
 Forth. On a visitor's remarking, in reference to her pres- 
 ervation of her mother-tongue, she said : " Ay, sir, and 
 what for no ? I'm no ane o' them that's ashamed o' my ain 
 country." This good old patriot had purposely resisted 
 all the influences around her, in order to preserve in its 
 purity the Doric speech of her beloved Caledonia. Cases 
 are, perhaps, more common where persons endeavour to 
 rid themselves of early characteristics. But they seldom 
 entirely succeed. However much the peculiarities may be 
 toned down through foreign intercourse, the original qual- 
 ity is generally recognisable in some minute particular. 
 Of course, instruction directed to the proper points would 
 be effectual, but this presupposes an analysis and a minute- 
 ness of observation which the subject has but rarely 
 received. 
 
 While the author was resident in Edinburgh, a stranger 
 called one day to make some inquiries in regard to profes- 
 sional matters. He said : "I have called on you, sir, for 
 the purpose of," etc. After the visitor was seated, he was 
 asked : " When did you cross the Atlantic ? " He stared : 
 " How do you know that I have crossed the Atlantic ? " 
 The explanation was given that the little word " sir," in 
 his first sentence, had revealed the fact. This gentleman 
 was one of the most eminent teachers of elocution in 
 America, and his speech was perfectly free from ordinary 
 local colouring, in all but the one little element which had 
 escaped observation. Reference has already been made 
 
English Pronunciation. 21 
 
 to the need of a much more exact analysis of elementary 
 sounds and key-words than has been generally undertaken 
 in connection with the teaching of pronunciation. There 
 could not be a stronger case in proof of such necessity 
 than that of the teacher above referred to. 
 
 The name-sound of the letter u as pronounced in England, 
 is a compound of the consonant y and the vowel 00 (=yoo). 
 Any word beginning with this sound, therefore, commences 
 with a consonant, and not with a vowel. Consequently, 
 the use of the article " an " before u is an error. We 
 might as well speak of an youth or an year, as of an union 
 or an universe. The grammatical rule which prescribes an 
 before a vowel is a phonetic one, and can only refer to a 
 phonetic vowel. 
 
 The consonant y, being formed by the middle of the 
 tongue, does not easily combine with any consonant 
 fprmed by the point of the tongue. On this account the 
 sound of u is never heard after r in English ; but r, u, 1, e, 
 is pronounced rool ; r, u, d, e, rood j b, r, u, t, e, broot ; 
 f, r, u, i, t, froot, etc. The same difficulty is felt, in a less 
 degree, in combining / with u, as in lute, flute, lure, etc. 
 In such cases either the sound of u is changed to 00 or the 
 formation of the / is modified so as to assimilate it to the 
 sound of y. In words of common occurrence the vowel 
 is changed, as in flute, fluid, plural, ludicrous, etc., and in 
 less familiar words, the consonant is modified, as in lute, 
 lure, lurid, lucid, etc. When, however, the /and the u are 
 in different syllables, the full name-sound of the vowel 
 is heard ; as in all-ude, ill-usion, prel-ude (noun), vol-ume, 
 sal-ute, etc. 
 
 The difficulty of combining y with the point consonants 
 I, d, n, manifests itself in the vulgar pronunciation of 
 "toon" for tune, "dook" for duke, "noo" for new, etc. 
 
22 English Pronunciation. 
 
 Orthoepic authorities give no sanction to these changes, 
 consequently the full sound of u should be preserved, as 
 in Tuesday, tutor, stupid, durable, duplicity, neuter, news- 
 paper, etc. 
 
 The sound of s before y is, on the same principle, a diffi- 
 cult combination. Words and syllables in common use 
 have given up all attempts to preserve the purity of the 
 alien elements, and allowed a phonetic compromise to be 
 made by the substitution of the intermediate sound of sh 
 for the sound of sy. Thus in the terminations cial, tial, 
 sion, lion, tious, etc., the single sound of sh has taken the 
 place of the two elements which were originally pronounced 
 in these syllables. So, also, in the common word sure, and 
 its compounds assure, insure, etc.; and in the termination 
 of the same orthography, in fissure, tonsure, pleasure, leisure, 
 etc.; as well as in issue, tissue, etc., the u has lost all trace 
 of an initial y. To this category is to be added the word 
 sugar. But less familiar words retain the respective sounds 
 of ^ and y, notwithstanding their want of fluency, as in sue, 
 pursue, suit, suitable, super, superior, sudatory, assume, re- 
 sume, etc. The tendency, however, to avoid the tongue- 
 twisting combination is manifested in the vulgar pronuncia- 
 tion of "soo" for sue; "soot" or "shoot" for suit; 
 " sooperior" or " shooperior" for superior, etc. 
 
 An American peculiarity in pronouncing u makes the 
 first element the vowel e, instead of the consonant y ; so 
 that the sound is a true diphthong — not yoo, with accent on 
 the last element, but eeoo, with accent on the first element ; 
 as in few, view, new, etc., pronounced feeoo, veeoo, neeoo, etc. 
 
 In a few words where the sound of sh has taken the place 
 of * before^, thejy is not quite lost sight of, but lingers in 
 the form of the jy-glide, as in specie, species (not in specious), 
 tertian, Asia, Persia, etc. 
 
English Pronunciation. 23 
 
 The sounds of s and sh come, in some words, rather too 
 close together for euphony, and speakers are often per- 
 plexed as to which of the sounds to use. Thus, in pro- 
 nunciation, association, denunciation, negotiation, etc. In such 
 cases, the sound heard in radical words is retained in their 
 derivatives. Thus, pronounce and denounce having the sound 
 
 s s 
 
 of s, we say pronunciation and denunciation ; but the words 
 propitiate, negotiate and associate having the sound of sh, we 
 
 sh sh sh 
 
 say propitiation, negotiation and association. In the last word 
 the repetition of one of the hissing sounds, s or sh, cannot 
 be avoided ; and, wherever we can, we should follow 
 where a principle leads. Principle dictates the sound 
 
 sh s 
 
 association, and not association. 
 
 The English language has been supposed to make 
 use of a greater than the average proportion of hissing 
 sounds. £ is our inflectional letter both for the plural of 
 nouns and the third person singular of verbs ; but the sound 
 of s is, in a large proportion of cases, vocalised into z or zh. 
 A phonetic comparison of English, French, Italian and 
 Spanish gives this result : The sibilants actually sounded 
 occur in these languages in the ratios of 60 in French, to 
 65 in English, 70 in Italian, and no in Spanish. Our 
 decried English is thus proved to be more hissed at than 
 hissing. 
 
 The consonants w before 00, and y before ee, are some- 
 what difficult of utterance; so that many speakers pro- 
 nounce " ooman " for woman and " ear " tor year. Wand 
 y, like all other consonants, can be formed without voice. 
 The non-vocal w is of common occurrence, as in why, 
 what, when, which, whether, etc. Some orthoepists con- 
 sider the sound of wh to be equivalent to hoo ; but this 
 is an error ; otherwise, the statement " I saw the man whet 
 
24 English Pronunciation. 
 
 the knife " would be the same phonetically as " I saw the 
 man who ate the knife " — a very different fact. Londoners 
 confound wh with w and say " witch " for which; " wile " 
 for while s and " weather " for whether. 
 
 The non-vocal y occurs only before the name-sound of 
 us as in hue, huge, human. Sometimes, however, this 
 sound is used unintentionally in other positions than be- 
 fore u, as in the sentence " He that hath ears to hear, let 
 him hear," which is to be heard any day from London 
 curates as " Ee that 'ath yahs to yhah, let 'im yhah." 
 
 Perhaps the most singular of all dialectic peculiarities is 
 the English perversity in reference to the aspirate h, which 
 is as carefully inserted where it should not be heard as 
 omitted where it is required. The inhabitants of Shrews- 
 bury are said to have the unenviable supremacy in this 
 characteristic, although it is hard to conceive how they 
 could surpass the native Londoners. 
 
 The letter h is correctly silent in the following five words, 
 and their derivatives : heir, honest, honour, hour, humour (the 
 last word in its ordinary sense, the h being pronounced in 
 the medical term " humor "). The word humble is, also, in 
 many of our dictionaries, marked with silent h s but cus- 
 tom wavers, and will probably establish the more regular, 
 and everyway the preferable pronunciation, humble. In 
 every other English word with initial h, such as herb, herit- 
 age, homage, hospital, hospitable, etc., the aspirate should be 
 heard. 
 
 The sound of er, ir, yr, as in her, sir, myrrh, is a char- 
 acteristically Anglican one, closely resembling, but not the 
 same as, the sound of ur. In Scotland, in Ireland, and in 
 America, three different pronunciations of er are heard. 
 The r in the English and American syllables is a glide ; and 
 in the Scotch and Irish syllables it is a consonant. In such 
 
English Pronunciation. 25 
 
 words as cherish, merit, very, merry, etc., and lyric, spirit, 
 virulent, mirror, etc., the vowels have their regular " second " 
 sounds, and the r is a consonant. Established custom is, 
 unfortunately, inconsistent in reference to words contain- 
 ing er and ir. Thus the sound in the radical word is re- 
 tained in the derivatives, in stir, stirring ; prefer, preferring ; 
 but not in err, erring, error, errant, etc. No wonder, 
 therefore, that speakers are often perplexed as to the pro- 
 nunciation of such words as sirrah, stirrup and sirup j someX 
 giving the " second " sound of 1, and others the sound of ir. 
 Another class of words, respecting which principle and 
 practice are considerably at variance, consists of adopted 
 foreign words. These, when first introduced into our 
 language, naturally come in the phonetic dress of their 
 native tongue ; but when the words have become naturalised 
 by use, their foreign garments are laid aside, and replaced 
 by the ordinary attire of English sounds. The change is 
 merely a question of time. To an English complexion all 
 such words must come at last. Whether, therefore, we say 
 toma(h)to or tomato, bana(h)na or banana, promenafhjde or 
 promenade, chara(h)de or charade, depends on whether we 
 consider the words as foreigners, or as naturalised citizens. 
 Fashion and affectation preserve the foreign sounds of 
 words long after the terms have been incorporated in our 
 familiar vocabularies. It seems to be thought more 
 scholarly to speak of a " va(h)se " or " va(w)se," than a 
 vase; and of an " envelope " (French) than of an envelope ; 
 but the words must ultimately come to match with other 
 words of the same orthography ; and individual example 
 can only delay and not avert the transformation. 
 The speaker's guide is expressed by Pope : 
 
 " In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold, — 
 
 Alike fantastic, whether new or old; 
 
 Be not the first by whom the new are tried, 
 
 Nor yet the last to lay the old aside." 
 
26 English Pronunciation. 
 
 In application of this principle, and in view of the ulti- 
 mate destiny of imported words, the rule may be adopted 
 to Anglicise the pronunciation of words wherever the doing 
 so is free from the objection of singularity. 
 
 An anomaly has recently been introduced of pronounc- 
 ing such words as Celt, Celtic, Cicero, with the sound of k 
 instead of the ordinary " soft " sound of c. This is, no 
 doubt, a reversion to the original pronunciation of the 
 words, and therefore unobjectionable ; but those who adopt 
 it are bound to change the orthography to Kelt, keltic, 
 Kikero, and not do needless violence to one of the few 
 phonetic rules of our language. The spelling " Cicero " 
 with the pronunciation " Kikero " is a monstrosity. 
 
 A most remarkable theory of elementary pronunciation 
 was propounded in a recent report of one of the American 
 Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb. The statement by 
 the principal of the institution is that he had made a dis- 
 covery, the description of which follows in his own words : 
 
 " This principle can be briefly stated to be, that aspirate 
 sounds are made by exhalation, while vocal sounds are 
 made by inhalation. Thus the sound of p is made by 
 closing the lips, parting them, and expelling the breath. 
 The sound of b, on the contrary, is produced by the at- 
 tempt to draw in the breath, while the lips are closed. The 
 sound of m is made by closing the lips and expanding the 
 chest by drawing in air through the nose." 
 
 The application of this theory would undoubtedly revol- 
 utionise the teaching of articulation and speech-reading, 
 by rendering speech altogether impossible either to the 
 deaf or the hearing. It is difficult to believe in the reality 
 of such an absurd promulgation, more especially by a 
 teacher ; but there it stands where any one may read it, in 
 the report for 1882 of the " New York Institution for the 
 
English Pronunciation. 27 
 
 Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb." If any one fact is 
 established beyond controversy, it is that all speech, 
 whether vocal or whispered, is formed of breath in outward 
 flow ; and that the replenishment of the lungs by influx of 
 air takes place during the pauses of sound. The im- 
 portant practical point to be attended to, is to take care 
 that this necessary influx shall be silent, regular, and suf- 
 ficient.* 
 
 The principle must never be lost sight of that consonants 
 require the articulating organs to be separated in order to 
 finish the element. Attention to this point will secure to 
 speech the beauty of distinctness, a quality wanting which 
 the finest composition loses its effect, and the highest ora- 
 torical talent is obscured. The Rev. Mr. Austin, in his 
 admirable book, the " Chironomia," compares the words of 
 a good speaker to " beautiful coins newly issued from the 
 mint, deeply and accurately impressed, perfectly finished, 
 neatly struck by the proper organs, distinct, sharp, in due 
 succession, and of due weight." To realise this descrip- 
 tion is to perfect the mechanical part of speech. 
 
 One broad principle of organic action remains to be 
 noticed. The lips and the tongue are apt to be pushed 
 from position to position with an ungainliness of effect 
 unless they receive room for a lightness of play by a pre- 
 liminary separation of the organs. The precept, then^js : 
 Always open the mouth before you begin to speak. What- 
 ever initial element you propose to pronounce, the first 
 action of the organs, essential to distinctness and lightness 
 of articulation, is an opening of the mouth. 
 
 Italian teachers of singing have long found fault with 
 their English pupils that they would persist in singing 
 through their teeth. Speaking through the teeth is still a 
 
 * See " Respiration in Speech." 
 
28 English Pronunciation. 
 
 prevalent fault in England, much more so than in America. 
 But it is not to this that reference is made. Many of the 
 actions of the mouth require the teeth to be brought very 
 close, although never quite in contact. Let the jaws ap- 
 proximate without restraint when necessary, but give them 
 always a free opening at the commencement o.f any utter- 
 ance. Suppose the word you are going to pronounce to 
 be a cake of gingerbread ; open the mouth as if to prepare 
 for a good bite, and then proceed until you come to a 
 pause. This simple action will cure speaking through the 
 teeth, and contribute sharpness, grace, and other good 
 qualities to pronunciation. 
 
English Phonetic Elements. 29 
 
 IV. ENGLISH PHONETIC ELEMENTS. 
 
 The following arrangement exhibits all the English Pho- 
 netic Elements, in a scheme of Roman letters, by means of 
 which every detail of English pronunciation may be exactly 
 represented in ordinary type. 
 
 The mark (-) over vowels denotes the " long " or name- 
 sounds of the letters ; the mark (u) denotes their second or 
 " short " sounds ; the mark ( A ) denotes the sounds of the 
 vowel-letters before r; and a dot under vowels denotes 
 " obscure," unaccented sounds. The digraphs ah, ay, aw, 
 00, ow, oy are associated with their most usual sounds, so as 
 to make phonetic transcription as little as possible different 
 from ordinary orthography. 
 
 
 
 VOWELS. 
 
 
 
 
 FIRST 
 
 ' SOUNDS. 
 
 
 Elements. 
 
 Illustrative words. 
 
 Elements. 
 
 Illustrative words. 
 
 1 
 
 ay 
 
 ale, day, weight. 
 
 5 6w 
 
 old, know, beau. 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 aerial, hesitate. 
 
 6 6 
 
 obey, also. 
 
 3 
 
 e 
 
 eel, seal, field. 
 
 7 " 
 
 use, beauty, ague. 
 
 4 
 
 \ 
 
 idle, try, height. 
 
 8 60 
 
 too, through, true. 
 
 
 
 SECOND SOUNDS. 
 
 
 9 
 
 a 
 
 am, carry. 
 
 12 
 
 on, sorry. 
 
 10 
 
 e 
 
 end, merit. 
 
 13 a 
 
 up, hurry. 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 ill, spirit. 
 
 SOUNDS 
 
 14 60 
 
 BEFORE R. 
 
 foot, put. 
 
 15 
 
 a 
 
 care, fair, there. 
 
 17 6 
 
 ore, pour, floor. 
 
 16 
 
 i? 
 
 her, earn. 
 
 18 u 
 
 pure, cure. 
 
 
 sir, firm. 
 
 19 00 
 
 poor, tour, sure. 
 
 
 
 ADDITIONAL SOUNDS. 
 
 
 20 
 
 ah 
 
 ask, bath. 
 
 24 aw 
 
 wall, saw, ought. 
 
 21 
 
 ah 
 
 ah, heart, father. 
 
 25 ow 
 
 how, house, bough. 
 
 22 
 
 ahy 
 
 ay, naive. 
 
 26 oy 
 
 boy, oil. 
 
 23 
 
 aw 
 
 watch, want. 
 
 
 
3° 
 
 English Phonetic Elements. 
 
 OBSCURE SOUNDS. 
 Elements. Illustrative words. Elements. Illustrative words. 
 
 27 a a> total, collar. 30 o -or, con-, com-. 
 
 28 e -less, -ness, -ment. 31 u -our, -tion, -tious. 
 
 29 i the, -ace, -age, -ain. 
 
 
 
 CONSONANTS. 
 
 
 
 
 NON-VOCAL 
 
 
 
 32 
 
 h 
 
 hand, perhaps, vehement. 
 
 38 
 
 th 
 
 thin, hath, athwart. 
 
 33 
 
 yh 
 
 hue, human. 
 
 39 
 
 f 
 
 fine, knife, laugh. 
 
 34 
 
 wh 
 
 why, awhile. 
 
 40 
 
 P 
 
 peep, supper, hope. 
 
 35 
 
 s 
 
 say, cell, scene. 
 
 41 
 
 t 
 
 ten, matter, mate. 
 
 36 
 
 sh 
 
 wish, mission, notion. 
 
 42 
 
 k 
 
 key, cat, back, quite. 
 
 37 
 
 ch 
 
 each, fetch, church. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VOCAL. 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 y 
 
 ye, yes, use. 
 
 52 
 
 dh 
 
 then, with, other. 
 
 44 
 
 w 
 
 we, way, beware. 
 
 53 
 
 V 
 
 vain, love, of. 
 
 45 
 
 r 
 
 ray, free, screw. 
 
 54 
 
 b 
 
 babe, rub, robber. 
 
 46 
 
 
 air, ear, ire. 
 
 55 
 
 d 
 
 did, middle, made. 
 
 47 
 
 
 let, seal, mile. 
 
 56 
 
 g 
 
 gap, gun, plague. 
 
 48 
 
 
 lure, lute, lucid. 
 
 57 
 
 m 
 
 may, blame, hammer 
 
 49 
 
 z 
 
 zeal, as, rose. 
 
 58 
 
 n 
 
 no, tune, banner. 
 
 5° 
 
 zh 
 
 vision, pleasure, rouge. 
 
 59 
 
 n S 
 
 ring, ink, uncle. 
 
 51 
 
 J 
 
 jail, jest, join. 
 
 
 
 
 The letters c, q, x, do not appear in the above scheme, 
 because their sounds are represented by j and k. The 
 letter g appears with its "hard" sound only, because its 
 " soft " sound is represented by / The letters ch and/ are 
 retained with their ordinary associations. 
 
 Of the seven consonants denoted by digraphs, the sounds 
 of wh, th, sh, ng are very regularly associated with these 
 letters ; but the sounds intended by yh, dh, zh are never 
 so written in ordinary orthography. 
 
English Phonetic Elements. 
 
 3i 
 
 The following tabular arrangement of English vowels 
 will be found convenient, as showing the serial relations of 
 the sounds. 
 
 pool 17 
 
 
 
 
 i/eel 
 
 pull \ l6 
 
 
 
 
 a/fll 
 
 old\ iS 
 
 
 
 
 3/ale 
 
 ore\i4 
 
 
 
 
 4/ air 
 
 all\i3 
 
 
 
 
 S/ell 
 
 dolKiz 
 
 
 
 6, 
 
 'an 
 
 up\" 
 
 
 
 7/a 
 
 
 err\ 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 /ask 
 
 
Alphabetics. 33 
 
 V. ALPHABETICS. 
 
 Speech is altogether a very wonderful thing, in its pro- 
 cesses as well as in its effects. Whether we adopt the theory 
 that a primeval language was divinely communicated to the 
 first human family, or that language has been from the 
 beginning, what it certainly is now, the creation of man's 
 invention stimulated by social necessities, we must equally 
 recognise its mechanical nature. All human utterances 
 may be resolved into elementary sounds ; and all the 
 varieties of elementary sounds in different languages are the 
 result ot definite mechanical adjustments of the organs of 
 speech. The organs are the same in all men ; and, conse- 
 quently, every man possesses naturally the ability to speak 
 any or every language. 
 
 The difficulty of analysing words into their elementary 
 sounds has been found exceedingly great, on account of 
 the evanescent nature of the sounds, and the minuteness of 
 the organic changes by which they are modified. We learn 
 to speak by imitation, and we acquire by single perceptions 
 a knowledge of words, the utterance of which involves very 
 complex organic operations ; and the latter are performed 
 by habit, without our knowledge of the mechanism on 
 which we act. Not one person in a hundred could explain 
 the means by which he pronounces the simplest word. 
 
 We do not feel the inconvenience of this ignorance in con- 
 nection with our mother-tongue, for at the period when we 
 learn to speak we are altogether dependent on the faculty 
 of imitation ; but, at a later period, when we task ourselves 
 to the acquirement of foreign languages, under the guidance 
 of our intellectual powers, and when the instinct of imitation 
 has faded in the development of higher faculties, we become 
 painfully conscious of the inconvenience of not knowing 
 3 
 
34 Alphabetics. 
 
 how we speak. Our organs have become habituated to the 
 formation of a certain set of sounds, in a certain order, and 
 we cannot, without much labour, pronounce the very same 
 sounds in a different order, or make the minute alterations 
 in the working of our lips and tongue which are essential 
 to accuracy in the utterance of another language. 
 
 The difficulty is further increased by the associations of 
 letters and sounds. In different languages, the same letters 
 are conventionally assigned to different sounds ; or familiar 
 sounds are associated with letters to which we have been 
 accustomed to attach a different value, and there is no nat- 
 ural connection between the literal sign of any sound and 
 the organic action which produces the sound. Alphabets 
 have been adopted and modified to suit local convenience, 
 and on no acknowledged principle of fitness between letters 
 and sounds ; and the result is that the very object of alpha- 
 betic writing has become lost in the confusion of letters. 
 
 An alphabet that should furnish a distinct character for 
 every sound in the whole circle of languages was, for long, 
 a dream of philologists ; but this difficulty prevented its 
 realisation, namely, that the sounds of languages, their 
 number, their nature, their analogies, their differences, 
 baffled investigation ; while, of the small number of ele- 
 ments respecting which there was agreement among au- 
 thorities, the exact relations of the sounds to each other 
 could not be satisfactorily determined. Scholars and trav- 
 elers had brought their knowledge of strange tongues to 
 bear upon the solution of the problem of a universal al- 
 phabet, but without an approximation to success. In 1854, 
 a conference of European scholars assembled to discuss 
 the question ; and after four meetings, in which they could 
 agree upon no more than seventeen elementary sounds as 
 sufficiently definite to be included in the proposed universal 
 
Alphabetics. 35 
 
 alphabet, they separated, leaving this record in their fourth 
 and final resolution : 
 
 " There was a unanimous feeling that it would be useless 
 and impossible to attempt to find for each possible sound 
 a different graphic sign; but that a sufficient number of 
 typical signs being formed, each nation or province would 
 attach to them their own shade of sound in their own 
 language nearest to it.'' 
 
 " Impossible " is a rash word for science to pronounce ; 
 for this impossibility was, ten years afterwards, an accom- 
 plished fact. The record, however, stands, that, by means 
 of a collation of alphabets (the only method then thought 
 of), a universal alphabet was impossible — was not even to 
 be hoped for. 
 
 The reason will be found in this, that letters represent 
 nothing real. The English H, for instance, is the Greek and 
 Russian e ; the English .Pis the Greek and Russian r ; and, 
 so far as natural fitness is concerned, any one letter in the 
 alphabet might have been any other. A principle remained 
 to be discovered by which letters are made to represent 
 absolute qualities of sound, so that, in whatever language 
 a letter may be used, its phonetic power is identical. And, 
 more than this, every distinguishable shade of sound can 
 now be provided with its own graphic sign, so that dialects, 
 and even individual peculiarities of utterance, can be repre- 
 sented as clearly as the standard orthoepic varieties in lan- 
 guages. And still more than this : every letter in the phys- 
 iological alphabet exhibits in its shape a symbolic repre- 
 sentation of the organic positions which are the mechanical 
 cause of its peculiar sound, so that the letter is its own in- 
 terpreter, and verbal combinations of letters constitute a 
 real " visible speech " as exact as utterance itself. Nor is 
 this all ; for however numerous may be the differences dis- 
 
36 Alphabetics. 
 
 cerned among tne elements of scattered languages, they 
 are all representable by means of radical signs no greater 
 in number than the letters of the English alphabet.* 
 
 # See text-books of Visible Speech. 
 
Function of the Pharynx in Articulation. 37 
 
 VI. THE FUNCTION OF THE PHARYNX IN 
 ARTICULATION. 
 Many of the principles originally evolved in the Author's 
 " New Elucidation of the Principles of Speech and Elocu- 
 tion," published in 1849, nave since been reproduced under 
 various authorships ; but one principle of primary impor- 
 tance seems to have escaped similar appropriation. This 
 is the function of the pharynx in articulation. This sub- 
 ject was thus introduced in the work above referred to : 
 
 " All actions of the vocal organs which partially or wholly obstruct, 
 or which compress, the breath or voice, are called Articulations (or 
 Consonants). The necessary effect of such obstruction or compression 
 is a degree of explosiveness in the breath when the conjoined or ap- 
 proximated organs are separated. Hence arises an element of audibil- 
 ity produced by or within the mouth. * * * When the current of 
 unvocalised breath is altogether stopped by organic contact — as in 
 p, t, k, — the only audibility that the letter so formed can have is the 
 puff or explosion which follows the separation of the organs. This 
 must, therefore, be clearly heard or the letter is practically lost. In the 
 mode of producing this little effect lies one of the most important prin- 
 ciples of speech — a principle on the right application of which depends 
 much of a speaker's distinctness, and all his ease. * * * Here lies 
 the point of importance. If only the breath in the mouth, and not any 
 from the lungs, be ejected, a distinct, sharp, quick percussion will be 
 heard, which gives to these breath-articulations all the audibility of 
 which they are susceptible. * * * The want of pharyngeal power 
 manifests itself by distension of the lips and cheeks for^ and b ; by incon- 
 tinency of breath for /, k, d, g ; by laborious actions of the chest to 
 create the explosive audibility of these letters ; by scattering the saliva 
 for s, f, and other continuous elements ; and by general indistinctness 
 of articulation. * * * It is the want of power to retain the breath 
 after consonants which causes the great difficulty that stammerers ex- 
 perience in joining consonants to succeeding vowels. They will often 
 get smoothly over the consonant and stumble at the vowel. They must 
 bear in mind that the breath in articulation is exploded from the mouth 
 and not from the chest. The space within which the air is compressed 
 is above the glottis, and the effect of the compression must not be 
 communicated below the glottis." 
 
38 Function of the Pharynx in Articulation. 
 
 These quotations show something of the scope of 
 pharyngeal action in articulation. Forty years of profes- 
 sional practice have confirmed these early views as to the 
 fundamental importance of this subject. The theory is 
 therefore confidently reiterated, that : Consonantal action 
 should be entirely oral and pharyngeal, and that the purity 
 of the voice should not be interfered with by the actions 
 of the mouth. The voice-organ and the articulating organs 
 are entirely separate and independent ; and the elements 
 of their respective utterances are not coalescent, but merely 
 sequent, however rapid and close may be their apparent 
 connection. The quality of distinct, sharp, clear-cut artic- 
 ulation depends on the due separation of the functions of 
 the vocalising and the articulating organs. The vocal 
 sound seems to be unbroken, because the actions of the 
 tongue and the lips, while interwoven with it, do not inter- 
 fere with it. 
 
 Singing exemplifies this perfectly, in the delivery of great 
 artists, whose tones flow on in uninterrupted purity, while 
 every syllable of the concurrent language is heard with 
 absolute precision. But this perfection is rare. And 
 equally rare is that light and crisp articulation in speech, 
 which gives such a refined pleasure to the hearer, although 
 the source of it he may not divine, nor the speaker himself 
 be conscious of it. 
 
 All singers and all speakers may attain this bright ex- 
 cellence of articulation by forming consonants with the 
 economic impulses of the pharynx, instead of the wasteful 
 expulsions of breath from the chest. Music has furnished 
 us with charmingly suggestive " songs without words," but 
 singers should be ashamed to merely instrumentalise their 
 songs upon the organ of voice, as if the music were every- 
 thing and the words nothing. This unintellectual theory is 
 
Function of the Pharynx in Articulation. 39 
 
 sometimes avowed by singers ; but it only displays igno- 
 rance of the highest art in song. 
 
 The element of audibility in oratory, as in singing, is the 
 voice ; but the voice carries with it to the remotest corners 
 of church, hall or theatre, the articulations of the mouth, 
 which, of themselves, would be inaudible over such an 
 area. Let the fact be noted that this beautiful result, when 
 most perfectly attained, does not involve laborious effort, 
 but, on the contrary, is accomplished with a minimum of 
 labour and fatigue, on the part whether of speaker or 
 singer. 
 
 The conversational voice is seldom purely sonorous; 
 being depraved in quality by a slurring breathiness of con- 
 sonants. When the speaker carries this conversational 
 voice into oratory he cannot make himself understood by 
 hearers a few feet from the platform. His syllables run 
 together into a confused mass, which requires the closest 
 attention to disintegrate it into sense. A speaker trained 
 to the proper use of the pharynx in articulation — or one 
 who has happily acquired the knack instinctively — is 
 clearly intelligible at the farthest limits to which his voice 
 can reach ; and he has, besides, a power of adapting the 
 volume of sound to the space to be filled, by the unfatigu- 
 ing impulses of the diaphragm. Many speakers with sten- 
 torian voices that could fill the largest hall, attempt in vain 
 to speak intelligibly, even to a small audience; while 
 ■others, with comparatively thin, small voices, find no dif- 
 ficulty in speaking satisfactorily to a large assemblage. The 
 difference lies altogether in pharyngeal action, which, in 
 the latter class, clearly defines every syllable of sound ; 
 while, in the former class, what reaches the ear is little 
 more than noise. 
 
40 Function of the Pharynx in Articulation. 
 
 " It is difficult to make this subject sufficiently clear by a brief de- 
 scription ; and it would be still more difficult, perhaps, to get the gener- 
 ality of readers to study a lengthened explanation ; but, with a little 
 thought and a little experiment, what has been said will suffice."* 
 
 The practical value' of the theory of pharyngeal action, 
 above outlined, cannot be too strongly impressed on pro- 
 fessional students. It is, indeed, the key to excellence of 
 articulation, in speech or song. 
 
 *"A New Elucidation,'' etc., p. 42. 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 41 
 
 VII. THE RELATION OF TONES TO LANGUAGE. 
 
 The Relation of Tones to Language is a subject of great 
 fundamental importance. Clear ideas on this point should 
 have the effect of commending the study of the art of 
 delivery to all whose professional prospects involve the 
 exercise of the voice. 
 
 The term Elocution — which originally meant the choice 
 of words — refers solely, in modern use, to the delivery 
 of language ; to manner, as distinct from matter. Elocu- 
 tion may be defined as the art of bringing out that which 
 is within ; that is to say, in a double sense, within the words, 
 or the thought intended by the writer; and within the 
 speaker, or the feeling awakened by the thought. Elocution 
 is only a part of the art of delivery ; for composition and 
 all the departments of rhetoric are subsidiary to the same 
 end ; but Elocution is complete in itself, although part of a 
 greater whole. It includes all the audible and visible signs 
 of that spiritual language which words are too gross, too 
 slow, and too imperfect to express. The elements of this 
 language are tones, looks, gestures, pauses, and gradations 
 of time and force ; and the instrument of utterance is the 
 whole physical frame. 
 
 The true objects of elocutionary study are only two : 
 the mastery of the instrument of expression, and the dis- 
 cernment of the principles of expression. The avenues of 
 utterance must first be made clear ; then that which is within 
 the mind will find its own way out, its own way being, 
 besides, in any given case, the best of all ways. 
 
 This doctrine is not that which has been commonly taught. 
 The aim has been to create a uniformity of manner among 
 different speakers ; to make a class of students, as it were, 
 give forth the measured unisons of barrel-organs. In con- 
 
42 The Relation of Tones to Language. 
 
 sequence of the mimetic trifling which has thus, unfortu- 
 nately, become associated with the very name of Elocution, 
 the study of the art has been too generally misprised, and 
 most neglected exactly where it was most needed. For 
 this misfortune a false theory is fundamentally to blame ; 
 the theory, namely, that the tones of the voice in speech 
 are governed by the constructive forms of language. A 
 thought may be expressed in various ways, according to 
 the motive, the taste, or the caprice of the writer ; but the 
 theory of sentential intonation prescribes a delivery which 
 is not governed by the thought, but by the language only ; 
 one or other of a set of tunes — as we may call them — 
 being supposed to be appropriate to every given form of 
 construction. These sentential tunes are not all, nor is any 
 one of them always, at variance with nature ; but the as- 
 sumed association between construction and intonation, 
 from which they are derived, has no existence. Any kind 
 of sentence, and any part of a sentence, may be pronounced 
 with any possible variety of tone, and still, in certain 
 circumstances, be natural. Thus we often interrogate with 
 the words of assertion, and assert with the language of in- 
 terrogation ; and by the very same, arrangement of words 
 we distinctly convey either an entreaty or a command. 
 Language is constantly modified and interpreted by tone ; 
 so that one of the commonest facts in connection with 
 speech is that verbally we may say one thing, and yet, by 
 delivery, be clearly understood to mean another. 
 
 The misleading principle of governing the voice by forms 
 of language has done much to hinder the progress of elo- 
 cutionary science. It has prevented learners from thinking 
 on the subject, and has rendered pedantic and ridiculous 
 the delivery of many, who, if they had been left to the ex- 
 ercise of their own instincts, might have become good 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 43 
 
 speakers. With most persons the manner of utterance has 
 become denaturalised by the neglect of vocal principles at 
 school, and the meaningless way in which school-exercises 
 are allowed to be delivered. The ear is thus rendered 
 unappreciative, and the faculty of apprehension is itself 
 impaired. 
 
 The only difficulty in the application of tones to lan- 
 guage lies in the discrimination of the tones themselves ; not 
 in the knowledge of when to apply this or that tone, but in 
 the ability to produce any tone that may be desired, and to 
 recognise any tone that may be produced. The gamut of 
 tones should be familiar to every ear and to every voice, 
 and that not so much as the result of direct instruction, as 
 from mere observation and daily habit in the common 
 school. But, instead of coming to the subject with trained 
 ears, learners, as a rule, are unable to distinguish the radi- 
 cal difference between pitch and inflexion. 
 
 In touching the keys of a piano, the differences which 
 we discern are differences of pitch; the notes constituting, 
 as it were, a flight of steps which we may ascend or 
 descend. But each step is level. All musical notes con- 
 sist of such steps, of greater or less height; and melody 
 consists in leaps, or sometimes in partially gliding transi- 
 tions, from one level to another. Speaking tones, or in- 
 flexions, have the same variety of ascent or descent, but 
 without steps. They slide directly upwards or downwards, 
 or they undulate with a mixture of ascending and descend- 
 ing curves, but they are always in rising or falling progres- 
 sion, and never entirely level. A glide in music is a step 
 with the angle rounded off; a speaking inflexion is a con- 
 tinuous curve ; it has no angle at all. Such is the mech- 
 anism of individual inflexions ; but the principle requires 
 to be carefully noticed : that the voice must not slide from 
 
44- The Relation of Tones to Language. 
 
 one inflexion to another. From the point at which one 
 terminates, the voice must leap to the higher or lower point 
 at which the next inflexion commences. Every impulse 
 must be separated in this way, to mark the boundary of its 
 expressiveness. Otherwise, the unbroken swinging of the 
 voice from inflexion to inflexion produces that commonest 
 of all vocal faults called " sing-song." 
 
 Another principle of equal importance is : that there 
 must be a unity of inflexion throughout every accentual 
 phrase. The vocal movement begins on the accented syl- 
 lable, and the same tone, or flexion, must be continued or 
 repeated subordinately upon all the dependent syllables or 
 words that follow the accent Thus: 
 
 f To-morrow? 
 
 Simple j To-morrow, didst thou say? 
 Rise. \ i / 
 
 To-morrow, didst thou say, Horatio? 
 
 Methought 
 Simple ' \ 
 
 Fall. ] Methought I heard 
 I \ \ 
 
 I Methought I heard Horatio say. 
 
 These are instances of a single vocal turn expanded over 
 a series of words. This principle, essential to the natural 
 delivery of language, applies equally to compound as to 
 simple inflexions. Thus : 
 
 Compound .^ , / 
 
 Rise \ I can raise no money 
 
 I I can raise no money by vile means. 
 
 fYou 
 Compound 
 
 Fall J You are the author 
 
 You are the author of this conspiracy. 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 45 
 
 The characteristic turn is in all these cases developed on 
 a single syllable, and the termination of the tone is ex- 
 panded over all the dependent syllables or words. This 
 preservation of the accentual inflexion is necessary to bring 
 out the one thought in the sentence ; whereas, diversity of 
 tones in a single accentual phrase would neutralise and 
 destroy expressiveness. It is not always easy to discover 
 the meaning that lies involved in words; but a public 
 reader cannot be indefinite. He must determine and ex- 
 press precise intention in every phrase. Delivery will ex- 
 press something whether he will or no, and it will show 
 nothing more clearly than the absence of a settled meaning 
 in his own mind. 
 
 The true Relation of Tones to Language is, fortunately, 
 susceptible of direct experimental proof. There are but 
 three constructive varieties of sentences : Assertive, Inter- 
 rogative, and Imperative. Take one sentence of each kind 
 and pronounce it with all the various modes of vocal in- 
 flexion, and a difference of meaning will be recognised in 
 each illustration. This difference cannot be due to the 
 form of words, because that remains the same, and can 
 only, therefore, be owing to the inherent expressiveness of 
 the tones. 
 
 Test this, first, with Assertive language : 
 
 " It is reasonable " — This is the tone of ordinary unem- 
 \ 
 phatic statement; =" I admit the fact." 
 
 " It is reasonable " — This tone adds to affirmation the 
 force of dogmatism ; =" The fact cannot be disputed." 
 
 " It is reasonable" — The sentence is now no longer as- 
 sertive in effect, but by tone converted into a query ; = 
 " Don't you think so ? " 
 
46 The Relation of Tones to Language. 
 
 " It is reasonable " — The tone, still interrogative, has 
 
 the added force of exclamatory appeal ; =" Can there be 
 a doubt of it ? " 
 
 " It is reasonable " — The expression is no longer either 
 assertive or interrogative ; the tone conveys a qualified af- 
 firmation, suggestive of a contrary consideration; =" But 
 impolitic " (or some such antithesis). 
 
 " It is reasonable " — In this case the tone suggests that 
 
 contrary considerations have no force ; =" Notwithstanding 
 what has been urged." 
 
 Take now an Interrogative form of words : 
 
 I . 
 
 "Are you satisfied ? " — This is the tone of ordinary in- 
 quiry ; =" Please inform me." 
 
 "Are you satisfied ? " — This tone adds to inquiry the 
 
 force of incredulity or surprise ; =" Can you possibly be so ? " 
 "Are you satisfied ? " — Here the interrogative words 
 
 have become assertive by tone ; conveying the speaker's 
 confidence as clearly as by the equivalent words " You 
 ought to be so." 
 
 "Are you satisfied ? " — This tone combined with interro- 
 gative words is very expressive; suggesting that some 
 drawback may have been overlooked. 
 
 " Are you satisfied ? " — This is a very common and sug- 
 gestive combination, conveying a reference to doubt or 
 difficulty that may have been previously entertained. 
 
 The only remaining form of construction is the Impera- 
 tive, as in the sentence 
 
 " Give an answer " — That tone is injunctive ; = " I 
 
 wish you to do so." 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 47 
 
 " Give an answer " — That is mandatory ; = " I demand 
 
 that you do so." 
 
 / 
 " Give an answer " — That is appellatory ; = " Will you 
 
 please to do so ? " 
 
 " Give an answer" — That is exclamatory or indignant; 
 
 ; 
 
 = " How can you expect it ? " 
 
 " Give an answer" — That is warning; = " Do so on 
 your peril." 
 
 " Give an answer " — That is impatient and peremptory ; 
 
 = " Do so without evasion." 
 
 The principle of vocal expression may be further tested 
 on single unconnected words, which will be found by tone 
 alone to convey the force of sentences. Thus : 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 = Is it ? 
 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 y 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 \ 
 
 = Can it be ? 
 
 
 = It is. 
 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 = It must be. 
 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 = It may be, but — etc. 
 
 
 "Indeed" 
 
 = It is, notwithstanding - 
 
 -etc. 
 
 These radical varieties of speaking tones are, like the 
 colours in the prismatic spectrum, few in number, but in 
 their effects and shadings they are as diversified as the 
 countless hues derived from the small gamut of primitive 
 colours. 
 
 The preceding examples show conclusively that, while 
 language and tone mutually modify meaning, tone has an 
 expressiveness of its own. Discarding the modifying in- 
 
48 The Relation of Tones to Language. 
 
 fluences of language entirely, we arrive at the following 
 fundamental principles of vocal expression : 
 
 (i) A Rising tone is Prospective, or anticipatory of 
 meaning. 
 
 (2) A Falling tone is Retrospective, or completive of 
 meaning. 
 
 (3) A Mixed or Undulating tone is Suggestive, or infe- 
 rential of meaning. 
 
 (4) An approximately Level tone is Reflective, or sus- 
 pensive of meaning. 
 
 Wherever our meaning is dependent on something to 
 follow, although the sentence may have come to a full 
 stop, our tones point onward, — they rise ; wherever our 
 meaning is contained in what has been said, although there 
 may not be even a comma written, our tones point back- 
 ward, — they fall; wherever our words mean something 
 different from their common acceptation, our tones are 
 suggestively mixed ; and wherever our meaning is uncer- 
 tain, or indefinite, our tones are proportionally inexpressive 
 and level. 
 
 Language, then, is dependent on tone for the sense m 
 which it is to be understood ; and there is no necessary 
 correspondence between the form of a sentence and the 
 manner of its delivery. The assumption of some such 
 connection is the cause which makes reading, in general, so 
 different from speaking. 
 
 Speakers do not speak in periods. They have no thought 
 of commas or semicolons ; they utter ideas ; and in devel- 
 oping these, the distinctions of loose and compact sen- 
 tences, inverted, direct, and other forms of construction, 
 never enter the mind. So it should be with readers. They 
 need take no thought of the kind of sentence they have to 
 deal with, but simply ascertain its contextual meaning, 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 49 
 
 master its intention, and give that utterance in precisely 
 the same manner, whatever may be the rhetorical form of 
 the language. 
 
 In connection with the definition before given of Elocu- 
 tion, as the art of bringing out that which is within, the 
 inference is by no means intended that the study of Deliv- 
 ery makes no addition to the stores of knowledge ;■ but 
 only, that its object is not accumulation, but distribution. 
 There is much of real intellectual acquisition in the princi- 
 ples of Expression. There is a vocal Logic, — there is a 
 Rhetoric of inflexion, — there is a Poetry of style, and a 
 Commentator's explanatoriness of modulation ; all of which 
 are combined in effective delivery. 
 
 How often have we heard an address, combining all the 
 graces of literary style, but which we would have much 
 preferred to read for ourselves, so constantly was the atten- 
 tion taken from the subject by the peculiarities of the 
 speaker. Archbishop Whately has observed, as one of the 
 characteristics of a good delivery, that the more perfect it, 
 is the more will it withdraw attention from itself and escape 
 either the censure or the praise of the hearers. The offence 
 is, therefore, equally great whether we " overdo " by osten- 
 tation, or "come tardy off" by defect; and all who would 
 merit the distinction of being natural speakers will avoid 
 everything which could militate in either way against the 
 effect which it is their intention to produce. 
 
 Different ends justify the most varied and even opposite 
 means ; and the manner which would be justly approved 
 in debate might be extravagant in narrative, irreverent in 
 prayer, tame in passion, and variously objectionable in 
 many circumstances. Nothing that does not violate natural 
 principles can be wrong in itself, and no style, however 
 faultless, can be always right. Every manner has its ap- 
 4 
 
50 The Relation of Tones to Language. 
 
 propriate occasion, and there is thus the widest scope for 
 the exercise of judgement and taste in " suiting the action 
 to the word " and "making the sound an echo to the sense." 
 The gravity of some persons is irresistibly comic, and the 
 mirth of others is perfectly saddening. Some entreat as if 
 they were commanding , others inform as if they were in- 
 quiring. Sometimes we hear a magnificent organ of voice 
 that meanders through its gamut with a total absence of 
 definite purpose ; and at other times we hear a thin, ill- 
 formed voice coupled with a fine appreciation of sense. A 
 proper training would, in such cases, discipline the un- 
 principled voice and energise the feeble one. 
 
 The varieties of what may be called elocutionary raw 
 material are endless, and the processes of manufacture re- 
 quire to be modified accordingly. So, too, the finished 
 product is almost as various as the raw material ; depend- 
 ing, as it must in a great degree, upon original mental and 
 physical endowments. Uniformity of result is neither pos- 
 sible nor desirable. This much, however, is attainable in 
 common by all : — A knowledge of what contributes to 
 effectiveness and of what is opposed to it ; of " how to do'' 
 the former, and " how not to do " the latter ; so that we 
 may, at least, improve the powers we possess and turn them 
 to good account. 
 
 The advantages of effective elocution may be assumed 
 to be universally appreciated ; but, strangely, the need of 
 study to attain effectiveness requires to be vindicated 
 against the objections of those who confound elocution with 
 elocutionary Systems. Archbishop Whately, for instance, 
 in treating of Delivery in his Work on Rhetoric has, un- 
 fortunately, given sanction to the detractions of prejudice. 
 In his just abhorrence of the mechanical style of reading, 
 inculcated by the sentential rules of elocutionary Systems, 
 
The Relation of Tones to Language. 51 
 
 he has carried his denunciation to the absurd length of con- 
 temning all attempts at methodical instruction. The sum 
 of his advice is " be natural ; " but he argues as if the 
 acceptance of the precept would secure its application. 
 He says, in effect, " Do not study how to be natural ; do 
 not attempt to discover the principles of nature ; avoid all 
 theorising as to the means ; but simply be natural." This 
 is, no doubt, the aspiration of every speaker, even of those 
 who most miserably fail in their public efforts. All would 
 be natural if they only knew how to attain that end. But 
 the modus operandi is necessarily an Art, and must be studied 
 as such. Art is not opposed to Nature, as the dictum of 
 Archbishop Whately would seem to imply ; and the Art of 
 Elocution is but the application of principles which Science 
 has deduced from Nature. Shakespeare expresses the true 
 relation ; his immediate reference is to the florist's art, but 
 the truth he utters is of universal applicability : 
 
 " Nature is made better by no mean, 
 But nature makes that mean. This is an art 
 Which does mend nature, — but the art itself 
 Is nature." 
 
The Tones of Speech. 
 
 S3 
 
 VIII. THE TONES OF SPEECH. 
 
 The tones of speech are slides or flexions of the voice, 
 to a higher or lower than the commencing pitch. The pitch 
 of the tone is its accented part, and the sliding termination 
 is unaccented. The most extended inflexion does not 
 necessarily rise higher or fall lower than a shorter inflexion ; 
 but, in proportion to its emphasis, the tone is pitched lower 
 for a rise and higher for a fall. * 
 
 The two vocal flexions are susceptible of a very great 
 amount of variety : (I) in the extent to which they rise or 
 fall — which may be through the interval of a semitone or 
 less, or through that of an octave, or more ; (II) in the 
 commencing pitch of the movement — which may be at 
 any point within the compass of the voice. Thus a mere 
 succession of ups and downs is relieved from any monotony 
 of repetition by an endless diversity of pitch and range. 
 
 Another vocal principle — universally made use of, but 
 instinctively, and without recognition — constitutes what 
 may be called the Melody of speech : namely, that an in- 
 flexion, of whatever kind, is preceded by a tone which is 
 high or low in opposition to the pitch of the inflexion. The 
 effect of this preparatory opposition of tone is to furnish 
 the ear with a measure of the height or depth of the in- 
 flective pitch, and to increase the apparent amount of its 
 variety. This principle may be graphically represented 
 thus : 
 
 Middle pitch.. 
 
 / 
 
 i. Rising inflexion with high pitch: preparatory tone (.) low. 
 
 2. " " " low " " " "high. 
 
 3. Falling " " low " " " " high. 
 
 4. " " " high " " 
 
 low. 
 
54 The Tones of Speech. 
 
 Applying this principle to the pronunciation of a word, 
 something of the variety attainable by its means will be 
 readily seen. The " preparatory " tone is, of course, itself 
 inflected, and so the variety is farther increased as the curve 
 of the latter is turned towards, or from, the accented in- 
 flexion. In this way, each simple inflexion yields four 
 modes of pronouncing a single word. The emphatic force 
 oi the utterance is progressively stronger from the first to 
 the last of the series. Thus : 
 
 Rising: indeed indeed indeed indeed. 
 / > It 
 
 \ / \ \ 
 
 Falling: indeed indeed indeed indeed. 
 \ \ / \ 
 
 The combination of the two vocal movements on a single 
 
 syllabic impulse produces a pair of compound inflexions 
 which exhibit the same inherent expressiveness. Simple 
 tones accompany direct and simple language ; compound 
 tones accompany language which means more or less than 
 the words themselves express. The contrasted tones in the 
 compound suggest a contrast in sense, between the word 
 used and some other word implied. Each compound in 
 flexion adds to the expressiveness of its concluding slide 
 an inferential suggestion in accordance with its commencing 
 slide. Thus, a compound rise (which commences with a 
 fall) involves a positive inference ; and a compound fall 
 (which commences with a rise) involves a negative in- 
 ference ; as : 
 
 Not so implying but otherwise. 
 
 But so " and not otherwise. 
 
 Each of the compound inflexions, like the simple ones, 
 already illustrated, furnishes a series of four modes of pro- 
 nouncing a single word. The emphatic force progressively 
 increases from the first to the last of the modes. Thus : 
 
The Tones of Speech. 
 
 55 
 
 Rising: indeed 
 
 indeed 
 
 indeed 
 
 / 
 
 indeed. 
 \ 
 
 Falling: indeed 
 / 
 
 indeed 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 indeed 
 
 indeed 
 
 A double compound inflexion, or " wave," with a rising 
 termination, (A/) completes the mechanical varieties of 
 speaking tones. This very expressive tonic element is used 
 wherever a compound fall is accompanied by incomplete 
 sense or by interrogation. The sarcastic antithesis on the 
 word " catalogue " in the following lines is naturally ex- 
 pressed by this wave. 
 
 We are men, my lord. 
 Mac. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men, 
 
 As hounds and greyhounds, etc. 
 
 Macbeth, Act III, Scene I. 
 
 The meaning of the slides is the same whether in simple 
 or in compound inflexions. A tone with a rising termina- 
 tion expresses the speaker's indecision, or it appeals to the 
 hearer ; a tone with a falling termination expresses the 
 speaker's decision, or it enjoins on the hearer. 
 
 The mechanical varieties of tones being so few in number, 
 the student of speech may easily fix their expressiveness in 
 his mind. The tones will probably be clearly apprehended 
 and naturally produced, by the following experiment, which 
 should be repeated until a successful result is attained. 
 Pronounce the word "yes" so as to imply or suggest the 
 succeeding words in this illustration : 
 
56 The Tones of Speech. 
 
 Yes — implying *' Do you really mean that ? " 
 
 Yes " " I quite agree with that. '' 
 \ 
 
 Yes " "Possibly — but it may be otherwise.'' 
 
 Yes " Undoubtedly — for it cannot be otherwise." 
 
 Yes " Seemingly, at first — but query? " 
 A/ 
 
The Instrument' of Speech. 57 
 
 IX. THE INSTRUMENT OF SPEECH. 
 
 The speaking apparatus consists first of a reservoir for air ; 
 secondly of a reed for forming sound ; and thirdly of a 
 resonance-box susceptible of a great variety of modifying 
 configurations. The air-reservoir is the cavity of the chest ; 
 the sounding-reed is in the throat ; the resonance-box con- 
 sists of the cavities of the pharynx and the mouth. By con- 
 sidering the. instrument of speech in this simple manner, a 
 clearer idea will be gained of the mutual relations of the 
 organs of respiration, voice, and articulation, than by the 
 most exact study of the organs themselves. Thus : the air- 
 reservoir may be too contracted, or it may be insufficiently 
 charged ; the reed may be out of order ; or some part of 
 the resonance-box may be encumbered, or it may be leaky ; 
 and corresponding imperfections will follow. 
 
 Speech consists of breath emitted ; and, consequently, 
 inflation of the lungs must always precede utterance. A 
 full inspiration dilates the chest in all directions, and when 
 the lungs are really filled, they will be felt to expand the 
 back as well as the chest. This may be taken as the test 
 of complete inflation. Speaking and singing are alike in this 
 respect : they are both processes of expiration ; and vocal 
 exercise in either way is healthful and unfatiguing, in pro- 
 portion as the lungs are kept well supplied with air, and 
 replenished at moderate intervals. 
 
 It is a common error to suppose that *the breath should 
 be inhaled only at the commencement of a sentence ; and 
 that, in proportion to the length of the period, should be 
 the quantity of air inspired. The effect of such sentential 
 respiration is to give disproportionate energy to the com- 
 mencement of a period, and to cause the termination — 
 which is generally the most important part — to sink into 
 
58 The Instrument of Speech. 
 
 feebleness and inaudibility. One of the best qualities of 
 delivery is that of sustaining an equal volume of voice 
 throughout the longest period ; and this can only be done 
 by frequent inspirations. Speech really uses very little 
 breath, and the chest would be uncomfortably distended if 
 the breath were held in at every pause. Pause should, 
 therefore, be synonymous with change of breath. In this 
 way, respiration, while supplying the artificial requirements 
 of utterance, will, at the same time, fulfil its vi^l functions 
 without interruption. 
 
 All audibility of respiration is due to contraction of the 
 air-passages ; these, therefore, should be perfectly expanded 
 in inspiration, or the process will be disagreeably manifest. 
 Some speakers breathe as if the fingers of a garrotter were 
 compressing the windpipe, and every inspiration seems an 
 appeal for sympathy with strangulation. This blemish 
 should be carefully avoided. Nature has provided us with 
 two channels for respiration — the nostrils and the mouth ; 
 the former to be used when the latter is closed, or engaged 
 in fulfilling other functions, as in mastication ; but in speech, 
 both channels should be used, and, if neither of them is 
 abnormally constricted, the fault of audible respiration will 
 be easily prevented. 
 
 Any part of the breath-channel, from the top of the wind- 
 pipe to the lips, may be closed or contracted in any degree, 
 at will ; and these modifications are the mechanical cause 
 of the various elementary sounds of speech. The wind- 
 pipe is surmounted by a cartilaginous box, called the larynx, 
 the component parts of which are susceptible of a multitude 
 of minute adjustments affecting the size and shape of the 
 interior passage. The lid of this box is divided in the 
 centre, so that, when the central edges meet, the box is 
 closed, as at the commencement of a cough ; and when 
 
The Instrument of Speech. 59 
 
 they separate, by sliding to right and left, the passage is 
 opened, in any degree, from the narrowest fissure to the 
 full extent of the organ. The aperture of the larynx is 
 called the glottis; and its edges are called the vocal liga- 
 ments. 
 
 Voice is simply the sound caused by the friction of the 
 breath passing through the narrow glottis,, and setting its 
 edges in vibration. The length of the vibrating mem- 
 branes, and the degree of their tension, affect the pitch of 
 the voice, and relaxation of the vocal ligaments produces 
 hoarseness. 
 
 The pharynx is the space between the top of the wind- 
 pipe and the mouth. The degree in which the cavity of 
 the pharynx is contracted or expanded affects the character 
 and quality of elementary sounds. Thus the sound of ah 
 results from the maximum enlargement of the space be- 
 tween the root of the tongue and the back of the pharynx ; 
 and the sound of gargling results from the narrowing of the 
 same passage, by the close approximation of the tongue to 
 the pharynx. 
 
 The pharynx communicates both with the nostrils and 
 the mouth. Between these passages the soft-palate is sus- 
 pended as a valve, by means of which the nostrils or the 
 mouth may be closed or opened, separately or simul- 
 taneously. Both passages are closed in pronouncing k ; 
 the passage to the mouth is closed, and that to the nostrils 
 opened, in pronouncing the final consonant in the word 
 song ; both passages are open in pronouncing the French 
 sounds in, on, un, etc. ; and the nasal passage is closed, 
 and the oral passage open, in pronouncing ordinary vowel 
 sounds. 
 
 The mouth consists of the passive organs — the palate 
 and the teeth; and the active organs — the tongue and 
 
60 The Instrument of Speech. 
 
 the lips ; by means of which the size and the shape of the 
 oral cavity are altered at will, in a variety of degrees and 
 modes. For example : a series of Back Vowels results from 
 approximation of the tongue to the back of the palate ; a 
 series of Front Vowels from approximation to the front of 
 the palate ; and a series of Intermediate Vowels by ap- 
 proximation of the middle of the tongue to the roof of the 
 mouth. The lips also modify the voice-channel, and yield 
 a labialised or "round " variety for every vowel formed by 
 the tongue. 
 
 Consonants are transitional closures or squeezings, or 
 vibrations of portions of the breath-passage, in the throat 
 or the mouth. The audible results are puffs or hisses of 
 the breath, or flaps of the articulating organs. Closures 
 with suction are also consonant elements in some languages. 
 The material affected by consonant-actions may be vocal 
 or non-vocal, and the emission may be through the mouth 
 or through the nose. Another class of elements called 
 " glides " occupy an intermediate place between vowels 
 and consonants. For a full detail of the various elements 
 of speech, the reader is referred to the appropriate Text- 
 books. 
 
 Enough has been said here to show that the formation 
 of speech-sounds is entirely mechanical, and that, therefore, 
 any defect or peculiarity of utterance is perfectly suscepti- 
 ble of correction. The only difficulty lies in the total un- 
 consciousness with which the acts of speech are generally 
 performed. Master the instrument, and correction is easy. 
 So, too, the peculiar sounds of foreign languages may be 
 acquired in vernacular perfection by those who will first 
 learn their mechanism, and then overcome old tendencies, 
 or the vis inertia of unaccustomed organs, by a moderate 
 amount of elementary exercise. 
 
The Instrument of Speech. 6i 
 
 One other point remains to be noticed in connection 
 with the organs of speech, namely, the action of the jaw. 
 The jaw has perfect independence of motion in every di- 
 rection, but in speech it should move only vertically. Al- 
 ternating vertical motions may be either down and up, or 
 up and down, according as the force of the action is in one 
 or the other direction. The jaw moves down and up in 
 mastication ; but in speech its action should be always the 
 reverse, or up and down. The fall of the jaw should be 
 gentle, as if by its own weight ; and it should never quite 
 come in contact with the upper teeth. 
 
Respiration in Speech. 63 
 
 X. RESPIRATION IN SPEECH. 
 
 The amount of air ordinarily inspired for vital wants is 
 insufficient for the necessities of energetic speech. A full 
 inspiration, expanding the chest in all directions, should be 
 made by a speaker at all long pauses ; but at shorter pauses 
 he will not neglect additional replenishments so as to keep 
 the bellows of his speaking machine from collapsing during 
 the longest outflow. The fact is elsewhere referred to * 
 that no labour is required to fill the lungs ; atmospheric 
 pressure will accomplish this, if only the aperture of the 
 windpipe is open, and the elastic walls and base of the 
 chest are free to distend. 
 
 Inspiration in speech may take place either through the 
 mouth, or through the nostrils, or through both passages 
 simultaneously. The nasal passages open into the cavity 
 behind the soft-palate, so that both the oral and the nasal 
 channels unite above the entrance to the windpipe. A 
 large supply will, obviously, be more speedily taken in 
 through both external openings than through either of 
 them singly ; and in order to breathe exclusively through 
 one of the passages, the other must be closed. 
 
 The mouth may be effectually closed without shutting 
 the lips ; all that is necessary being to put the tongue in a 
 " shut " consonant position, as for t or k. But there is no 
 need to close the mouth-passage during oratorical breath- 
 ing. The speaker should attend only to the expansion of 
 the chest as a bellows. One does not stop up the nozzle 
 of the bellows when he lifts' the board, but the air is al- 
 lowed to go in as it can, by both nozzle and valve. 
 
 Under certain circumstances, breathing through the 
 nostrils, to the exclusion of the mouth, is the preferable 
 
 * See " Defects and Impediments of Speech. " 
 
64 Respiration in Speech. 
 
 mode. The air in traversing the cavities above the palate, 
 is tempered before it reaches the throat ; and this is im- 
 portant when the atmosphere is unfavourable to delicate 
 organs, and especially when a sudden change of tempera- 
 ture has to be encountered ; as when passing from a heated 
 room into the outside air. A habit of nasal breathing is 
 then, undoubtedly, to be recommended on sanitary grounds. 
 But in the comparatively equal temperature of an assembly- 
 hall, church or theatre, no danger is to be apprehended 
 from the mouth-breathing, which -is a necessity to the com- 
 fort and the effectiveness of the speaker. 
 
 Some impediments to free respiration are to be carefully' 
 avoided by the orator ; such as making a full meal imme- 
 diately before speaking ; or wearing clothes which unduly 
 confine the action of the throat, the chest or the abdomen. . 
 
 Another impediment arises from a bent position of the 
 head, which restricts the throat. This last is, no doubt, the 
 principal cause of an ailment to which clerical readers are 
 so specially subject, that the affection has been dignified 
 with the name of dysphonia dericorum. We seldom hear of 
 actors or barristers suffering from this complaint, which, if 
 it arose merely from vocal exercise, would affect these, as 
 well as the clerical classes of public speakers. The truth 
 is, that speaking is the most healthful of all exercises, if it 
 be not rendered injurious by causes which the speaker can 
 himself prevent. 
 
Phonetic Syllabication. 65 
 
 XI. PHONETIC SYLLABICATION. 
 
 The division of words into syllables for the purpose of 
 showing pronunciation is not the same as the division to 
 show the etymology or derivation of words. A single con- 
 sonant between vowels is syllabled with the first vowel if 
 it is " short," and with the second vowel if the first is 
 " long ; " as in rap-id, la-bour, tep-id, me-ter, civ-il, ci-der, 
 frol-ic, mo-lar, slud-y, stu-pid. The reason for this arrange- 
 ment does not lie in the nature of the sounds, but simply in 
 the fact that the same vowel letter has to do duty for two 
 sounds, which are thus distinguished. 
 
 The same reason originally led to the doubling of con- 
 sonants between vowels, as an orthographic expedient to 
 enable the vowel letters to represent both "long" and 
 " short " sounds without ambiguity ; as in cable, cabbage, 
 cedar, cellar, bible, middle, total, cottage, bugle, rubbish. 
 Words with double consonants are generally syllabled by 
 dividing the consonants ; as cab-bage, cel-lar, etc.; but this 
 is misleading, because the consonant is really single tc the 
 ear. When such words are re-spelled to indicate pronuncia- 
 tion, the second consonant should be omitted. 
 
 The doubling of consonants to show " short " vowels has 
 led to the mistaken belief that short vowels cannot be final 
 in syllables. If the alphabet had been provided with dis- 
 tinctive letters for the various vowel sounds, such an idea 
 could never have been entertained. The point would have 
 been immaterial, but for certain inconveniences which arise 
 from acting on the belief. 
 
 The practical result of this erroneous theory is that in the 
 
 customary division of words containing r or rr between 
 
 vowels, the reader is phonetically misled. For example, 
 
 the syllables car, ver, ter, spir, mir, sor, hur — which are 
 
 S 
 
66 Phonetic Syllabication. 
 
 written as the first part of the words carry, very, terrible, 
 spirit, mirror, sorrow, hurry — suggest entirely different 
 sounds from those heard in these words. The letter r at the 
 end of a syllable has invariably its glide sound ; but in the 
 above words the r has no trace of the soft gliding quality, 
 but is pronounced with its full consonant power. Further, 
 the vowels a, e, i, before final r, have sounds distinct 
 from those heard in the above words. Therefore, in re- 
 spelling to show pronunciation, such words, if divided at 
 all, should be syllabled cd-ry, ve-ry, spi-rit, so-row, hH-ry, etc. 
 That such a division looks strange, is merely the result of 
 habitual association of final vowels with " long " sounds. 
 
 In actual utterance, all the elements of a word are com- 
 pacted together into an unbroken whole : a medial consonant 
 is equally final to the preceding vowel, and initial to the 
 succeeding one ; so that unless the reader had the skill to 
 separate a consonant into two parts — as / into a silent 
 closure and an audible separation of the lips — he could not 
 phoneticise the syllables, one by one, exactly as he pro- 
 nounces them in a word. For this reason, words should 
 not be divided when phonetically re-written. All the letters 
 in the scheme of "English Phonetic Elements" have 
 absolutely determinate sounds, and thei effect is, therefore, 
 independent of position. 
 
 The nature of a syllable has already been defined. An 
 additional characteristic may be specified : namely, that 
 the syllabic sound may have either a closing action of 
 the mouth, as in ay, i, oy, ow, ow, or an opening action, as in 
 dr, £r, 6r, but that the progression cannot be reversed on a 
 single syllabic impulse. On account of this principle, the 
 ordinary alphabetic sounds of the letters a and o are not 
 pronounced before the letter r, but the vowels are altered 
 from the closing diphthongs ay, ow to the more open sound 
 
Phonetic Syllabication. 67 
 
 & 6, in order to blend syllabically with the r-glide. For the 
 same reason, also, the closing elements of the diphthongs 
 /, oy, ou, are very imperfectly pronounced before r\n order 
 to preserve a monosyllabic effect in such words as hire, coir, 
 our. A full formation of the diphthongs renders these 
 combinations dissyllabic ; as in higher, coyer, plougher. 
 
 The consonant / has the pure vocality of a vowel ; and 
 it is, therefore, capable of being syllabically pronounced 
 alone. It is so used in all words ending in le. The nasal 
 consonants n and m have, from the same cause, a similar 
 capability of forming syllables without vowels ; the syllables 
 den, ten, ven, son, ton, being, in many instances, pro- 
 nounced merely dn, vn, sn, tn. The letter m in rhythm, 
 chasm, etc., is really syllabic, although, in the absence of a 
 vowel letter, the effect is not generally acknowledged. 
 
 The syllabic effect of these consonants may be medial as 
 well as final ; as in meddler, which is sometimes pronounced 
 med-l-er; and lightening which is sometimes pronounced 
 light-n-ing, to distinguish the word from lightning. The 
 organic difference is that, in meddler and lightning the con- 
 sonants / and n are only transitionally formed, while, in 
 med-l-er, and light-n ing, the consonant positions are "held" 
 for a separate impulse. 
 
 In common pronunciation a strong tendency is felt to 
 omit the vowel in the terminations al, el, il, and pronounce 
 fatal, level, cavil, like fatle, levle, cavle. This tendency is 
 yielded to in the word devil (dSvl) — presumably as a mark 
 of disrespect; — and in the word victual (vitl), although 
 certainly not for the same reason. The word evil is marked 
 " evl " in pronouncing dictionaries, but with doubtful pro- 
 priety. Wherever custom has not definitely sanctioned the 
 elision, the vowels should be sounded in all such syllables. 
 
 Vowel letters are often elided to the eye, when they are 
 
68 Phonetic Syllabication. 
 
 not, or should not be, omitted in pronunciation ; as in : 
 " By pray'r th' offended Deity t' appease." 
 The reason for these elisions lies in their supposed neces- 
 sity in the " scanning " of poetic lines ; but the ear recog- 
 nizes no necessity for such mutilations, and the rhythm is 
 not violated by the full pronunciation of the vowels, as in : 
 "By prayer the offended Deity to appease." 
 
Accent. 69 
 
 XII. ACCENT. 
 Every word of more than one syllable has one of its 
 syllables accented, or pronounced heavily, the other sylla- 
 bles being relatively light. When the accent is on the 
 third, or on any subsequent syllable, a secondary accent 
 is usually placed on one of the other syllables, to render 
 pronunciation easy, and free from undue rapidity; as in 
 " entertain," " contradictory." For the same reason, 
 when two or more syllables follow the accent, a tendency 
 is felt to relieve a too flippant utterance, by putting a 
 secondary accent on one of the enclitic syllables; as in 
 "gratitude," "intensify." Care should, however, be taken 
 to preserve the proper place of the primary. In American 
 usage, this has been usurped by the secondary ; as in such 
 words as or'atory, ter'ritory, where the prevailing pronun- 
 ciation, is orato'ry, territo'ry. 
 
 The following words exemplify the varieties of verbal 
 accentuation : 
 Accent on the first syllable. Tender, cultivate, ordinary, 
 
 peremptorily. 
 Accent on the second syllable. Defend, important, inveter- 
 ate, involuntary, unnecessarily. 
 Accent on the third syllable. Comprehend, contemplation 
 
 anatomical, inconsiderable, antinomianism. 
 Accent on the fourth syllable. Misun'derstand", or mis'- 
 understand", superintendent, superabundantly, inval'- 
 etu"dinary, or in'valetu"dinary. 
 Accent on the fifth syllabce. Personification, anti-pestilen- 
 tial, impracticability, indestructibility. 
 Accent on the sixth syllable. Intercolumnication, incom- 
 municability, incom'prehen'sibil"ity or in'comprehen'- 
 sibil''ity. 
 
70 Accent. 
 
 The same principles of accent are manifest in phraseo- 
 logical combinations of words ; and even monosyllables 
 are thus accentually tied together. For example : 
 Accent on the first word. Help him ; go to him ; look at 
 
 him there. 
 Accent on the second word. It is; it was so ; it may be so ; 
 
 it will not be so. 
 Accent on the third word. That will do ; that will not do ; 
 
 that is just the thing ; that is quite as it should be. 
 Accent on the fourth word. You do not need ; that is the 
 
 first point ; that is the whole of it ; this is the next thing 
 
 to be done. 
 Accent on the fifth word. I hope we shall hear ; I trust it 
 
 may prove so. 
 Accent on the sixth word. Let us wait for the end ; it is not' 
 
 to be thought" of; or, it is' not to be thought" of. 
 Accent an the seventh word. That is so far from being true. 
 
Accent. 
 
 7 1 
 
 Nouns and verbs of the same orthography are generally 
 distinguished by the position of the accent. In such cases 
 the accent is thrown forward for verbs and backward for 
 nouns. For example : 
 
 Nouns. 
 
 Verbs. 
 
 Nouns. 
 
 Verbs. 
 
 ab'stract 
 
 abstract' 
 
 ob'ject 
 
 object 
 
 ac'cent 
 
 accent' 
 
 per'fume 
 
 perfume' 
 
 at'tribute 
 
 attrib'ute 
 
 pres'age 
 
 presage' 
 
 com / pact 
 
 compact' 
 
 pres'ent 
 
 present' 
 
 com'pound 
 
 compound' 
 
 prod'uce 
 
 produce' ' 
 
 con'duct 
 
 conduct' 
 
 prot'est 
 
 protest' 
 
 con'flict 
 
 conflict' 
 
 reb'el 
 
 rebel' 
 
 con'test 
 
 contest' 
 
 rec'ord 
 
 record' 
 
 de'tail 
 
 detail' 
 
 refuse 
 
 refuse' 
 
 des'ert 
 
 desert' 
 
 re' tail 
 
 retail' 
 
 es'say 
 
 essay' 
 
 sub'ject 
 
 subject' 
 
 ex'port 
 
 export' 
 
 sur'vey 
 
 survey' 
 
 ex'tract 
 
 extract' 
 
 tor'ment 
 
 torment' 
 
 fer'ment 
 
 ferment' 
 
 trans'fer 
 
 transfer' 
 
 in'cense 
 
 incense' 
 
 trans'port 
 
 transport' 
 
 in'sult 
 
 insult' 
 
 
 
 Compound and other words which have some part in 
 common, are accented on the differential part; as in arch- 
 bish'op, arch-deal con, head 1 land, mid' land, woodland, thirteen, 
 four 4 teen, fifteen, trustor 4 , trustee', mortgagor', mortgagee'. On 
 the same principle, prefixes and terminations which are 
 common to large classes of words, are generally without 
 accent, except in contrasted words; as when pre' cede is op- 
 posed to pro'ceed, dis' satisfied Xo satisfied, sub'jection to objec- 
 tion, principal' to principle 1 '. In the terminations ation,ition, 
 ution, the accent is always on the distinctive vowel pre- 
 ceding the syllable Hon' ; as in reforma"tion, iriquisi'tion, 
 des'titu"tion. 
 
 The general tendency of accent, in words of more than 
 two syllables, is to the antepenultimate syllable, that is, the 
 
72 Accent. 
 
 third from the end; as in consonant, popular, orator, desti- 
 tute. Thus, the accent falls on the syllable immediately 
 preceding dissyllabic terminations ; as in sobriety, sociality, 
 herbiferous, diagonal, geography, theology, thermometer, vivip- 
 arous, omnipotent, microscopy, philosophy, catastrophe, etc. 
 
 The usual seat of accent in a word has sometimes to be 
 shifted to another syllable, to accommodate the rhythm of 
 poetry. Thus, the noun in' crease has to be pronounced 
 likje the verb increase' in the following passage : 
 "As if increase of appetite had grown 
 By what it fed on." 
 
 So, also, the word complete' has to be pronounced com!plete 
 in the line : 
 
 " That thou, dead corse, again, in complete steel." 
 
Emphasis. 73 
 
 XIII. EMPHASIS. 
 
 Emphasis is to the words of a sentence what accent is to 
 the syllables of a word ; it gives prominence by tone, force, 
 or some other quality of enunciation, to the word selected 
 for superiority in the development of a thought. The 
 ordinary accents are not obliterated by emphasis, but 
 simply subordinated. 
 
 The various sources of emphasis have been already 
 enumerated. [See " Science of Elocution."] In accord- 
 ance with these principles of selection the fact should be 
 obvious that the most subordinate grammatical word might 
 become the seat of the principal emphasis. A striking 
 illustration is furnished in the following lines from Words- 
 worth's poem "On Re- visiting the Banks of the Wye:" 
 
 " Therefore, am I still 
 A lover of the meadows, and the woods, 
 And mountains ; and of all that we behold 
 From this green earth ; of all the mighty world 
 Of eye and ear, — both what they half create, 
 And what perceive." 
 
 The emphasising of one little particle in this passage 
 opens a floodgate of meaning and introduces a sublime 
 conception which might otherwise escape discovery. This 
 is the word " from " at the beginning of the fourth line. 
 The objects previously mentioned are on the earth ; and the 
 contrasting emphasis on from unveils the whole starry 
 firmament as included in the poet's thought. 
 
 Of the three sources of emphasis, novelty is the most 
 common. The new word is not necessarily pronounced 
 with superior force ; it simply forms the starting-point of 
 the governing tone in a sentence. Emphasis, due to con- 
 trast, unites superior force with a governing tone over allied 
 
74 Emphasis. 
 
 words ; and suggestive emphasis, the strongest variety, has 
 a distinguishing species of tone which includes in itself the 
 contrast it suggests. [See " Tones of Speech."] 
 
 The emphasis of contrast falls necessarily on the second 
 of a contrasted pair of words, but not necessarily on the 
 first. The first word is emphatic or otherwise, according 
 as it is new, or implied in preceding thoughts ; but it is 
 not emphatic in virtue of subsequent contrast. A purposed 
 anticipation may give emphasis to the first word, but such 
 anticipatory emphasis should not be made habitual. Among 
 the commonest faults of readers are : the making of all 
 contrasted words emphatic ; and the pronouncing of all 
 emphatic words forcibly. 
 
 Combinations of words making up the expression of a 
 single thought have the principal accent on the complet- 
 ing word, when no principle calls for it elsewhere. Thus : 
 " Secretary of State' ; " " Chancellor of the Exche'quer ; " 
 " Chief Justice of the Supreme Court' ; " " Member of the 
 Cab'inet." When words are contrasted, the accented 
 syllables of which are the same, the accent is transferred to 
 one of the other syllables in the emphasised word. Thus : 
 " Giv'ing is a virtue, but for"giving is a high'er form of 
 charity." 
 
 The application of the principles of emphasis may be 
 exemplified in the following lines from Beattie's " Hermit." 
 This passage is one of the most difficult that could be 
 selected for emphasis, because of the little preponderance of 
 any of its accented words : 
 
 "At the close of the day — when the hamlet is still, 
 And mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove ; 
 
 When nought but the torrent is heard, on the hill, 
 And nought but the nightingale's song, in the grove : 
 
Emphasis. 75 
 
 It was thus, by the cave of the mountain afar, — 
 
 While his harp rung symphonious — a hermit began ; 
 
 No more with himself or with nature at war, 
 He thought as a sage, tho' he felt as a man." 
 
 Analysis of the Above. 
 
 " At the close of the day." 
 
 " Close of the day " is equivalent to " night ; " and the 
 accent is on the completing word of the phrase. All the 
 thoughts, to the end of the fourth line, are involved in the 
 idea of •" close of day ; " and the leading words are merely 
 the accented words in sentences which are themselves 
 altogether subordinate. Even these, however, illustrate 
 the principles of emphatic selection. Thus: 
 " When the hamlet is still." 
 
 No word receives prominence here, because stillness of a 
 hamlet is a natural concomitant of " close of day." 
 "And mortals the sweets of forget'fulness prove." 
 
 " Mortals " belong necessarily to " hamlets," as then- 
 inhabitants ; " sweets " are involved in the idea of " still- 
 ness " after the turmoil of " day." " Forgetfulness " is 
 new, and the primarily accented word ; " prove " being 
 merely expletive. 
 
 " When nought but the tor'rent is heard on the hill." 
 
 The leading accent is on " torrent ; " because " when 
 nought is heard " is involved in the " still hamlet ; '' and the 
 idea of " hill " is involved in that of " torrent." 
 
 "And nought but the night'ingale's song in the grove." 
 
 The leading accent is on " nightingale," because con- 
 trasted with " torrent." " When nought is heard " has been 
 already stated ; and hearing the nightingale implies " song." 
 The clause " in the grove " would be accented, as con- 
 
76 Emphasis. 
 
 trasted with " on the hill," but that the " nightingale's 
 song " is only heard in the sequestered quiet of a " grove." 
 " It was thus." 
 This is the commencement of the principal sentence. 
 " Thus" is the accented word, because new. 
 *" By the cave of the moun'tain afar." 
 " Cave of the mountain " is practically a compound 
 word, and the accent is on the completing part. "Afar " 
 is merely expletive. 
 
 " While his harp' rung symphonious. " 
 " While " may be accented or not, ad lib. ; " Harp " is 
 accented, because new; "rung symphonious" is subordi- 
 nate, because involved in the mention of " harp." 
 "A her'mit began.' - 
 This is the principal sentence ; the subject, " hermit," 
 is accented, because new ; the predicate " began " is merely 
 
 expletive. 
 
 "No more'." 
 
 This is an adjunct to the predicate " (was) at war ; '' the 
 accent is on " more," because new, and the completing 
 word of the phrase. 
 
 " With himself or with na'ture." 
 
 The leading accent is on " nature," because contrasted 
 
 with " himself." 
 
 "At war'." 
 
 This is the predicate of a principal sentence, new, and 
 
 therefore emphatic. 
 
 "He thought as a sage'." 
 
 Accent on "sage," because "thought" is involved in 
 
 the idea of "at war with himself." 
 
 " Tho' he felt as a man." 
 
 " Tho' " may be accented or not, ad lib.; "felt," is 
 
 emphatic, because contrasted with " thought ; " and 
 
 " man " is emphatic, because contrasted with " sage." 
 
Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 77 
 
 XIV. RHYTHM AS AFFECTING READING. 
 The accented syllables, in prose, occur at irregular inter- 
 vals, and so produce a constantly varying rhythm. In 
 poetry, the accents occur at regulated intervals, so as to 
 form " common measure," as in : 
 
 " The shades of night were falling fast : " 
 or " triple measure ; " as in 
 
 " At the close of the day when the hamlet is still ; " 
 or a mixture of common and triple measures. 
 
 The rhythm of music includes uniformity of time, as well 
 as regularity of accent ; and a musical composition is ex- 
 actly measurable into bars of equal length, according to 
 the standard time adopted by the composer. The rhythm 
 of speech differs from that of music, in being dependent on 
 accent alone j and the bars into which prose, as well as 
 poetry, may be divided, are not of equal length, and can- 
 not be made equal, without doing violence to the sense, 
 and creating an offensive jingling or sing-song. 
 
 The attempts which have been made to arrange poetry 
 and prose into bars of equivalent duration need only to be 
 illustrated to be condemned. The following specimens are 
 quoted from a work of respectable authorship. 
 
 [The mark 1 denotes a rest or pause to make up a de- 
 fective measure.] 
 
 I. 
 "1 At the I close of the | day, | 1 when the | hamlet is | still, | 
 ~\ And I mortals [ 1 the | sweets of for | getfulness | prove, | 
 T When | nought but the | torrent | "I is | heard on the | hill, | 
 1 And I nought but the | nightingale's | song | -| in the | grove : | 
 T It was I thus, I 1 by the | cave of the | mountain a | far, | 
 T While his | harp rung sym | phonious, 1 1 a | hermit be | gan; 
 1 No I more with him | self, 1 1 or with | nature at | war, | 
 "\ He I thought as a | sage | "t tho' he | felt as a | man. | " 
 
78 Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 
 
 II. 
 
 " Then A | grippa | said unto | Paul, | | Thou art per | mitted 
 to | speak for thy | self. | | Then | Paul | stretched forth the | hand, | 
 -\ and | answered | "I for him | self. | 1. 1 I | think myself | happy, j 
 | King A | grippa, | "I be | cause I shall | answer for my | self | this | 
 day | 1 be | fore | thee, | touching | all the | things | 1 where | of | 1 1 
 am ac | cused | 1 of the Jews : | | wherefore | 1 I be | seech thee | 1 
 to | hear me | patiently. | " 
 
 The bars which mark the measures of time in the above 
 illustrations violate the logical principles on which words 
 are separated or joined together in reading Articles and 
 prepositions should, clearly, be connected with the words 
 to which they refer, as making up the expression of a single 
 thought ; but the ill-timed junctions and divisions indicated 
 by these bars, bring together parts of two distinct thoughts, 
 and separate parts of one distinct thought, in utter disre- 
 gard of sense ; as in : 
 
 " | close of the | hamlet is | sweets of for- | 
 | harp rung sym- | hermit be | thou art per- | 
 | speak for thy- | stretched forth the | 
 | -cause I shall | answer for my | " etc. 
 
 These unnatural divisions apparently result from the 
 adoption of the principle of musical notation which requires 
 that the first note of every bar shall be the accented part 
 of the measure. This principle, no doubt essential to a 
 concerted marking of time among players, is not consistent 
 with the accentual variety of speech. A beat implies an 
 upward movement before the downward stroke; and a 
 large proportion of words commence with unaccented 
 syllables. A bar in speech-notation may, therefore, begin 
 with a light, as readily as with a heavy syllable, according 
 to the position of the accent. 
 
Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 79 
 
 The fundamental principle which regulates the collocation 
 of words in sentences is, that no two words should be united 
 which have not a mutual relation in forming sense ; and 
 that no two such words should be separated. In this way 
 the words of a sentence fall into grammatical or logical 
 groups, the individual words composing which are, as it 
 were, syllables in the " oratorical word " formed by the 
 whole group. These oratorical words have accents, among 
 their component syllabic words, just as ordinary words have 
 among their syllables ; and the oratorical words themselves 
 are subject to a higher species of accent, called emphasis, 
 which throws into prominence the leading thought in a 
 sentence. [See " Emphasis."] 
 
 Reading in accordance with this principle has a music of 
 its own ; a varying time and force, adapting sound to sense, 
 and to the natural expression of all moods and passions. 
 It is, moreover, perfectly conservative of poetic measures ; 
 only it gives predominance to sense and sentiment; whereas 
 these, in the passages quoted above, are subordinated to 
 fixed musical accents, and recurrent bars of equal time. 
 
 Perhaps the best mode of showing the difference in the 
 results of the two methods of reading will be to mark the 
 same passages with the divisions of logical expression. The 
 minor grammatical groups are indicated by a hyphen (-), 
 and the major divisions of the sentences by a vertical line 
 ( I ). The former is equivalent to a slight hiatus ; and the 
 latter to a pause. 
 
 I.* 
 
 " At the.close - of the day, [ when the hamlet - is still, | 
 And mortals | the sweets - of forgetfulness- prove, | 
 When nought - but the torrent | is heard - on the hill, | 
 And nought - but the nightingale's song | in the grove : | 
 
 *See these passages under the head of " Emphasis." 
 
80 Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 
 
 It was thus, | by the cave - of the mountain - afar, | 
 While his harp - rung symphonious, | a hermit - began ; | 
 No more | with himself, - or with nature | at war, | 
 He thought • as a sage | tho' he felt - as a man. " 
 
 " II. 
 
 "Then | Agrippa | said -unto Paul, | Thou art permitted -to speak - 
 for thyself. | | Then | Paul - stretched forth the hand, | and an- 
 swered -for himself: | | I think myself-happy, | King Agrippa, ) 
 because- 1 shall answer -for myself- this day | before thee | touching - 
 all the things | whereof- 1 am accused - of the Jews : | wherefore | I 
 beseech thee - to hear me - patiently." 
 
 The essential parts of a sentence are its subject and its 
 predicate. These express two distinct thoughts, and should 
 always be separately pronounced, except when either of 
 them is unemphatic. A sentence may, besides, include 
 complemental or circumstantial adjuncts (expressive of 
 how, why, when, where, etc.) and connectives. Comple- 
 mental clauses are united to the principal member to which 
 they refer, when there is no intervening word, as in " cave 
 of the mountain " ; and circumstantial adjuncts are sepa- 
 rated from the principal member — like parentheses — and 
 also from each other, as distinct thoughts. Connectives 
 may couple individual words or clauses, or may join sen- 
 tences. In the former case, they are united to the word or 
 clause which they connect in sense — when there is no in- 
 tervening word ; but, in the latter case, connectives gene- 
 rally stand apart, to show that they do not connect merely 
 the proximate words. 
 
 Another relation between words, important although 
 only occasional, is that between governing and depend- 
 ent words. This relation is of so close a nature that it 
 will even separate grammatically related words. Thus, we 
 unite adjective and noun, as in "a good man"; but we 
 
Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 8i 
 
 separate them when the noun becomes a governing word, 
 as in "a good man of business." We unite verb and adverb, 
 as in " submit wisely," but we separate them when the ad- 
 verb governs another word; as in "submit wisely and 
 cheerfully." We unite verb and pronoun, as in "we for- 
 give them ; " but we separate the words when the pronoun 
 becomes the antecedent to a relative ; as in " we forgive 
 them that trespass." 
 
 Adverbs are often so placed in composition that they 
 may be read either in connection with what precedes or 
 with what follows, of course, making correct sense only in 
 one way ; as in : 
 
 "repealed and execrated even by parliaments which,' - etc. 
 
 In the absence of punctuation, which would here serve 
 its proper office, this may mean either, " execrated even," 
 or " even by parliaments.'' In such cases, the adverb may 
 be said to squint, and the reader has to exercise judgement 
 to make the word look definitely in one direction. 
 
 The laws of logical reading, as outlined above, apply to 
 all compositions, poetical as well as prosaic ; and no reader 
 of taste and judgement would consent to the sacrifice of such 
 intellectual principles, for the sake of a tuneful division of 
 his sentences into measures of equal time. 
 
 The poetical passage, quoted already, is one of the most 
 complex in grammatical structure that could be selected ; 
 its analysis will therefore be instructive. 
 
82 Rhythm as Affecting Reading. 
 
 [Words in brackets are implied. The numbers indicate : 
 (i) Principal sentence. (2) Primary adjunct. (3) Second- 
 ary adjunct. (4) Subordinate adjunct. (5) Connective.] 
 
 It was thus (1) 
 
 [that] 
 A hermit (1) 
 
 jBy the cave of the mountain (2) 
 
 Par (3) 
 |while his harp rung symphonious (2) 
 
 Began (1) 
 
 |at the close of the day (2) 
 
 when the hamlet is still (3) 
 
 and (5) 
 [when] mortals the sweets of forgetfulness prove (3) 
 when nought but the torrent is heard (3) 
 
 Ion the hill (4) 
 and (5) 
 [when] nought but the nightingale's song [is heard] (3) 
 
 |No more (2) 
 
 [He was] at war (1) 
 
 |with himself or with nature (2) 
 He thought (1) 
 
 |as a sage (2) 
 tho' (S) 
 He felt (1) 
 
 |in the grove (4) 
 
 |as a man (2). 
 
Rhyme an Affecting Pronunciation. 83 
 
 XV. RHYME AS AFFECTING PRONUNCIATION. 
 
 English syllables present so many anomalies of pronunci- 
 ation that the spelling is rarely a sure guide to the sound, 
 Even syllables of the very same orthography have different 
 sounds ; as scant and want y far and war ; bead and breads- 
 spear and pear ; earth and hearth y mint and pint y zone, 
 gone and done y good and bloody door and poor y love, strove 
 and prove y now and know y dull and pull, etc. 
 
 Such words, although lacking the quality of assonance, 
 are freely used as rhymes by all our poets. Ought a reader 
 to be influenced by the poet's licence ; and would he be 
 justified in changing pronunciation for the sake of rhyme ? 
 Certainly not ; because to change the sound is to change 
 the word, and so to change the thought. The reader's duty 
 is to present the intended word in its ordinary form to the 
 ear, and leave the poet to be responsible for his failure to 
 match the sounds. 
 
 The word wind (noun) is often confounded in sound with 
 the verb of the same orthography (to wind). The chief 
 cause of the confusion is, no doubt, the frequent use of the 
 noun as a rhyme for find, mind, blind, etc. ; but the reader 
 should no more feel called on to pronounce wind to match 
 with mind, than to change good to match with blood, ox move 
 to match with love. 
 
 The noun wind is, indeed, constantly pronounced wind 
 by many persons. This is the usual pronunciation of the 
 word in Ireland ; but the vowel distinction between the verb 
 and the noun is generally preserved by the best speakers 
 elsewhere. Those who prefer to speak of the wind instead 
 of the wind should maintain that pronunciation equally 
 when the word is used to rhyme with sinned or dinned, as 
 with mind ox kind. 
 
84 Rhyme as Affecting Pronunciation. 
 
 The sound is the word ; and the importance of preserv- 
 ing the true sound, in spite of the vagaries of rhyme, will 
 be manifested by a few examples of rhymes taken at ran- 
 dom from leading poets : 
 
 Byron rhymes misery with thee ; flow with now j void 
 with wide; soil with pile ; among with along; wand with 
 hand; dome with" come ; etc. 
 
 Campbell rhymes Achaians with defiance; heroes with 
 revere us ; ocean with emotion ; far with war ; torn with scorn ; 
 one with clan ; path with wrath ; deplores with moors ; etc. 
 
 Cowper rhymes unknown with gone ; too with crow ; 
 rather with weather ; tongues with wrongs ; leads (v) with 
 treads ; last with unchaste ; wear with appear ; afford with 
 word; etc. 
 
 Hemans rhymes victory with sky; come with tomb and 
 with home; blood with stood; lord with sword ; won with on ; 
 death with wreath ; etc. 
 
 Longfellow rhymes earth with wrath ; glow with brow ; 
 loves with groves ; hoarded with recorded ; corn with lawn ; 
 camp with swamp ; together with father ; bosom with blos- 
 som ; etc. 
 
 Pope rhymes blood with food; heaven with, given ; now 
 with ^«<jw ; come with fo#z<? ; company with j^V > #"& with 
 abodes ; refer with fore ; man with, plain ; ought with fault ; 
 joined with mind ; etc. 
 
 Scott rhymes row (v) with. prow ; fear with e'er; on with 
 <&>»<? ; stature with nature ; stone with 7kw<? ; zwrd? with 
 sword ; poor with */<?0>- ; 5a/ with state ; head with made ; etc. 
 
 Shelley rhymes heart with wert ; overflowed with /<?z^/; 
 W(M with £raw / want with <rfo»/ / wo/ with flow ; won it 
 with on it ; wand with land ; human with common ; etc. « 
 
 Tennyson rhymes /<w with more ; good with blood; ever 
 with river ; peace with disease; foot with .rfo^; /<w<? with 
 
Rhyme as Affecting Pronunciation. 85 
 
 prove; mist with Christ; quay with to-day; house with 
 boughs ; doors with powers ; etc. 
 
 Wordsworth rhymes kind with joined ; love with approve ; 
 gone with none ; come with home and with doom ; tongue 
 with wrong ; one with rf<7/ztf and with shone; wan with 
 »z«# ; etc. 
 
 These illustrations, which might be multiplied to any 
 extent, prove that imperfect rhymes, and rhymes to the eye 
 only, are so common as to be no subject of reproach to 
 writers. Readers, therefore, should leave the inaccordance 
 of sound as they find it ; they can only be reproached, 
 when they fail to make the sound true to the intended 
 sense. 
 
Expressive Speech. 87 
 
 XVI. EXPRESSIVE SPEECH. 
 
 Changes of vocal pitch, of force, and of time are essen- 
 tial to the effective delivery of language. A change of 
 some kind is required within almost every sentence. Every 
 new subject, or new division of a subject, every change in 
 the form of composition, every fluctuation of sentiment, 
 should have its appropriate variation of pitch. But uni- 
 formity of change is to be avoided ; judgment, not habit, 
 must direct variety. Many readers commence all their 
 paragraphs in prose, or their stanzas in poetry, with an 
 elevation of key, and gradually lower the voice throughout 
 the section ; but this is irrational. The principle which 
 dictates change requires that every change be regulated by 
 the nature of the transition : as from fact to inference, 
 from cause to effect, from general to particular, etc. ; and 
 the judicious reader will thus, perhaps, as frequently, mod- 
 ulate his voice to a lower, as to a higher key. 
 
 All varieties of vocal pitch may be used in connection 
 with any degree of force or intensity. Thus a high tone 
 may be feeble, a low tone may be strong, and vice versa. 
 Force is to delivery what light and shade are to painting ; 
 and tonic modulation is to force what colour is to light and 
 shade. A very effective picture may be made by means 
 of light and shade only, but colour must be added if we 
 would reproduce things as we see them. A very effective 
 performance may be rapped out on a drum, but modulating 
 instruments are necessary to produce the full effect of 
 music. The delivery of some speakers is like the music of 
 the drum, all in one key ; and of others like a picture fin- 
 ished in colours, but flat and unnatural for want of light 
 and shade. The effervescence and subsidence of passion 
 
88 Expressive Speech. 
 
 are finely analogised by gradations of force, while equality 
 is nerveless and unsympathetic. Eagerness and apathy, 
 alarm and security, cautious fear and bold adventure, resig 
 nation and despair, delight and sadness, anger and placid- 
 ity, all associate with their utterance an appropriate meas- 
 ure of feebleness or intensity. 
 
 Variations in the rate of utterance form another means 
 of high effectiveness in reading and speaking. From the 
 medium steady rate of ordinary narrative, the pace quickens 
 with animation and excitement, and becomes impulsive and 
 hurried in passion ; in meditation the movement is slow 
 and lingering, and in solemnity and awe it is retarded to 
 detached and measured footfalls.. Rosalind tells her lover 
 in "As You Like It " that : 
 
 "Time travels in divers paces with divers persons. I'll tell you," 
 she says, " who time ambles withal, who time trots withal, who time 
 gallops withal, and who he stands still withal. 
 
 "I pr'ythee," asks Orlando, "who doth he trot withal? 
 
 "With a priest that lacks Latin, and a rich man that hath not the 
 gout ; for the one sleeps easily because he cannot study ; and the other 
 lives merrily because he feels no pain. 
 
 " Who doth he gallop withal ? 
 
 " With a thief to the gallows ; for though he go as softly as foot can 
 fall, he thinks himself too soon there. 
 
 " Who stays it still withal ? 
 
 " With lawyers in the vacation ; for they sleep between term and 
 term, and then they perceive not how time moves." 
 
 Rosalind's divisions have their vocal and oratorical 
 analogues. Unconcern plods along at a leisurely walk; 
 eagerness converts the pace into a trot ; enjoyment glides 
 from accent to accent in an easy, oscillating amble ; appre- 
 hension hurries nervously to its breathing points in a palpi- 
 tating gallop ; and egotistic pomposity hums and haws and 
 drawls, in soporific heedlessness of the lapse of time. 
 
Expressive Speech. 89 
 
 Pauses constitute an important means of expressiveness ; 
 and they are also real elements of poetic lines. On account 
 of the frequency and variety of pauses, delivery, whether 
 of prose or poetry, is not subject to the measurement of 
 synchronous pulsations. Impassioned utterance cannot be 
 rhythmical. Its words must come as fitfully as its moods. 
 It abhors rhythm as freedom abhors fetters, and bursts from 
 the restraint. Rhythm, notwithstanding its occasional 
 importance, is a quality which a good reader will carefully 
 keep in subordination. The author of the " Prosodia 
 Rationalis " (Dr. Joshua Steele) has shown the possibility of 
 measuring poetry by bars, in strict accordance with the 
 sense, when the necessary pauses are reckoned as parts of the 
 measure; and he has also shown the unfitness of the ordinary 
 mode of "scanning," which has no reference to the rests 
 that alone can harmonise sense and rhythm. Poets write 
 by the " rule of thumb ; " so many syllables make up a 
 line ; and if the lines are of equal length, they pass as 
 " rhythmical," although they do not at all correspond in 
 the number of their necessary accentual impulses. Poetry - 
 cannot be read by the rule of thumb, without destroying 
 its highest intellectual qualities. 
 
 Prose composition is measurable into bars, in the same 
 way as poetry ; and met'rical | rea'ders | of prose' | allow' 
 you I to hear' | the click' | of the pen'dulum | at ev'ery | 
 swing' I of the voice'. | This sort of clock-work pronunci- 
 ation is, unfortunately, too common. It is very effective — 
 in producing sleep! This is the only benefit the hearer 
 derives from it ; but to the speaker it certainly gives the 
 advantage of unlimited volubility without the trouble of 
 thinking. Words of some kind will always come to keep 
 the pendulum swinging, but it must not stop : " My lords," 
 " Mr. Speaker," " Fellow citizens," " Beloved brethren," or 
 
9° 
 
 Expressive Speech. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the jury " will do duty for the hundredth 
 time, and the sound will go on and on, on any theme, for 
 any length of time. The rising of such a speaker in the 
 House of Commons is like the sounding of the dinner bell; 
 an actor who so jingled his words would not be tolerated on 
 any stage ; and wherever material interests are to be served, 
 such an orator would be the last to be invited to the plat- 
 form. 
 
 When a measured pronunciation is introduced to serve 
 an appropriate purpose, it is highly effective. The error is 
 in being always rhythmical. A good speaker will constantly 
 adapt his manner to his subject, and "be all things" to all 
 kinds of sentiment ; but he cannot be always any one thing 
 without offending judgement, propriety and taste. The 
 expression of uniform motion is sometimes the principal 
 aim of a composition ; as in Hood's " Song of the Shirt," 
 where the rhythm of the never stopping " Stitch, stitch, 
 stitch," and " Work, work, work " should be preserved as 
 much as possible in every stanza. So, too, in Poe's poem 
 of " The Bells,' - the recurrent jingle of the sleigh bells, the 
 music of the joy-peal, the clang of the alarum bell, and the 
 solemn boom of the death-knell are to be analogised in the 
 rhythm of the several sections. 
 
 Every quality of utterance that would be a defect, if 
 habitual, may be an excellence under appropriate circum- 
 stances. Whisper, hoarseness, panting respiration, tremu- 
 lous voice, and every other functional affection, may find 
 occasion for their manifestation in expressive delivery. 
 Tremor, especially, is a source of fine and varied effective- 
 ness, intensifying alike the utterances of joy and sorrow. 
 The fact is a very curious one — which Dr. Rush was the 
 first to point out in his " Philosophy of the Human Voice,'' 
 — that laughter and crying express themselves by the same 
 
Expressive Speech. 91 
 
 organic action, the only difference being that the intervals 
 between the vocal tones are of the major kind in laughter, 
 and of the minor kind in crying. It is the same with the 
 more delicate varieties of tremor: a quiver of the voice 
 may express the most opposite sentiments, from sympathetic 
 tenderness to contemptuous sneering. 
 
 Even descriptive language, to be naturally delivered, 
 should be accompanied by a degree of sentimental ex- 
 pressiveness. Reading is thus more than the mere pro- 
 nunciation of words ; it must be sentient utterance ; showing 
 how the reader is affected by the incidents he describes, and 
 conveying in his tones an emotional comment on every 
 statement. Otherwise, reading is mechanical only, and 
 lifeless. 
 
Action. 93 
 
 XVII. ACTION. 
 
 There are three distinct languages, in all of which the 
 speaker has simultaneously to deliver himself : the language 
 of speech, the language of tone, and the language of action. 
 The most far-reaching of these is the language of action ; 
 the most limited in the sphere of its influence is the lan- 
 guage of speech. This is artificial; the others are natural. 
 Each of these languages is mighty within its own province, 
 but, when the influences of all are effectively combined, 
 their power is irresistible. It is the speaker's fault when 
 the attention of his audience flags, when his words are ab- 
 sorbed in the rustlings and shufflings of uninterested hear- 
 ers. The trident of oratory can command attention, even 
 from the listless, and still the vexatious murmurs of uncon- 
 cern. A flash from one of nature's batteries, a look, a 
 tone, a movement of the hand, a pause in the current of 
 sound, will arouse the dull and arrest the wandering mind. 
 There is no other such power in nature as that which the 
 consummate orator wields, alike over sense and soul. 
 
 The tendency to gesticulate is so natural that the most 
 difficult thing in oratory is to refrain from motion. If 
 speakers could stand still they would, at least, not offend : 
 they would simply fall short of the effect which appropriate 
 action would add to their delivery. But, as a general 
 rule, they neither use action nor let it alone. They shift 
 and fumble, and move to no purpose. They are not dumb 
 where they might be eloquent ; but they hum and haw in 
 motion, and fidget the eye with constrained and unneces- 
 sary transitions. Gesture is a language, and although it 
 may be foreign to our temperament to use it with volubility 
 or with emphasis, we should still, in however limited a 
 degree, employ it as a language. 
 
94 Action. 
 
 The object of action in connection with speech is not 
 to communicate thought, but to express earnestness, and 
 full possession by the thought or sentiment conveyed by 
 words. Action is wasted in merely painting the purport of 
 the accompanying language. This fault is very common. 
 Indeed, the idea which speakers seem generally to enter- 
 tain of the office of gesticulation is, precisely, this superflu- 
 ous one of verbal corroboration. A thoughtless interpre- 
 tation of the maxim " suit the action to the word " appears 
 to justify this error ; but " to the word " does not mean to 
 the grammatical word, but to the language — to the whole 
 utterance. Imitative action, so far from being suitable to 
 language, is only appropriate in ridicule and mimicry. The 
 hearer's understanding is insulted when action is converted 
 into a dictionary. 
 
 The scope of action is circumscribed in many cases. At 
 the Bar, for instance, the proximity of speaker and hearer 
 confines gesture almost to the colloquial style, in which 
 the hand is the principal agent. But the eye is not silent. 
 It holds the juror, as the Ancient Mariner held the wedding 
 guest, and " he cannot choose but hear." In the pulpit, 
 the orator has a wider field for action, as the arm, the 
 " oratorical weapon," may be fully unfolded, and the audi- 
 tors are dispersed over a greater area. But the freedom of 
 the lower limbs is wanting to produce the full effect of 
 corporeal expression. On the platform, the speaker's 
 power is extended, and the whole person contributes to 
 expressiveness : — only the influence of change of position 
 is limited. On the stage, there is no limit ; the suggestive 
 rhythm of free movement, added to the other powers in 
 their highest degree, completes the measureless possibilities 
 of dramatic art. Unfortunately, the stage can seldom be 
 referred to for models ; but if a player can, as a general 
 
Action. 95 
 
 rule, exhibit a mechanical delivery which is free from offen- 
 sive blemishes, why should not every public speaker be 
 equally cultivated in this respect ? Defects are the badge 
 of negligence only, and, therefore, removable by proper 
 study. 
 
 Some persons may be apt to think that such "small mat- 
 ters " as constitute the bulk of the principles in this volume 
 are unworthy of attention, because the mind of the speaker 
 cannot occupy itself with them in delivery ; but one who 
 is duly informed on such points, and who has made their 
 application habitual, does not require to think of them at 
 all. Of the two proverbial ways of doing everything — a 
 right and a wrong way — the one is generally quite as easy 
 as the other ; so that excellences come to be performed as 
 unconsciously as faults are committed. When we read all 
 the minutenesses which Quintilian recommends to form 
 an accomplished speaker, and compare the effects pro- 
 duced by oratory in our own day with the recorded influ- 
 ence of the artistic orators of ancient Greece and Rome, 
 we have good ground for suspecting that a want of at- 
 tention to these minutenesses may be, in reality, the chief 
 reason for the difference. He who cannot condescend to 
 " small matters " in preparation will never be great in 
 achievement; for nothing is trivial in which principle is 
 involved. 
 
Class Characteristics of Delivery. 97 
 
 XVIII. CLASS CHARACTERISTICS OF DE- 
 LIVERY. 
 
 With reference to the characteristics of delivery appro- 
 priate to different classes of speakers, a few observations 
 may not be superfluous. 
 
 A lawyer's or a merchant's clerk reading a conveyance 
 or an invoice, for the purpose of comparison with a dupli- 
 cate, will do all that is requisite if his pronunciation is dis- 
 tinct, and his voice free from any offensive quality. He is 
 not expected to comment on what he reads, by tone or 
 emphasis. His function is purely mechanical ; and he 
 does not require even to appreciate the sense, if he but 
 deliver the words intelligibly. 
 
 A lecturer must add to this a perfect acquaintance with 
 the sense, and vocal ability to communicate it without ambi- 
 guity ; together with such an amount of adaptability of 
 manner as may secure the attention and interest of his 
 hearers. He does not require a high degree of eloquence ; 
 his gesture may be of the simplest kind, and he will be 
 most effective when he is most familiar and conversational 
 in style. 
 
 A platform speaker demands larger powers of oratory. 
 His audience is a mixed one, and more impressible by dec- 
 lamation. He must present himself and his subject in a 
 pleasing manner, and use every art to convert his hearers 
 into his partisans. His pictures must be strongly painted 
 to be seen at a distance ; his voice must, therefore, be vig- 
 orous and his action animated. He must sometimes tickle 
 the unwilling ear to listen, and flatter by a show of defer- 
 ence in order to gain authority. If he can amuse by anec- 
 dote and charm by grace, his power will be established ; 
 
 7 
 
98 Class Characteristics of Delivery. 
 
 but he must never weary by monotony, or repel by pedant- 
 ry, or offend by awkwardness. He is a volunteer, and a 
 champion of the cause he espouses, and he will be par- 
 doned for excess of zeal, but not for lack of spirit. 
 
 A parliamentary or congressional speaker has a double 
 field of oratory — in the electioneering campaign, and in 
 the House. The requirements of the two are so different 
 that he is often a speaker of great promise in the one but 
 of little performance in the other. To the ordinary quali- 
 fications of the platform orator he must add an unwavering 
 confidence in the triumph of his principles and in the defeat 
 of his honourable opponents. He must, at all times, pre- 
 serve the dignity beseeming a legislator, and represent his 
 own election as a matter in which far higher than personal 
 interests are at stake. His enlightened constituents must 
 be made to feel that, in voting for him, they are performing 
 an act of far-sighted wisdom, with which he duly credits 
 them beforehand. He must bait his hooks with intel- 
 lectual flattery, and, like a cunning angler, keep himself out 
 of sight. He is a man of principle — an embodiment of 
 the sentiments of those whose suffrages he solicits; and 
 the honour which he most covets is not so much the position 
 of a legislator, as the distinction of being the representa- 
 tive of these sentiments, and of such constituents, as those 
 whom he has the honour to address. This is the key-note 
 of electioneering speech. 
 
 In the House a totally different style is requisite to estab- 
 lish an intro-mural reputation, and to influence the decisions 
 of the " ayes and noes.'' Here, the speaker stands on a 
 level with his equals, man to man, shoulder to 
 shoulder, face to face ; and it can only be by the force of 
 some real excellence, either of matter or of manner, that 
 he can so much as obtain a hearing. His auditors know 
 
Class Characteristics of Delivery. 99 
 
 the ad captandum arts of declamation, and will not tolerate 
 them on themselves. The importance of refinement of 
 manner is, however, nowhere more manifest than in the 
 legislative chamber. Honourable members have a keen eye 
 for a good model, and they will listen to a speaker for the 
 sake of his delivery, as readily as for the sake of his infor- 
 mation. Simplicity, unobtrusive grace, natural fervour, are 
 qualities which never present themselves in vain ; while 
 rant and ostentation might roar themselves hoarse amid 
 the noises of impatience — or display their impotence to 
 empty benches. But many of the orations delivered to 
 " Mr. Speaker " or " Mr. Chairman " are really addressed 
 to an audience beyond the walls ; the performance is a 
 rehearsal, and the true delivery is made by the newspapers. 
 
 The barrister has, perhaps, the most enviable of all fields 
 for the display of oratorical ability. He has scope for the 
 most unlimited versatility as he alternately wrangles with a 
 learned brother ; submits a point in law, o ran explanatory 
 hypothesis to the court ; breaks down a witness in cross- 
 examination ; or appeals to the discernment, or the preju- 
 dices, or the sympathies of the jury. Manner is all-impor- 
 tant in forensic oratory. But a high standard of effective- 
 ness is secured by the fact that success is highly and cer- 
 tainly rewarded, and that incompetency is as certainly 
 unpatronised. The measure of ability is the measure of 
 profitable employment. 
 
 The pulpit orator has not less scope for excellence in 
 manner ; and his incitements to effectiveness must be ranked 
 above those of any other class of public speakers. There 
 are material prizes in the church, as at the bar, although 
 they are not always impartially distributed, and merit may 
 strive in vain to reach the highest spheres of influence ; 
 but the good preacher does not profess to look to these for 
 
ioo Class Characteristics of Delivery. 
 
 his reward. He covets the approbation to which the earn- 
 ing of a mitre would furnish no additional claim. The 
 clergyman's manner must be manifold : reverential and 
 humble in prayer ; anxious and impressive in instruction 
 uncompromising with error ; authoritative in rebuke ; affec- 
 tionate and deeply earnest in persuasion. These qualities 
 are, no doubt, the spontaneous growth of nature ; but tares 
 are apt to spring among the wheat, and gardens to be over- 
 run with weeds ; so the natural proprieties of delivery may 
 become mixed with improprieties and derogatory charac- 
 teristics, unless the hand of art betimes root out the evil 
 and cultivate the good. 
 
 A comparison has been often made between the tame 
 delivery of the Pulpit and the impassioned utterance of the 
 Stage. The preacher has been said to pronounce truth as 
 though it were fiction, and the player to deliver fiction as 
 if it were truth. There is, often, too good ground for the 
 reproach ; and it cannot be too frequently repeated, until 
 the preacher's office is honoured by the due preparation for 
 effectiveness, which it demands from all who consider its 
 relations to the highest interest of mankind. 
 
 The delivery of the Stage is entirely distinct from every 
 other species. The orator in other departments stands 
 forth in his own person; his utterances carry with them 
 the weight of his individual or official authority, and they 
 are subject to all the disparagements that can accrue from 
 unfavourable circumstances. Not so with the actor. He 
 leaves his individuality with his out-of-door habiliments in 
 the dressing-room, and lends his animating principle to the 
 dress which moves behind the footlights ; the voice and 
 manner which we hear and see are not those of the inner 
 man, but of the animated costume; and, just in proportion 
 as the actor is lost sight of, and the creation of his art ap- 
 
Class Characteristics of Delivery. ioi 
 
 pears endowed with an independent natural life, is his per- 
 formance successful and meritorious. The breast that bears 
 the royal robes may be humble and dejected ; the head that 
 carries the calm judicial wig may be perturbed and anxious ; 
 the limbs that move the bloated and pampered presentment 
 may be lean and shrunken ; the villainy which stamps and 
 fulminates may hide a heart of Christian tenderness; the 
 mirth which sets the audience in a roar may cover an agony 
 of private sorrow. Yet, what the actor does should be, in 
 some measure, done by every speaker ; he should be so ab- 
 sorbed in his subject as to lose sight of self — and make 
 his hearers do so — in the cause which he advocates. This 
 grand quality of all delivery may be expressed in one 
 word — earnestness. Without this, neither the assumptions 
 of the player, nor the realities of the preacher, the poli- 
 tician, or the pleader, can effect their purpose, or overcome 
 the vis inertia of indifference. Earnestness will cover a 
 multitude of faults, but all the graces of eloquence will not 
 atone for its absence. Earnestness and propriety combined 
 carry all before them. These are the true elements of 
 Elocution. 
 
Defects and Impediments of Speech. 103 
 XIX. DEFECTS AND IMPEDIMENTS OF SPEECH. 
 
 ORGANIC DEFECTS. 
 
 Defects of speech of various kinds are common, but 
 defects arising from organic malformation are comparatively 
 rare. Tonsils abnormally large affect the quality of the 
 voice, but seldom create impediment to utterance. The 
 voice is, as it were, smothered within the pharynx, and can- 
 not be thrown forward without great effort. The air is 
 also prevented from access to the inner cavities of the ear, 
 and by this means the hearing is impaired. Relaxation of 
 the soft-palate, or elongation of the uvula, has a similar 
 effect in preventing free emission of the voice. Enlarge- 
 ment of the tongue renders articulation difficult and indis- 
 tinct. Encroachment by the teeth on the hollow of the 
 jaw, as by a double row of teeth, prevents the free motion 
 of the tongue. A retreating or a protruding jaw, by pre- 
 venting the lower teeth from being brought into line with 
 the upper teeth, causes some slight peculiarity of pronunci- 
 ation, affecting, chiefly, the labial consonants, in the first 
 case, and the sound of .r in the second case. Dispropor- 
 tionate height of the back teeth, by preventing a sufficiently 
 close approximation of the front ranges, also affects the 
 sound of s in the same way. The close attachment of the 
 point of the tongue to the bed of the jaw compels the for- 
 mation of t, d, n, I, r, by the top instead of the point of 
 the tongue, and gives the quality known as " thickness " to 
 utterance. 
 
 A highly arched or pointed palate also prevents the easy 
 normal formation of lingual consonants. The difficulty 
 experienced from this cause, by children, may often have 
 had an unsuspected influence in the development of serious 
 impediments of speech. An unusually high palate is 
 
io4 Defects and Impediments of Speech. 
 
 noticeable in a large proportion of stammerers, and the 
 adverse effect of such a formation can be accounted for in 
 no other way, than by its supposed influence in the for- 
 mation of early habits. 
 
 When the lips are heavy, so that they cannot be easily 
 separated at the corners, the sound of the voice is muffled, 
 as if it came through a trumpet, and all the vowels are 
 coloured with " round " quality. 
 
 A divided upper lip, or " hare-lip," merely affects the 
 labial consonants, unless, as is very often the case, the 
 division extends to the palate, when the whole of speech 
 is affected. The fissure in the palate opens into the nasal 
 channel, and when the mouth-passage is closed — as for/, t, 
 etc., — the breath cannot be shut in behind the articulating 
 organs, but escapes through the nose. The natural per- 
 cussiveness of p, t, k, etc., impossible under the circum- 
 stances, is instinctively imitated by a percussive opening of 
 the glottis ; and all the continuous consonants, as also all 
 the vowels, are nasalised. 
 
 Educational assistance can do little, in cases of organic 
 defect, until the physical causes of the defect are removed. 
 The frsenum which binds the tongue can be loosened, so 
 as to enable the tip to rise freely to the palate ; and the 
 fissure in the palate can be covered by a gold plate, by means 
 of which the power of perfect articulation can be acquired. 
 
 STUTTERING. 
 
 Involuntary actions of the organs of respiration and 
 articulation constitute impediments of speech. In one 
 variety — called stuttering — the throat-sounds or vowels, 
 fail to follow on the completion of the mouth-actions, or 
 consonants, and the latter are repeated again and again 
 before an entire syllable can be uttered. Sometimes the 
 
Defects and Impediments of Speech. 105 
 
 vowels are, in the same way, commenced a number of times 
 before a steady emission of the voice can be obtained. 
 
 The cure for stuttering lies in the cultivation of a reso- 
 nant quality and full volume of voice ; and of a light, un- 
 compressive action of the lips and tongue, in forming 
 consonants. The force of syllables must be thrown on 
 the vowel elements, and consonants treated as mouth- 
 actions, and nothing more. A slow and rhythmical utter- 
 ance is of assistance in overcoming the habit of stuttering ; 
 but the main point is to establish the proper relation between 
 vowels and consonants. The stutterer tries to speak with 
 the mouth ; he must learn to speak through the mouth, and 
 from the throat. The mouth, so far as speech is concerned, 
 is only a variable tube through which throat-sounds- are 
 emitted, and moulded in their emission ; and the mouth-tube 
 must remain as nearly as possible passive in the act of 
 speech. 
 
 stammering. 
 
 In the impediment called stammering, or spasmodic hesi- 
 tation, the vocalising part of the apparatus of speech is 
 deranged. The action of the diaphragm is reversed, and 
 breath is inhaled during efforts to articulate ; or the aper- 
 ture of the throat closes — and so prevents the formation 
 of voice — while the diaphragm makes efforts to expel the 
 breath. 
 
 The diaphragm and the glottis are often spasmodically 
 affected, and a period of silent straining precedes the choking 
 utterance. The muscles of the neck are swelled, the head 
 is rolled backwards, the eyeballs are protruded, the face is 
 suffused, and sometimes the whole body is violently con- 
 vulsed before relief is obtained in the emission of the 
 breath. 
 
106 Defects and Impediments of Speech. 
 
 These painful manifestations generally subside, as if by 
 magic, when the proper action of the diaphragm in respira- 
 tion is explained and brought into experimental use; and 
 the stammerer is sometimes led to believe himself cured in 
 a single, lesson. But the difficulty is not so easily over- 
 come. When the first transport of sudden relief subsides, 
 the old series of actions reasserts its dominion, and the 
 stammerer relapses. His impediment is now intensified by 
 disappointment ; and, unless he possesses a rare amount of 
 perseverance and hope, he fails to recover his lost ground, 
 or to profit by the principles he has learned theoretically. 
 
 The only radical cure is to be obtained by careful exer- 
 cise on the elements of speech, and practice of reading 
 and speaking under competent supervision. The " tube 
 principle " of relation of mouth to throat, as explained 
 above, must be thoroughly apprehended, and practically 
 applied until a new habit displaces the old one. A feeling 
 of confidence will grow out of a clear perception of the 
 cause of former failures, and a happy experience of suc- 
 cess ; but the stammerer may think himself fortunate if he 
 can surmount his difficulties, and also the fear associated 
 with them, by two or three months of persistent effort. 
 
 The fear connected with stammering is one of the most 
 perplexing features of the impediment. The worst stam- 
 merer will assure you that, when alone, he speaks and reads 
 with perfect fluency; but that, if he thinks he can be over- 
 heard, or if a child, or even an animal, is in the room, he 
 becomes powerless. This fear is only associated with 
 speech ; for the stammerer is rarely nervous constitutionally, 
 The natural conclusion is, that the nervousness of stam- 
 merers is the result, and not — as commonly supposed — 
 the cause, of the impediment. 
 
Defects and Impediments of Speech. 107 
 
 Sometimes a comparatively long period elapses before 
 the dread of all associated difficulties is entirely conquered. 
 A gentleman who had been in the habit, all his life, of 
 stammering frightfully on the name of an adjoining prop- 
 erty to his own, failed on that one word, for months after 
 he had no other remaining difficulty. Ultimately, however, 
 that remnant of nervousness disappeared. So, in all cases, 
 will the stammerer's nervousness subside, when the cure is 
 established in principle, and confirmed by sufficient exercise. 
 
 Many persons have supposed stammering to be heredi- 
 tary, because some stammerers have had relatives who 
 were similarly affected. But the conclusion is too hastily 
 drawn. A gentleman whose speech had all the character- 
 istics of cleft-palate was noticed to form a percussive conso- 
 nant occasionally, which proved, to a practised professional 
 ear, that the supposed fissure in the palate could not exist. 
 The gentleman was taught the proper use of his organs, and 
 learned to speak perfectly. In this case the defect had 
 been assumed to be congenital, because an elder brother 
 had hare-lip and cleft palate : but the younger had simply 
 imitated the elder. So stammering often arises from even 
 a casual imitation by a young child. But the impediment 
 does sometimes appear spontaneously. In such cases, the 
 utmost gentleness should be exercised toward the little 
 stammerer. Harshness in correction will only aggravate 
 the difficulty, by creating that dread of exhibiting the infirm- 
 ity which is the worst and most enduring characteristic 
 of the impediment. 
 
 Easy speaking depends on the management of the res- 
 piration. This is true not only in reference to stammerers, 
 but to speakers generally. The whole effort in speaking is 
 to deliver the breath outwardly, through the proper chan.' 
 nels; for which purpose the lungs must be kept sufficiently 
 charged with air. No labour is needed to replenish the 
 
io8 Defects and Impediments of Speech. 
 
 lungs ; the mere cessation of outward effort, a pause, with 
 the throat-passage open, will cause the lungs to expand under 
 atmospheric pressure. This is a principle of the utmost 
 value, which is not in general apprehended. The agent of 
 expulsion of the breath is the diaphragm. As the lungs 
 expand the diaphragm falls, causing a slight outward move- 
 ment of the abdomen ; and when the breath is delivered 
 from the lungs, the diaphragm rises, causing a slight inward 
 movement of the abdomen. 
 
 One of the best exercises to give a stammerer command 
 over the respiration is to pronounce short utterances, one 
 syllable, or one word, at first, with a regular alternation of 
 breathing pause and speaking expiration. The inspiration 
 must be absolutely noiseless, and almost imperceptible. 
 With increasing facility the utterances may be lengthened 
 until clauses and sentences flow on the expiration. 
 Laboured breathing, suction, and jerking out the breath, 
 must be carefully prevented. All random efforts must be 
 checked, and deliberate purpose substituted, for whatever 
 is attempted. Hurry is to be strictly restrained, for which 
 purpose a rhythmical utterance will be of assistance, at 
 first. A full volume of voice is to be cultivated ; and, as 
 a frequent exercise, reading and conversation with absolute 
 stillness of the mouth, as a tube. Drawling should not be 
 practised, but articulation may have any degree of rapidity • 
 because no special mode of utterance should be the final 
 result of instruction. The only particular in which a freed 
 stammerer's speech should differ from ordinary delivery 
 should be in its mechanical superiority. 
 
 ELEMENTARY DEFECTS. 
 
 A great many of the commonest defects of speech con, 
 sist merely in the substitution of one element for another. 
 
Defects and Impediments of Speech. 109 
 
 Of this character are Lisping — the substitution of th for s; 
 and Burring — the substitution of the back for the point of 
 the tongue, in pronouncing r. Some consonant actions 
 are more difficult than others for a child to acquire ; and, 
 if the juvenile imperfections are not corrected by special 
 instruction, the speaker rarely overcomes the defective 
 sounds by his own efforts, but the blemishes remain to the 
 disfigurement of adult speech. The correction can, how- 
 ever, be accomplished at any period of life. 
 
 The following are the principal of such defective sub- 
 stitutions : 
 
 (1.) T for k; d for g; and n for ng. Corrected by 
 holding down the forepart of the tongue, which compels 
 the back of the tongue to perform the defective action, in 
 the effort to pronounce the accustomed /, d or n. 
 
 (2.) Dh for r; gh (burr) for r ; I for r ; w for r. Cor- 
 rected by the development of the true sound of r, by push- 
 ing back the point of the tongue while sounding z ; or by 
 a soft reiteration of the syllable id-id-id-id, etc. ; or by both 
 expedients, used alternately. 
 
 (3.) Th for .f ; Welsh // for s ; sh for s ; nh for s ; f for j. 
 Corrected by development of the sharp hiss of s, by push- 
 ing back the tip of the tongue while sounding th ; by lifting 
 the point of the tongue while sounding sh ; or by gently 
 holding down the tip of the tongue so as to flatten it, while 
 making the effort to sound a non-vocal r ; at the same time 
 preventing any emission of breath through the nose, and 
 any motion of the lips. 
 
 (4.) Dh for z ; the vocal form of Welsh // for z; zh for z; 
 v for z. These are the same defects as the preceding, but 
 affecting the vocal forms of the consonants. The sound of z 
 will be developed by pushing back the tip of the tongue while 
 sounding^; by lifting the point, while sounding zh ; or 
 
no Defects and Impediments of Speech. 
 
 by holding down the tip while sounding r ; and at the 
 same time preventing the lips from moving. 
 
 (5.) Fiox th; v for dh. Corrected by holding down the 
 lower lip, and so compelling the tongue to do its own work. 
 
 (6.) 5 for sh ; Welsh // for sh. Corrected by develop- 
 ment of the characteristic hiss olsh which is obtained from 
 s by holding down the point of the tongue ; or from a non- 
 vocal y by pushing up the forepart of the tongue. 
 
 (7.) Z for zh ; the vocal form of Welsh // for zh. These 
 are the same defects as the preceding, but affecting the 
 vocal forms of the consonants. Z will be modified into zh 
 by holding down the point of the tongue ; or y will be con- 
 verted into zh by raising the forepart' of the tongue. 
 
 (8.) L for r. This is a very common defect among chil- 
 dren. The sound of / will be obtained by opening the mouth 
 widely and striking the point of the tongue repeatedly and 
 firmly against the upper gum while sounding a vowel. 
 Thus, ah-l-ah-l-ah-l-ah, etc. 
 
 (9.) Ng for /. This defect will be corrected by practis- 
 ing the lingual action of /, as above, and at the same time 
 holding the nostrils to prevent any emission through the 
 nose. 
 
 (10.) Wioi I ; w for r. These defects will be corrected 
 by holding the lips apart while practising the lingual actions 
 of / and r. 
 
 The ability to form the various elements in the foregoing 
 category, as individual sounds, is in general acquired with 
 readiness ; but the substitution of the new for the old 
 habitual sound in words and sentences is not accomplished 
 without difficulty. In nothing is the power of habit more 
 strongly felt than in the organic associations of speech. The 
 attempt to introduce a newly acquired element, at once, 
 into reading and speaking will be attended by a dishearten- 
 
Defects and Impediments of Speech. hi 
 
 ing number of failures. To avoid these, the element should 
 be practised separately, or in combination with a single 
 vowel, until it can be pronounced with ease and certainty. 
 Then the consonant combinations into which the element 
 enters should be repeated, again and again, with single 
 vowels ; and not until these are mastered should the sound 
 be introduced into words and sentences. At first the 
 acquired sound should be slightly prolonged at each recur- 
 rence ; until, in this way, a habit is formed of pronouncing 
 it correctly, without special effort. A few hours, or, at most, 
 days, should suffice for the obliteration of any of the ele- 
 mentary defects. 
 
Orthography. 113 
 
 XX. ORTHOGRAPHY. 
 
 The confusion between letters and sounds in English is 
 so great, that efforts have, again and again, been made to 
 reduce our writing to something more of consistency and 
 rule. A few changes which have been, of late years, 
 introduced by lexicographers are now widely adopted, 
 although they are not, in all cases, alterations for the 
 better. If economy of type and of printing space were 
 the object of change, the writing of one letter instead of 
 two, would necessarily be an improvement ; but such 
 economy is not the object of spelling-reformers. Their 
 aim is the laudable one to make the written word more 
 nearly accordant with the spoken word. 
 
 .With only twenty- six letters in the alphabet, and some 
 of these redundant, the use of digraphs for single sounds 
 cannot be avoided ; nor can diacritic marks (such as 
 u *) be dispensed with for the distinction of different 
 sounds of the same letters. The scheme of elementary 
 notation shown under the head of " English Phonetic 
 Elements,'' makes the fewest possible number of changes 
 of spelling, in order to show pronunciation ; but such a 
 means of discrimination is not intended, or recommended, 
 for general adoption, because, even with this comparatively 
 simple arrangement of signs, dhe fonetik riting ov Ingglish, 
 bi menz ov Roman liters, wood awMr dhe hoi dspekt ov dhe 
 langgwij. 
 
 Few persons carry their desire for spelling reform quite 
 to this extent, but they confine their attention to some of 
 the most obvious orthographic anomalies. Thus er is 
 substituted for re in theatre ; iho for though ; plow for 
 plough ; t for ed in passed, stopped, locked, etc. Of the same 
 
 8 
 
ii4 Orthography. 
 
 nature would be the omission of dispensable letters in 
 digraphs; as i from friend y a from heady o from leopard, 
 etc. These are changes in the right direction, and many 
 more of a similar kind might be advocated ; but some of 
 the alterations which have been introduced are not to be 
 commended. For example, the omission of e in judgement, 
 which violates one of the few absolute phonetic rules of 
 our language: namely, that £■ before a consonant always has 
 its " hard " sound. And what shall be said of the altera- 
 tion which retains the silent letter of a combination, and 
 discards the letter which is pronounced ? 
 
 Such is the result when the termination our is contracted 
 into or. This change is altogether in the wrong direction, 
 because the termination is pronounced ur and not or. 
 Previously to this innovation, the termination or was con- 
 fined, almost exclusively, to personal nouns, such , as 
 creator, orator, sailor, senator, testator, tutor, etc. ; and the 
 termination our to words of an impersonal nature, such as 
 candour, favour, labour, rancour, splendour, vapour, etc. 
 The distinction may have been of little importance, and 
 unsustained by any difference in the etymology of the 
 syllable ; but, such as it was, it had become established in 
 the language, and with the confusion of our and or, the 
 distinction disappears. 
 
 A phonetic spelling is important to children in learning 
 to read, and to foreigners in acquiring English ; but to 
 persons who have passed through the rudiments of the 
 language, and are prepared to profit by works of literature, 
 the phonetic method has not a corresponding value. On 
 the contrary, each word, as an element of thought, is 
 associated with its orthographic outline, pictorially, in the 
 mind, and the accustomed eye is perplexed and annoyed 
 by phonetic distortion of the familiar word. 
 
Orthography. 115 
 
 An entirely separate system of letters is extremely 
 desirable for the uniform representation of sounds which 
 are diversely written in different languages ; and the 
 employment of such a phonetic alphabet — as it does not 
 interfere with old associations — can excite no hostility 
 among the most conservative of scholars. The physio- 
 logical letters of " Visible Speech " are designed to serve 
 this international purpose, without disturbance of estab- 
 lished usage in the writing of any language. 
 
 The Roman alphabet is, however, susceptible of being 
 used for phonetic initiation. A little nursery book pub- 
 lished by the author, about 30 years ago, (entitled " Letters 
 and Sounds ") introduced a method which was tested at 
 the time, in many families and some private schools, with 
 results rivalling those obtained with the Phonetic Primers 
 then recently published by Messrs. Pitman & Ellis. In the 
 latter, a system of phonetic types was employed, but in 
 " Letters and Sounds " the common alphabet was used. 
 The full orthography of each word was printed, to accus- 
 tom the eye to the presence of silent letters ; but the 
 latter were shown in subordinate type. 
 
 This little book having long been out of print, the follow- 
 ing outline of its method may be of some future service. 
 All the early lessons were illustrated by pictures illustrative 
 of the sounds of the letters ; such as a boy holding out his 
 hurt hand (p) ; a girl holding up her hands in wonder (eh / 
 =a), etc. 
 
 The first lesson introduced the letters a, o, s, and con- 
 nected them in a little reading exercise made up of the 
 words so, sa", so"- The second lesson added the letters m, 
 p, i, and in the reading exercise made use of such words as 
 dm, mo", ma", ma i m,pa'', ap", mop", so"p, ap's ; the words 
 being worked up into sentences with the pronoun I. The 
 
n6 Orthography. 
 
 third lesson introduced the letters h, sh; and furnished such 
 new words as ha 3 , ho', hi gh , hH 9l, t, hom", hop, sham", sho". 
 The fourth added the letters t, k ; and swelled the vocabu- 
 lary with such words as o"t, o°-k, sit', si gll t, sa&", scfk, smofr, 
 shak", st'ak. The fifth lesson introduced the letters /, n ; 
 adding such words as fi ', fo°, fi s H, fdk, saf", ftfm, na v , 
 h no w , ni^l, o"n, nam", k nif", so w n, ste"m, sion', etc. The sixth 
 lesson introduced /, e, and added largely to the available 
 vocabulary. The seventh presented u, th; the eighth, v, z; 
 the ninth, r ; the tenth, 6, d, g; the eleventh, y, oo, w, wh ; 
 the twelfth, q, c, ch, and the thirteenth, ;', g (soft). 
 
 In the fourteenth lesson, the " short," or second sounds 
 of the vowels were for the first time brought forward ; and 
 reading exercises filled up the next two sections ; after 
 which the alphabet was completed by the letter x. Addi- 
 tional sounds, such as ah, aw, er, etc. ; and the different 
 sounds of c , g, ch, etc. ; were subsequently introduced, one 
 by one. The little learners were delighted at being able 
 to read, from the very first lesson ; and before half of the 
 twenty-two sections had been gone through, they took 
 pleasure in picking out words which they recognised in 
 ordinary books. 
 
 This method has since been imitated in school-books 
 now in extensive use; the difference being that, in the 
 latter, the silent letters are printed in a light, thin type, 
 instead of in the "superior" small type used in "Letters 
 and Sounds," Were some such plan adopted generally, 
 in the nursery and the primary school, and in teaching 
 illiterate adults, we should hear less of the need of " spell- 
 ing reform." A better initiatory use may be made of 
 present materials; and, after initiation, the pupil's eye 
 becomes his teacher in the art of spelling. Nevertheless, 
 many orthographic anomalies exist, which should be re- 
 
Orthography. 117 
 
 moved in order to facilitate the learner's task as far as 
 possible. 
 
 A complete reformation of spelling is not to be hoped 
 for, — seeing that it would antiquate our whole literature ; 
 but the inconvenience attending our present orthography 
 may be obviated in another way : namely, by teaching 
 children, first, to read from purely phonetic letters, and 
 then — using the latter as a key — introducing at once 
 the ordinary letters, in words, presented as pictures, as 
 wholes, incapable of analysis letter by letter. The eye 
 would thus become accustomed to the significant varia- 
 tions of orthography, which are never practically learned 
 by rule. 
 
Visibility of Speech. 119 
 
 XXI. VISIBILITY OF SPEECH. 
 
 The art of reading inaudible speech from the motions of 
 the mouth is one which is sometimes of great importance. 
 Many persons totally deaf exhibit a surprising facility in 
 understanding what a speaker says. The facility is sur- 
 prising because many of the motions of speech are made 
 at the back of the mouth, and cannot be seen ; and of the 
 visible actions of the tongue and the lips scarcely one is 
 free from possible ambiguity of interpretation. An exam- 
 ination of the physiological letters of " Visible Speech," 
 that is — letters by which the organic actions of speech are 
 symbolised — will show what elements are liable to confusion 
 by the eye, and also, precisely, what is the amount of such 
 possible confusion. 
 
 Those elements which have the same outline in the physi- 
 ological letters look alike in speech. Thus, p, b and m 
 are seen to be indistinguishable by the eye when spoken ; 
 so also are t, d and n ; and k, g and ng. When a deaf 
 reader, therefore, sees a speaker pronounce the word pay, 
 he cannot be certain whether the word is not may or bay ; 
 but he knows that it is one of the three, and the context 
 in which the word is used directs him to the right selection. 
 
 The number of words from which a speech-reader has 
 to make immediate mental choice is often perplexingly 
 large in the case of monosyllables ; and these are, there- 
 fore, the most difficult words to decipher. Thus when a 
 speaker says the word man, the visible action may mean 
 any one out of no fewer than the twelve words : man, ban, 
 pan, mad, bad, pad, mat, bat, pat, manned, band, pant. The 
 right interpretation will, in such a case, test the ability of 
 
i2o Visibility of Speech. 
 
 the reader. But the context will usually suggest the appro- 
 priate word. For example, in the following sentences : 
 
 There is a strange at the door. 
 
 He wiped his feet on the . 
 
 Cook wants a smaller frying . 
 
 He acted as if he had gone -. 
 
 He seems to be under a . 
 
 Tom has broken his . 
 
 I fear he is a very boy. 
 
 He gave his brother a on the cheek. 
 
 There was a fine of music. 
 
 The sailors the boat. 
 
 His running has made him . 
 
 He should wear a over his chest. 
 
 Longer words than monosyllables rarely present an am 
 biguity extending over more than two or three words ; and 
 a large proportion of polysyllabic words are absolutely 
 free from ambiguity in their visible pronunciation. 
 
 On the same principle, the ambiguity of monosyllables 
 is greatly reduced when the words are phraseologically 
 united ; so that sentences are much more easily deciphered 
 than individual words. 
 
 The physiological letters for the following pairs of ele- 
 ments show, by their uniformity of outline for the elements 
 in each pair, that these are among the sounds which can- 
 not be distinguished by the eye when spoken : 
 / v ; wh w ; th dh ; 
 s z ; sh zh ; yh y. 
 
 The six actions of the mouth which produce these twelve 
 consonants are visibly different one from the other, but the 
 two elements in each pair have precisely the same organic 
 action, and can only be distinguished by the speech-reader's 
 appreciation of the context. A very full acquaintance 
 with the words of the language, and a perfect knowledge 
 
Visibility of Speech. 121 
 
 of the mechanism of elementary sounds are, therefore, ob- 
 viously, pre-requisites for the successful interpretation of 
 inaudible speech. 
 
 Much also depends on distinctness of articulation by the 
 speaker ; and something — in most cases — on familiarity 
 with the speaker's idiosyncrasies of utterance ; but many 
 speech-readers may be found who have attained to such 
 facility and accuracy, that they will interpret the speech of 
 a stranger as readily as that of an intimate friend. 
 
 The chief difficulty lies in the recognition of consonants 
 formed behind the point of the tongue, and especially of 
 those formed by the back of the tongue ; and in discrimi- 
 nating such consonants from vowels and the aspirate h. 
 
 With regard to the distinctions of vowels themselves 
 there is little difficulty, because speech is intelligible, how- 
 ever imperfect, when the delicate varieties of vowel sound 
 heard in refined pronunciation are unheeded. Thus in 
 stenography, if the position where a vowel sound occurs is 
 indicated, the writing is sufficiently decipherable by one 
 who has a competent knowledge of the words of the lan- 
 guage. The principal vowel sounds have well-marked dif- 
 ferences in the visible shape of the mouth ; and deaf 
 speakers can be taught to discriminate these, while they do 
 not require to study minute accuracy, in reference to the 
 minor shades of vowel sound. A very limited range of 
 vowels suffices for mere intelligibility. 
 
Imitation. 123 
 
 XXII. IMITATION. 
 Man is an imitative being. What the child sees and 
 hears, it does : imitation is its instinct. This faculty is 
 strongest when the intellect is weakest. As the power of 
 reasoning and reflecting strengthens, the instinct of imita- 
 tion loses force. Instinct levels each tribe of animals to a 
 common standard. Reason elevates individuals from the 
 general rank, and dignifies them with a specialty of endow- 
 ments. Thus the bird builds its nest and whistles its 
 melody, now, as in the first springtime of creation ; but 
 the handiworks of man and his utterances vary in every 
 age and in every clime. All children resemble each other 
 in infancy ; with growth comes, by imitation, likeness to the 
 near, and, by consequence, difference from the distant; 
 and only with maturity of mind is developed difference 
 from the near, or individuality and independence of 
 character. The latter quality is possessed proportionately 
 with the amount of intellectual power. Thus the un- 
 reasoning mob is swayed by a prevailing prejudice, or 
 " blown about with every wind of doctrine " like the mass 
 of ocean by the tidal force, or the whirling storm ; the 
 thinking few direct their course for themselves, like the 
 steamship on the deep, which crosses currents, stems op- 
 posing tides, and steers its pathway even in the wind's eye. 
 The man of genius is, of all others, the least amenable to 
 ordinary laws and customs ; the man of lowest intellect 
 is, of all others, the greatest slave of usage and prescription. 
 Great men are original ; ordinary men are imitative. 
 And well for the world is it that they are so ; for thus 
 greatness is reflected and multiplied, and a nation is 
 elevated by an individual. In this way, too, the common 
 standard of humanity is raised, and the greatness of one 
 
124 Imitation. 
 
 age becomes the mediocrity of the next. The generality 
 of men tread in the beaten ways of their fathers ; but 
 genius — erratic and adventurous — strikes out new tracks, 
 and leaves behind it " footprints on the sands of time " 
 which the after-ages follow. 
 
 Imitation — the early instinct of our species — grows less 
 and less powerful as men advance either from childhood to 
 adolescence, or from barbarism to civilisation. Imitation 
 is the natural principle of development in the lower grades 
 of humanity ; but reason, which modifies its influence in the 
 higher grades, supplants it entirely in the highest. Imita- 
 tion gives rise to specific rules; reason evolves guiding 
 principles. The object of rules is to produce uniformity 
 in practice ; and conformity is most necessary, and rules are 
 most stringent, where the power of self-direction is weakest. 
 Thus the private soldier is the slave of rule, and each 
 man is, by studied imitation, but the repetition of his 
 comrade ; while the leader of an army stands alone in 
 freedom to exercise discretion and independent judgement. 
 Imitation is thus, on the whole, most widely operative 
 where intelligence is lowest ; and rules — the development 
 of imitation — are necessary most, where reason is least 
 exerted. 
 
 The principle of imitation plays an important part in 
 education. Children, being naturally apt to imitate, 
 assurire the manner with the speech of their parents or 
 nurses ; and school-boys learn as n.uch indirectly by imi- 
 tation, as they do by direct instruction. Hence, it is 
 important that the models set before children, in the 
 nursery and at school, should be such as may profitably 
 be imitated, since copied they will be. A lisping or a 
 stammering nurse will infect her young charge ; and, at 
 school, a prominent peculiarity in master or companion 
 
Imitation. 125 
 
 will repeat itself in others of the juveniles, either by con- 
 scious mimicry, or by the unconscious influence of the 
 imitative principle. The fact of this tendency to imitate 
 we must accept as an inevitable necessity, but we should 
 endeavour to counteract its evils by the constant applica- 
 tion of a higher principle in teaching : — by training the 
 reasoning powers at every step, and by discouraging as 
 much as possible the inherent tendency to imitate. 
 
 Even in the study of what are called the " imitative 
 arts," there must be a higher principle than imitation as 
 the basis of instruction. We learn to write by copying the 
 models set before us, but if we merely copy these, with- 
 out a knowledge of the principles which promote facility 
 in execution, our efforts will be laborious, and our success 
 slow and limited ; whereas if, from the first, the hand is 
 directed in its movements, and the mind informed of the 
 principle of easy motion, the pupil may develop the prin- 
 ciple even further, and reach a higher degree of excellence 
 than the master had attained, or the copy had exhibited. 
 Imitation thus limits advancement to the level of the 
 model ; whereas, perfection may lie beyond and above it. 
 
 In nothing is the principle of imitation more directly 
 and manifestly exercised than in speech, yet nowhere are 
 we more unconscious of the influence. The instinctive 
 effort of the child is to reproduce the utterances of its. 
 nurse, and thus, the language of the young takes not only 
 a national form, but also family characteristics and indi- 
 vidual peculiarities. This is the source of the entail so 
 frequently observed in families, remarkable for the same 
 vices of articulation appearing in successive generations. 
 And the instinct of imitation is later exercised in connec- 
 tion with speech than with any other faculty. Even grown- 
 up persons are, to the last, insensibly affected by the pre- 
 
126 Imitation. 
 
 vailing utterance around them, and, little by little, acquire 
 the distinctive tones and pronunciations of the dialect to 
 which their ears are daily accustomed. And not without 
 effort is this propensity resisted. Early habits are not 
 eradicated but they are modified, and there is a curious 
 intermixture of the native with the later-acquired dialect 
 which indicates nationality of birth and locality of resi- 
 dence at the same time. 
 
 The difference between the imitative aptitude of children 
 and adults is strikingly exemplified in the families of for- 
 eign immigrants, the children in which rapidly learn to 
 speak English without a trace of peculiarity, while the 
 parents never acquire the like ability. There is an articu- 
 lation in the Welsh language which every child " to the 
 manner born" pronounces instinctively with accuracy. It 
 is the sound of //. Persons have been known to be in 
 daily intercourse with Welsh families for years without 
 being able, by imitation, to master this peculiar sound; 
 while, at the same time, no person fails to pronounce it 
 correctly almost at the first effort when its mechanism is 
 explained. The same thing is observable in connection 
 with the French semi-nasal sounds. Every French infant 
 utters them spontaneously, but very few of the learners in 
 our schools deliver them successfully after months of imi- 
 tative effort ; unless where, by exception, the teacher has 
 been able to assist the awkwardness of imitation by explain- 
 ing the organic formation of the sounds. 
 
 From the scope of these observations the reader will 
 deduce, that the principle of imitation is to be repudiated 
 in connection with Elocution ; yet this has been generally 
 assumed to be the chief, if not the only standard in the 
 teaching of this art. "Read as I- read;" "Speak as I 
 speak ; " " Listen to the best speakers and learn from 
 
Imitation. 
 
 127 
 
 them ; " " Open your ears to the speaking of good society 
 and copy it;" "Set before you a master whose delivery 
 may serve you as a model ; " — these are the axioms of the 
 advisers of young men who would be orators. But the 
 axioms are wrong ; the advice is wrong ; the principle on 
 which the counsel is founded is wrong. Some of the 
 most eminent instructors in the art of singing have been 
 no vocalists themselves ; a writing master might be para- 
 lytic ; a blind man could teach instrumental fingering. 
 There are principles on which all teaching should proceed, 
 and these may be practically inculcated, and competently 
 superintended in application, by one who might never 
 once present a model of execution to his pupils. 
 
 One who forms his style of speaking from that of an 
 orator of note, is very apt to imitate more than the beauties 
 of his model. These are, in general, the least prominent 
 characteristics, and they have their sources in the ripeness 
 of intellect and the stores of experience which cannot be 
 imitated offhand. The assumed model has the prestige of 
 an established name, and is therefore looked on with an 
 eye of reverence and the partiality of admiration. Such 
 a man may take a licence to speak and act in a manner 
 that would be fatal to an orator of inferior rank ; and 
 where there is most genius there is often most eccentricity. 
 The singularities of such a speaker the youthful orator is 
 in danger of adopting and confounding with the marks of 
 excellence ; thus copying the defects and blemishes which 
 are only tolerated in the original by their association with 
 higher qualities. 
 
 Manner is, besides, an essential part of individuality; 
 and characteristics of style, separated from the individual 
 of whose temperament and antecedents they are the natural 
 growth and expression, would be unnatural and pre- 
 
i28 Imitation. 
 
 posterous. Thus the manner which is just, striking and 
 consistent 'in one man, might be forced and incongruous 
 in another. Manner to be agreeable and effective, must 
 be the indigenous product of one's own qualities and cir- 
 cumstances ; its roots must lie in native soil ; it will not 
 bear transplanting. The produce of transplanted manner, 
 at the best, is affectation. 
 
 What, then, is the elocutionist to do ? For manner is the 
 object of his culture. He must act the part of a skilful 
 gardener, who does not graft a rose-bud on an apple-tree, 
 or seek to- train all growths according to one plan; but 
 who studies to extend the capabilities of every species, and 
 whose aim is not to foster sameness but to engender 
 difference. Elocutionary instruction must prune and 
 nourish; its object must be development not transforma- 
 tion ; its end not uniformity but multiplied variety. The 
 principle of imitation is, then, at variance with the funda- 
 mental idea of education, which is culture ; the drawing 
 out of that which is within ; the fertilising of the mind ; 
 and the training of its spontaneous products. 
 
 When, therefore, we see an example of excellence in 
 any art, we may worthily emulate it, but not imitate. 
 Emulation is an ennobling principle ; imitation is a debas- 
 ing one. If we admire the clear pronunciation of a 
 speaker, his expressiveness of voice, or his elegance or 
 appropriateness of gesture, let us, instead of copying, strive 
 to emulate him in the application of those qualities and 
 principles which render his delivery effective. In this way, 
 we may, in the end excel him : by imitating him we never 
 should. 
 
 Shakespeare has, in a speech in " Hamlet,'' given a 
 perfect compendium of the principles of delivery; and 
 some persons fancy that they have in this speech the 
 
Imitation. 129 
 
 authority of the great dramatist for upholding the principle 
 of imitation ; for does not Hamlet, it is said, begin his 
 advice to the players with these words : " Speak the speech, 
 I pray you, as I pronounced it to you ? " The words, it is 
 true, are used, but the sentiment is not. The advice is : 
 "Speak the speech, I pray you, trippingly on the tongue," 
 and the words " as I pronounced it to you " form an inter- 
 polated observation, or parenthesis. Shakespeare, so far 
 from teaching that a speaker should form his style of de- 
 livery upon the model of another's manner,, bases his instruc- 
 tion solely upon principles, clear, definite, and of universal 
 application. He says : 
 
 " Pronounce your speech trippingly on the tongue ; " and 
 so avoid drawling, mouthing, and rhythmical sing-song. 
 
 " Do not saw the air too much with your hands;" but 
 have a purpose of expression in your motions. 
 
 " But use all gently ; " all ; your hearer's ears, your own 
 muscles, and the reading-desk. 
 
 " Even in the very whirlwind of your passion, you must 
 acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smooth- 
 ness." 
 
 '"Tis not in speakers to command assent. 
 The judgement must be wooed ere it is won." 
 
 " Be not too tame neither ; but " (and here is the very 
 opposite of imitation) " let your own -discretion be your 
 tutor." In all things study fitness : " suit the action to 
 the word,* the word to the action;" and do not bawl out 
 the language of humility, or whine forth, with a tone of 
 lugubriousness, words of joy and hope and consolation ; do 
 not stamp and thunder with an air of passion, when . you 
 speak of love and mercy and gentleness; or drone out 
 utterances of reproof, appeal and argument. 
 
 *See "Action." 
 
130 Imitation. 
 
 Lastly, and above all, he adds : 
 
 " With this special observance, that you o'erstep not the 
 modesty of nature." Be natural. Speak, whether in the 
 pulpit or on the platform, as you would elsewhere ; and 
 deliver your prepared addresses-as you do your spontaneous 
 conversation. This is the sum of Shakespeare's advice; 
 and what more can be said ? 
 
 Imitation is not without its value as an improver of 
 manners, when it is used to supply the want referred to by 
 Robert Burns: 
 
 " O wad some power the giftie gie us 
 
 To see oursels as ithers see us ! 
 
 It wad frae mony a blunder free us. " 
 
 In this way, we are frequently made conscious of some 
 peculiarity or ungainliness, which we did not realise until 
 we had seen it imitated. But there is a limit to the profitable 
 exercise of this principle. It would be reprehensible wanton- 
 ness to imitate the hobbling gait of a man with a broken 
 leg; while it might be genuine kindness to mimic the 
 swagger or the shuffle of one who had only fallen into 
 a preventible bad habit. We may, as a general rule, 
 advantageously take off such faults as are only put on — 
 whether unwittingly or from affectation. But anything 
 beyond a person's power to remedy is no fit subject for 
 mimicry. Instances are common of children imitating a 
 squint or a stammer, until the propensity has become irre- 
 sistible, and the little mimics have remained permanently 
 affected with what they copied in idleness and mischief. 
 " Mocking is catching," says an old maxim ; and when the 
 mocker is not punished with the defect, he sometimes prop- 
 erly " catches it " in a more summary manner. 
 
 The principle of imitation is often subtly involved in the 
 elementary construction of words ; such as hop, twitter, 
 
Imitation. 13 r 
 
 boom, bang, jerk. Each elementary sound has an expres- 
 siveness of its own, which may be traced in a large number 
 of the monosyllables of all languages. Thus the vowel aw 
 is a long-faced sound, and it therefore expresses solemnity ; 
 while ah is a broad-faced sound, expressive of sprightliness 
 or laughter. Consistently with %iis, lah .' is a light and 
 flippant ejaculation, while law ! as everybody knows, is a 
 serious matter. 
 
 The same principle of phonetic imitativeness is largely 
 used by poets in the construction of their measures, as well 
 as in their choice of words. Pope says : 
 
 ' ' True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, 
 As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 
 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence, 
 The sound must seem an echo to the sense." 
 
 Imitation has its degrees, from the simple etching of out- 
 lines, to the full painting of detail, and filling in of light 
 and shade. Of the first kind is the imitation of nationality 
 in pronunciation, or of class characteristics ; as when, in 
 relating an anecdote or repeating a conversation, one 
 should speak with the broken English of a Frenchman, 
 the brogue of an Irishman, or the pronominal singularity 
 of a Quaker; with the illiterate slang of a city Arab, or 
 the spoiled melody of a sing-song preacher. The second 
 kind of imitation descends from the general to the par- 
 ticular, and includes the minutest personalities ; as when 
 one illustrates the peculiarities not of a Frenchman but of 
 some particular Frenchman. The first kind is, properly, 
 imitation ; the second is mimicry. The one is a pre- 
 Raphaelite painting, a marvel of accuracy in drawing and 
 minuteness of finish; the other a production of the later 
 schools of art, in which concentration of effect, rather than 
 general elaboration, is aimed at. As applied to delivery, 
 
132 Imitation. 
 
 the first kind of imitation is proper to reading, the second 
 to acting. Versatility is the prime requisite in reading; 
 consistency in acting. An actor's training, therefore, may 
 differ widely from that of any other speaker. Imitative 
 instruction may profit the player, while it would spoil the 
 preacher. An actor's b(siness is to make himself master 
 of the qualities which a certain line of characters calls into 
 action. With these, limited in range but highly developed 
 in degree, he may attain to eminence in his department. 
 A preacher, or a pleader must have qualifications less 
 perfect, it may be, but more general. In order to take 
 high rank, he must 
 
 . " Know all qualities, 
 With a learned spirit, of human dealings." 
 
 When imitation is set aside as a method of instruction, 
 the minds of both teacher and taught are fixed upon the 
 rationale of the subject of study. To teach rationally is, 
 however, less easy than to teach by example ; and it is, 
 also, more difficult to follow a precept than to imitate a 
 model. But the difficulties are chiefly rudimental, and, 
 when these are surmounted, the delight of learning and 
 the pleasure of teaching are ever increasing and ever new. 
 Besides, to profit by imitation, the model should be 
 constantly changed. Variety of example is a necessity, or 
 imitation becomes wearisome. But to develop a principle 
 is a source of perpetual enjoyment, and to trace it in its 
 varied applications is a work of sustained interest and 
 gratification. A principle is a seed which yields its increase 
 to the end of life. Imitation is a weed which overruns 
 uncultivated ground, and should be rooted out by careful 
 husbandry. 
 
 Impatient learners of elocution are apt to wish for a 
 harvest without a seed-time. That which should be last is 
 
Imitation. 133 
 
 sought for first. But the order of nature cannot be vio- 
 lated. The popular idea, indeed, is that Elocution means 
 simply recitation, or declamation ; and teachers have too 
 often limited instruction to this department. But the prac- 
 tice is absurd, and the result mischievous. We cannot 
 write well with a bad pen ; . and, on the same principle, the 
 tongue, the voice, the hand — the instruments of oratory — 
 must be adjusted to perform their functions properly, 
 before they are brought into combined action in reading 
 or reciting. 
 
 The cultivation of vocal expressiveness, by mastering all 
 the varieties of the tones of speech, (see " Tones of 
 Speech ") is an object well worthy of the student's utmost 
 effort. The Gamut of tones is used to its full extent, 
 instinctively, in conversation, by almost every individual, 
 especially by children, yet there are very few persons who 
 make use of any similar variety of intonation in reading. 
 Not all the rules that elocutionists have ever devised, nor 
 all the models that could be imitated from all ranks of 
 speakers, could do so much to harmonise the tones of 
 reading with those of spontaneous speaking, as the study 
 and practice of these simple elements of natural expression. 
 The practical value of exercise on the individual tones 
 exceeds that of any other means of vocal culture. No 
 voice that the most apt imitator could echo would furnish 
 more than a small proportion of the amount of possible 
 tonic diversity, or of the variety attainable by one who, 
 with competent endowments, should enter, with an artist's 
 zeal, upon the study of the elements of intonation. The 
 imitative speaker is like a musician who plays by ear — 
 and whose tunes are therefore limited by his own experi- 
 ence — as compared with one who can awake the silent 
 harmonies of the written page, and reproduce the melodies 
 
i34 Imitation. 
 
 of other times and countries. Untutored orators speak 
 by ear, while they revolve their little sets of styles and 
 mannerisms ; the truly cultivated speaker is spontaneously 
 varied in his effects, and his voice has no more predispo- 
 sition to any habitual tune, than has a flute or a fiddle. 
 
 It should be impossible for a hearer to predicate from an 
 orator's delivery either his province or his profession ; yet 
 how few are there who are free from dialectic or profes- 
 sional twangs ! It is natural enough for the street-hawker, 
 the town-crier, the cheap John, and the showman to exhibit 
 class characteristics in their oratorial callings ; but why 
 should we have among educated speakers the almost 
 equally marked varieties of the forensic voice, the lay 
 religious voice, and the clerical voice ? The existence of 
 these is a reproach to education, which is, in this particu- 
 lar, far behind the refinement of eighteen centuries ago ; 
 and it is an especial scandal to our colleges and universi- 
 ties, that they so generally discourage by neglect the study 
 of that art which is the exponent of all learning, and with- 
 out which knowledge is shorn of its influence, and litera- 
 ture of its vitality. 
 
Reading and Readers. 135 
 
 XXIII. READING AND READERS. 
 The Art of Reading presents a subject as interesting as 
 it is extensive. Reading embraces all the persons in the 
 conjugation : 
 
 I read, thou readest, he reads and she reads, 
 
 We read, you read, they read. 
 All the pronouns read except one — "it." It can't read. 
 Reading needs comprehension, and the grammatical " its " 
 are not comprehended in the comprehending class. The 
 power of reading is thus co-extensive with the power of 
 comprehending. The power of speaking is generally 
 reckoned the distinguishing faculty of man ; but, as some 
 birds can speak, and all animals do communicate intelli- 
 gence by sounds of some sort, the power of reading would, 
 perhaps, better symbolise man's intellectual superiority. 
 Dogberry thought that " reading and writing come by 
 nature." Speaking does : the active imitative principle in 
 man compels him to do what others do ; he therefore speaks 
 as he hears others speak : — English in Britain and the 
 United States ; French in France ; Dutch, Greek, Gaelic, 
 or Hottentot where these prevail ; with a nasal twang in 
 one district; with a guttural rasp in another; and with the 
 lisp or the stammer of his family examples in all parts of 
 the world. We can't help speaking, but we need a great 
 deal of help to enable us to read. To speak is human, but 
 to read is divine ; it is the divinity, the intelligence in man, 
 that reads. 
 
 Reading is the first of human blessings : the power is 
 native to us ; the education, or drawing out of the power 
 is the work of industry and taste. Reading is the chief of 
 all the arts of life. It annihilates for the mind all obstacles 
 of time and space. The records of the past, the events of 
 
136 Reading and Readers. 
 
 the distant, it makes present to us. The thoughts of ancient 
 sages, and of contemporary philosophers, the imaginings of 
 the poet, the inventions of genius, and the discoveries of 
 science, it makes our property, our inheritance, and our 
 legacy to future generations. Bound to the earth as we 
 are, born of the dust and to the dust returning, our span of 
 days would pass in ignorance and end in oblivion, but for 
 the blessed agency which entails to us the accumulated in- 
 telligence of past ages, and .secures to us its life-rent enjoy- 
 ment, and to posterity our increase of the rich possession. 
 
 Reading implies writing, and writing must have preceded 
 reading. The arts have a common object ; they are one, 
 in fact, but " male and female — useless one without the 
 other." With the invention of writing, and by consequence 
 of reading, began the history of man. All before is dark. 
 Men lived and died, and left no memorial save their bones. 
 Their knowledge perished with them, or only a vague 
 tradition of it survived. They wrote their early progress in 
 the flints with which they killed the beasts of the forest or 
 the fatlings of the flock; in the huts they built, the skins 
 they wore, the clay vessels they baked in the sun or hard- 
 ened in the fire ; only in these mechanical productions, 
 during their long lease of pre-historic barren life. 
 
 The pictorial representation of familiar objects gave 
 origin to the arts of writing and reading; pictures gave 
 place to symbols, and symbols of objects to symbols of ab- 
 stract ideas. From pictures of the mouth in forming 
 sounds the rudimental forms of letters were probably de- 
 rived ; and thus, by slow degrees, an alphabet recording 
 speech and perpetuating knowledge, crowned the laborious 
 ingenuity of man, and gave us the inestimable means of 
 writing and reading. 
 
Reading and Readers. 137 
 
 Speech writes itself on air — a tablet less durable than 
 the shifting sand ; when the sound is past, it cannot be 
 again deciphered, and nothing but the fleeting memory of 
 it remains. Writing, by means of an alphabet of letters 
 representing spoken elements, is only another form of speak- 
 ing ; it is speech, addressed to the eye, and fixed for repe- 
 rusal, on objects material and durable. The most enduring 
 tablets of writing are brass and marble, which outlive 
 dynasties and nations ; but perishable paper preserves it 
 for a lengthened period, while, by means of the reproduc- 
 tive press, its longevity is indefinitely extended. 
 
 " All things in nature one by one decay- 
 But in the reproduction of their kind 
 Survive and are eternal. Language, thus, 
 Upon the fragile page inscribed, outlives 
 The tablet through a multitude of deaths, 
 And in its reproduction never dies." 
 
 It is well for the world that the lessons of its philosophers 
 and the songs of its poets have thus a duration far beyond 
 that of their' short-lived authors. Many of the great works 
 of antiquity have perished ; but now, all that is deserving 
 of prolonged life is embalmed by the press for an earthly 
 immortality. 
 
 The term Reading has two distinct applications : namely, 
 to the silent deciphering of language for our own informa- 
 tion, and to the translation of visible into audible lan- 
 guage for the information of others. These two forms of 
 reading are not sufficiently distinguished in practice. 
 What we read for ourselves only is not necessarily pro- 
 nounced at all ; or it may be mumbled in the utterance, 
 and the reader lose no part of meaning. Tennyson says : 
 
 "Things seen are mightier than things heard. " 
 
138 Reading and Readers. 
 
 The statement does not apply to reading. Words Bierely 
 seen are not so powerful as words heard. The written 
 word conveys the thought, but the spoken word carries 
 with it the speaker's vocal comment or suggestion, in com- 
 mendation or in deprecation of the thought. The lan- 
 guage of the voice i= indissolubly joined to the ideographic 
 word, and that which was a mere symbol becomes a spiritual 
 influence. The letter is dead, but speech is the embodied 
 soul of language. 
 
 The eye may gather the scope of a paragraph or a page 
 at a glance, and so may be said to skim the cream off a 
 composition, without taking up the milk and water which 
 underlie it. Lord Bacon says : " Some books are to be 
 tasted" — that is, only nibbled at here and there ; " others 
 to be swallowed" — that is, by a rapid bolting operation; 
 " and some few to be chewed and digested " — that is, 
 turned over in the mind, clause by clause, and period by 
 period, until the thoughts of the author are thoroughly 
 assimilated in the reader's mental system. 
 
 In reading for the information of others, there can be no 
 skimming, no bolting ; the eye may take in a sentence, but 
 the mouth can give out only a syllable at one time. Read- 
 ing aloud, then, must be of the masticatory kind ; and yet 
 there are varieties analogous to the less careful modes. 
 One passage will be discriminated as easy of digestion, and 
 treated like spoon-meat — bolted ; another, perhaps, will be 
 rolled as a sweet morsel in the mouth — made the most of; 
 and another will be dealt with as a tough bit, and carefully 
 divided into fragments before it is allowed to pass. The 
 school-boy often meets with these tough pieces, unwisely 
 placed before him ; and they give him a habit of dividing 
 and munching even at words which are quite familiar and 
 easy. Children should never be called on to read aloud 
 
Reading and Readers. 139 
 
 language which is above their comprehension ; for unless a 
 reader can take the thoughts into his own mind he cannot 
 deliver them to the mind of a hearer ; and reading without 
 thinking is not reading but mechanical pronouncing, like 
 the talking of a parrot. 
 
 The object of one who reads may be twofold. It may- 
 be both to acquire and to communicate a knowledge of 
 what is written. In this case, the reader's eye is very apt 
 to run in advance of his tongue, and his utterance is con- 
 sequently liable to hurry and confusion. Gathering the 
 sense for himself by the eye, he forgets that the hearer has 
 not the same advantage. In serving two masters he does 
 not serve them equally, and the neglected one is sure to be 
 the "other" one. 
 
 Reading aloud is properly reading for the benefit of a 
 hearer. The reader knows — for he sees — what he is 
 going to say before he utters it, and his duty is, first, to 
 take the thoughts into his own mind, and then to deliver 
 them as if they were spontaneously conceived. But the 
 majority of readers do not give themselves the trouble to 
 think, and hence their reading is merely mechanical. Sub- 
 jects and predicates, things new and things repeated, prin- 
 cipal topics and parenthetical explanations, are all jumbled 
 together ; and the labour of sifting and assorting is left to 
 be performed by the hearer, while the mass is heedlessly 
 accumulated at a rate which renders the operation impos- 
 sible. Public readers of this class are intolerable. They 
 treat their hearers' ears as if they were quarry-holes to be 
 filled up, and they treat their subject as if it were rubbish 
 to be dumped out in cartloads. 
 
 Not every reader can gather the sense, and see all the 
 relations between words, by mere prevision at the time 
 of reading ; therefore, whatever is to be read in public 
 
[40 Reading and Readers. 
 
 should first be well studied in private. The errors that we 
 sometimes hear could not possibly be committed if the 
 matter read had been made the subject of due preparation. 
 The more thoroughly the reader knows what he has to 
 deliver, the better will be his reading. Besides, his eye 
 must be free to address itself to his hearers. Common 
 politeness requires one to look at the person we speak to ; 
 and if a reader keeps his eye directed on the page, he treats 
 his hearers with disrespect — to take the lowest ground of 
 reproach — and virtually reads only for his own informa- 
 tion. Some readers, as if to show their independence 
 of the written page, actually shut their eyes during the 
 delivery of memoriter portions. This is like dropping an 
 unaddressed letter in the post-box. Nobody gets it. 
 Whereas, the same matter addressed to the hearers by the 
 speaker's eye is received as a personal communication by 
 each auditor. 
 
 This oratorical quality in reading is the one which is 
 generally most wanting, and the ineffectiveness arising from 
 the want, is the source of the prejudice which prevails 
 against the reading of sermons, speeches and lectures. 
 The shrewd observation has been made that this prejudice 
 is seldom very strong where the addresses are above the 
 average in excellence, as compositions ; but that the preju- 
 dice is insurmountable when the ill-delivered matter is 
 commonplace ! While, therefore, taking the form of op- 
 position to reading, the prejudice is, in reality, only directed 
 against bad reading. 
 
 So far as the hearers are concerned, there is obviously 
 no difference between a composition read and one deliv- 
 ered from memory. To the speaker, however, there is an 
 important difference. What is delivered from memory is 
 remembered chiefly by association ; the last words of one 
 
Reading and Readers. 141 
 
 section forming the cue to the next. Paragraphs and pages 
 thus learned by the run, generally require to be delivered 
 by the run, lest a link in the chain should be lost. Such 
 memoriter speakers are, in reality, readers ; only, they read 
 from a concealed book ; and they are, almost of neces- 
 sity, worse readers from the page of memory than they 
 might become from unconcealed MSS. were they properly 
 to study the art of reading. The public reader who is a 
 master of" this art is to his hearers a speaker, rather than a 
 reader. He is the latter only to himself, and for his own 
 convenience. The manuscript lies before him as an assist- 
 ance to recollection, a source of confidence, and a preven- 
 tive of error. The reader has the further advantage, that 
 he can, without fear of losing his place, interpolate any 
 observations that may arise to his mind as he goes on ; 
 while he who reads from memory is only safe while he 
 avoids all mental discursiveness. The latter is on a line of 
 rails, and he rolls on smoothly and expeditiously, only too 
 quickly and evenly ; but he must keep on the rails, and 
 memory must stand by the switches at every junction and 
 every crossing, lest an accident may happen, and one train 
 dash into another train — of thought. The reader, on the 
 other hand, travels on the highway, and he can go now to 
 this side, now to that ; stopping here and sauntering there, 
 at will ; turning aside, when opportunity serves, through 
 tempting by-ways of thought, and returning to the road by 
 untrodden paths, delightfully refreshing in their very broken- 
 ness and contrast to the cut and leveled and parapeted 
 highway. 
 
 Reading and Readers might be classified under four 
 distinct heads — Mechanical, Expressive, Impassioned, and 
 Dramatic ; but, while a great deal might be said under 
 each head, the various qualities characteristic of the differ- 
 
14.2 Reading and Readers. 
 
 ent styles must really be present, in greater or less degree, 
 in all good reading. The mechanism of speech must be 
 perfect : no lisping, no burring, no stammering, no elisions 
 of letters or of syllables ; the expressiveness of words, and 
 the rhythm of sentences and of metrical lines must be pre- 
 served without monotony, without hiatus, and without re- 
 curring tune ; the passion of the utterance must be dis- 
 criminated with full sympathy, but without extravagance or 
 loss of self possession; the dramatic effect of varying moods 
 and different speakers must be illustrated, without degener- 
 ating into mimetic assumption ; and all must be so tempered 
 and subdued, that none of the finer shades of sentiment 
 may be blurred by coarseness, or exaggerated into undue 
 prominence. Like the colours in the spectrum, the de- 
 lineations of a reader should be severally distinguishable, 
 while lines of demarcation are either non-existent, or, im- 
 perceptible. 
 
 Expressive reading thus differs from acting, in which in- 
 dividual assumptions are complete in every particular of 
 voice, gait, and even dress, in a way that is incompatible 
 with transitions from one character to another. Acting is 
 representative and real ; reading is suggestive only : the 
 one pictures to the physical eye, the other to the mental 
 eye. A good reader might be but a very ordinary actor, 
 and a first-rate actor might prove but an indifferent and un- 
 interesting reader. Acting is like a photographic picture, 
 which must be sharply focussed, and which presents with 
 equal clearness of definition every object within the focal 
 range, whether it be the shape of a feature or the pattern 
 of a ribbon, the perspective of a building, a broken pane of 
 glass, or the line of a waterpipe. Reading is like a painting, 
 in which only selected forms are introduced, and in which 
 the hard outlines of reality are softened by blending touches, 
 
Reading and Readers. 143 
 
 while all necessary accessories are subordinated to the cen- 
 tral and dominant object of the picture. 
 
 Reading is thus, frequently, much more agreeable than 
 acting, and realises better the general scope and intention 
 of the play. It leaves more to the imagination, and the 
 imagination is a better artist than actors and scene-painters 
 are. Who does not feel his conceptions of the supernatural 
 degraded by almost any attempt at material presentation ; 
 as, for example, of the storm and shipwreck in Shakespeare's 
 "Tempest," — the tricksy and delicate spirit Ariel, — the 
 weird sisters and the blasted heath, in "Macbeth," — the 
 apparitions of Banquo's issue, — or the ghost in " Hamlet ? '* 
 The utterances of the bare-headed King Lear, when ex- 
 posed to the " rough tyranny of the open night " by his 
 unnatural daughters, are sadly jarred on by the crackling 
 of the sheet of copper which does stage-duty for thunder ; 
 and a thousand other effects are far better conceived than 
 realised by any attempts at representation. Again, in 
 witnessing a play, while the Romeos and Hamlets may be 
 sufficiently satisfactory, tragedy is converted into farce by 
 the wretched Mercutios and Guildensterns to whom one 
 is equally compelled to listen. In the effective reading of 
 a play, the little points of difference in the reader's manner 
 help the fancy without disturbing it ; they are suggestive of 
 more than they express, and the hearer does his part with 
 the author in creating the world of character and scenery 
 by which the mind is filled. Thus, a poet's word-painting, 
 expiessively read, yields a higher enjoyment than the 
 attempted embodiment of his pictures by even the most 
 accomplished delineators on canvas or in action. 
 
 Pre-eminent among all modern word-painters is the Poet- 
 Laureate, Tennyson — although he often indulges in hazy 
 atmospheres and indefinite patches of colour which puzzle 
 
144 Reading and Readers. 
 
 the ingenuity of his readers. This, however, is part of the 
 poet's skill. Tennyson can be clear and sharp in his out- 
 lines, and his works are full of sunlit beauties, crisp and 
 clean in every line ; while they abound also in passages 
 over which the poet has spread a film of mist, through 
 which the reader has to pore long before the objects dimly 
 seen reveal themselves in recognisable forms. But in his 
 deepest shadows there is meaning. An ardent admirer of 
 the poet ventured to request his explanation of a phrase of 
 unusual obscurity, respecting which a variety of opinions 
 had been formed. But the charm of the passage would 
 probably have been lost in an explanation where perspicu- 
 ity was not intended ; and .the Laureate replied to his cor- 
 respondent that such a thing was never heard of, as a poet 
 being his own interpreter ! 
 
 The masterly effect of intentional obscurity is seen in 
 many of Turner's pictures, in front of one of which a de- 
 lighted connoisseur was seen standing rapt for half an hour. 
 At last he turned and asked: "What do you think that 
 patch of colour is intended for ? " " Probably a rock," was 
 the answer, " a mere amorphous lump of stone." But the 
 other had, after his long gaze, spiritualised the patch into a 
 living form, and had, at last, come to the conclusion that 
 the shapeless rock was intended for a cow. So, often, in 
 poetry. Only with difficulty can we discover the occulted 
 meaning ; and our fancy has sometimes to be as freely 
 exercised, at first, as that of the critic ■ at the painting. 
 None but a great artist, however, should venture on ob- 
 scurity — if he hopes to be studied and appreciated. 
 
 The elementary principles of all arts are generally those 
 which stand most in need of reiteration and illustration. 
 In connection with reading, the chief principle to be in- 
 sisted on in all cases is intelligibility. This includes three 
 
Reading and Readers. 145 
 
 things: namely, clear enunciation, grammatical perspicuity, 
 and logical modulation. 
 
 The first of these might, for the present purpose, be dis- 
 missed with its mere specification. Clear enunciation is 
 the primary requisite of intelligibility. The indefiniteness 
 of readers in pronouncing syllables is, doubtless, to be at-_ 
 tributed, in great measure, to the indefiniteness of letters 
 in representing sounds. Give a learner a distinctive sym- 
 bol for each separate sound, and he will naturally be as 
 precise in pronunciation as he is now naturally obscure. 
 
 Our language stands in great need of improvement in 
 this respect. There is nothing in the nature of sounds to 
 prevent their being denoted by uniformly intelligible char- 
 acters, applicable to all languages, in such a way that a 
 native of any country might pronounce the written words 
 of any language, exactly as they are heard from vernacular 
 speakers. This precision of phonetic writing — long im- 
 possible — is now rendered practicable by the invention of 
 physiological letters which symbolise the organic mechan- 
 ism of articulate sounds, and so convert writing literally 
 into visible speech. 
 
 The second requisite of reading is grammatical perspi- 
 cuity. This is really a very simple matter, but simplicity 
 is turned into complexity and confusion by inattention to 
 the most obvious principles. Sentences are made up of 
 facts and circumstances ; and readers have merely to dis- 
 criminate between these : to state facts independently, and 
 circumstances in due relation to facts ; not to connect facts 
 with wrong circumstances or to mix circumstances with 
 each other. To take an example : 
 
 " Every lady in the land 
 Has twenty nails upon each hand 
 1 ive and twenty on hands and feet — 
 Nor more nor less to be complete." 
 
146 Reading and Readers. 
 
 This reading makes nonsense of a true statement. Yet 
 this is the way poetry is generally read — with a stop at 
 the end of each line, whether the sense requires it or not. 
 The proper allocation of facts and circumstances gives the 
 very different reading of these lines : 
 
 " Every lady in the land 
 Has twenty nails : upon each hand 
 Five ; and twenty on hands and feet ; 
 Nor more nor less to be complete." 
 
 Whether in reading prose or poetry, the principle is the 
 same : attend to facts and circumstances ; unite no words 
 that have not a mutual influence in expressing sense, and 
 separate no words that are so related. Reading can never 
 be good that is regulated either by lines in poetry, or periods 
 in prose. Many divisions must be made where no punctu- 
 ation is written ; and the customary marks must frequently 
 be disregarded, when they interfere with the governing 
 principle of sense — the clausing of words for the inde- 
 pendent expression of facts and circumstances. 
 
 Logical modulation is the last requisite of intelligibility 
 in reading. Words grammatically belonging to the same 
 clause, and circumstances relating to distinct facts are, 
 often, in composition separated from one another; and the 
 reader's voice should ally them, by correspondence of 
 modulation. Thus in the lines : 
 
 " Slowly and sadly we laid him down 
 From the field of his fame fresh and gory," 
 
 the clause " fresh and gory" has no reference to either of 
 the nouns in the same line ; but it refers to the word 
 " him " in the preceding line : 
 
 " Slowly and sadly we laid him (being still fresh and gory) 
 Down from the field of his fame." 
 
Reading and Readers. 147 
 
 This meaning is brought out, and false meanings are ex- 
 cluded, by a modulation of the voice, separating the clause 
 of ambiguous reference from the words to which it does 
 not refer, and raising it to the level of its true antecedent. 
 
 " Slowly and sadly we laid him down 
 From-the-field-of-his-fame — - fresh and gory. " 
 
 Examples are better than precepts to inculcate a princi- 
 ple. One more example — as actually heard from a cleri- 
 cal reader — may be adduced: 
 
 "And they came with haste, and found Mary-and-Joseph-and-the- 
 Babe — lying in a manger.'' 
 
 This reading conveyed as the "fact" of the sentence 
 that Mary and Joseph, as well as the Babe, were found 
 " lying in a manger;" but the truth of the narrative re- 
 quired the " circumstance" — " lying in a manger" — to be 
 united only with the word " Babe." 
 
 Whatever be the subject of reading, the prime require- 
 ment is perfect intelligibility. The hearer will be all the 
 better pleased if, at the same time, the matter be rendered 
 attractive by magnetism of voice and manner ; but a reader's 
 style should never be obtrusive. Bad reading compels one 
 to notice manner in the first place. Good reading should 
 fix the thoughts upon the matter only. 
 
Oratory and Orators. 149 
 
 XXIV. ORATORY AND ORATORS. 
 
 Oratory, in the broadest sense, signifies articulate oral 
 communication ; and in the more ordinary scholastic sense 
 it means the art of public speaking. In both senses the 
 quality of oratory is the most distinguishing characteristic 
 of man from man. The condition of oratory thus reflects 
 the character of a people, and the character of a person. 
 Among aboriginal and illiterate tribes, before commerce 
 has united them to the brotherhood of nations, oratory is 
 highly figurative, because words are few, expressive pri- 
 marily of sensible objects, and used each for a variety of 
 ideas. Among lettered and commercial nations, oratory is 
 exact and literal, because words are many, and abstract 
 ideas are expressed by separate terms. So, among classes 
 of men, oratory is, on one hand, limited to a small vocab- 
 ulary oi words, which do duty in almost every sentence, 
 constituting the slang of a grade or the technicalities of a 
 craft ; and on the other hand, it is copious and varied in 
 expression, constituting the exactitude of philosophy, or 
 the subtle elegance of poetry. 
 
 The great arenas of public oratory are the church, the 
 court-house, the legislative chamber, and the theatre. 
 Every one knows how carefully the orators of each class 
 are trained to high efficiency before they enter on their 
 duties. Nothing short of the every-day achievements of 
 our speakers could be expected from such laborious prep- 
 arations as they undergo ! How curious it seems, to reflect, 
 that there was a time when the glorious faculty of oratory 
 was held in such low esteem that neglect, and ignorance, 
 and perverse habits took the place of instructors, and when 
 orators, under such training, spoke just as a dog barks, or 
 a cat mews; unwitting of the wondrous processes em- 
 
150 Oratory and Orators. 
 
 ployed, and unheeding of the high possibilities of artistic 
 eloquence ! In those old times the highest aims of speak- 
 ing were associated with the lowest exercise of speech ; 
 for to be natural in sacred effort was deemed to be profane ; 
 and profanity prospered by the theory. Nature sought 
 refuge in the theatre, and the church, scowling upon the 
 play-house, excommunicated the worldly assistant from the 
 sacred edifice. Nature, being a thing of this world, was 
 made over to the men of the world ; and in this way it 
 was that an antagonism arose between the two kinds of 
 oratory, called sacred and profane. 
 
 In the ardour of opposition people often do very foolish 
 things ; and it came to pass that, while profane orators, 
 under the guidance of nature, spoke through their mouths, 
 orators of the other class trumpeted through their noses ; 
 while profane speakers used a gliding, changeful intonation, 
 speakers of the other class drawled in monotone ; while the 
 one class moved their arms through a curvilinear path, 
 which an artist of the despised natural school had demon- 
 strated to be the line of beauty, the others jerked their 
 limbs at angles of deformity, and emphasised their actions 
 with the direct force of a' threshing-flail; while the one 
 swayed the body gracefully from side to 'side, the others 
 bobbed it up and down; while the one stood erect, or 
 walked about with easy freedom, the other shut himself up 
 in a case, and doubled his body over the cushioned edge ; 
 while the former class of speakers looked and moved as if 
 under the influence of present feeling, the other preserved 
 the passionless equanimity of a statue, or moved with the 
 mechanical uniformity of an automaton. 
 
 Now, all this is happily changed. Nature is allowed to 
 be the highest Art, and the highest art is acknowledged to 
 be but Nature. It is no longer considered profane to be 
 
Oratory and Orators. 151 
 
 natural, or to study art in order to educate, or draw out, the 
 powers of nature. Our orators are all trained speakers; 
 their voices are trained, their bodies are trained, their noses 
 are restrained ; they have mastered the instrument of speech, 
 the diapason of sounds, the " manual exercise " of oratory. 
 They have passed through the discipline of the awkward 
 squad, and have learned to handle their " arms " with effect, 
 and when not in " action " to " stand at ease." 
 
 Is this picture true ? Alas, the olden times are still with 
 us in the present, and the era of artistic oratory is yet in the 
 dim distance of futurity. 
 
 The fact has long been a subject of too well-founded 
 complaint, that manner is not studied by our orators, pro- 
 portionately to its importance as compared with the matter 
 of oratory ; while, at the same time, the advantages of 
 effective delivery are universally felt and admitted. What- 
 ever be the reason of this anomalous neglect, it certainly 
 derives no encouragement from history, or from living ex- 
 perience, and no justification from commonsense. 
 
 There are, it is true, some persons who, in the pride of 
 mental strength, affect to despise all the teachings of art in 
 respect to delivery. But these are a small minority, and 
 we do not find their practice consistent with their theory ; 
 for they themselves acknowledge the influence of manner, — 
 in the attention with which they listen to an effective speaker, 
 and in the listlessness which a careless or uncouth delivery 
 provokes, just as much as those who admit the value of 
 style, and who scrutinise the subject-matter less closely. 
 We may build theories upon the power and dispassionateness 
 of reason, and argue, with much plausibility, that the all- 
 potent faculty needs only that plain truths should be plainly 
 set before it ; but there is a charm in well-managed utterance 
 which will upset the theories, and compel the confession, 
 
152 Oratory and Orators. 
 
 that, although reason should ever lead and not be led by 
 the feelings, it will often be indebted to them for being 
 roused to inquiry even in matters of the deepest importance. 
 
 The eye cannot appreciate the purest gem through the 
 encrustments which bedim it in its native mine ; nor, until 
 the lapidary has polished its surface, can its beauty be 
 rightly discerned, or its value estimated. And so, in delivery, 
 the mind cannot recognise, through coarse enunciation, 
 rusticity of dialect, or monotony of voice, even the loftiest 
 imaginings of genius, or the most artistic charms of com- 
 position ; but these are best seen and most prized when not 
 only vulgarities are removed, but the polish of rhetorical 
 skill is added. 
 
 Indeed, the manner in which we give utterance to our 
 thoughts is almost as important as the words which we 
 employ. No thought can arise in the mind without some 
 attendant emotion — even if it be a feeling of indifference ; 
 and, therefore, 110 language can fully represent a speaker's 
 thoughts unless its delivery be impressed with the emotion 
 natural to that idea. Words are the material of an arti- 
 ficial language, arbitrary in acceptation, and varying with 
 the geographical distribution of men. Cross a petty belt 
 of water, a hill, or a few fields, and this language is Unin- 
 telligible. The language of feeling is the language of the 
 human race ; neither national nor local, it is everywhere 
 current, everywhere it is the same. These two languages 
 must be united in all delivery. " Better," says the proverb, 
 " is a living dog than a dead lion ; " and better is an 
 inferior address, vitalised by eloquence, than the most 
 scholarly discourse that falls dead from lips of dulness. 
 
 Every orator aims either to instruct, to persuade, or to 
 amuse ; and he cannot do the one or the other without a 
 manner suited to the end in view. A miser cannot teach 
 
Oratory and Orators. 153 
 
 benevolence, or a drunkard temperance; a bigot cannot 
 inculcate toleration, or a hypochondriac infuse mirth or 
 cheerfulness ; neither can a speaker produce the effect he 
 aims at, on his auditors, if he be not himself correspond- 
 ingly affected first. He must " assume the virtue if he 
 have it not." The importance of the subject must not be 
 trusted to for raising the appropriate feeling in the hearer. 
 Men will sympathise ; they will be moved by sincerity, or 
 the appearance of it ; but they will not be impelled to feel- 
 ing in any other way. An abstract reflection will not move 
 the heart, and a mere precept falls coldly on the ear. 
 
 The delivery of language, however eloquent, without 
 corresponding eloquence of manner, may be compared to 
 the dreary aspect of the most varied landscape when clouds 
 obscure the glorious luminary of day. The objects are 
 visible, but dimly seen. The trees and the extended pros- 
 pect look pallid and deathlike ; the gray waters murmur in 
 , , a sullen light ; the mountain shadows are lost in the gloom ; 
 and the breeze sweeps hoarsely the dismal obscuration. It 
 is thus when the soul, the sun of the intellect, is clouded. 
 The clatter of words spoken in monotony or senseless tune, 
 goes on unheeded by the uninterested mind. Momentous 
 truths may be the subject of discourse, but they are only 
 dimly apparent in the, vocal haze. The most solemnising 
 thoughts, the most elevating themes, may be so coldly and 
 unrealisingly delivered that men will sit supinely during the 
 recital, or respond only by indications of drowsiness. 
 
 The cause of the strange' and unseemly apathy of man- 
 ner which produces such results may lie far back in the 
 orator's history. The natural connection between words 
 and feelings was, perhaps, broken in early life, at school, 
 when the child, reading language beyond his comprehen- 
 sion, was allowed to acquire the habit of meaningless in- 
 
154 Oratory and Orators. 
 
 tonation, which no after-training, either at school or col- 
 lege, was provided to correct or counteract. 
 
 Not more level are the lines upon a printed page than 
 are the tones with which words are pronounced by tyro 
 readers, under the negligence of teachers ; and the same 
 voice that is rippled over with inflections and the rise arid 
 fall of wavy modulations, in conversation and in the play- 
 ground, sinks to a flat and sleepy calm in the exercises of 
 the class-room. A little care and good example at this 
 period would prevent the formation of those vocal habits 
 which, in the adult orator, so outrage nature and violate 
 the inherent expressiveness of the voice. Amendment, 
 however, like the faults to be amended, must be elementary. 
 Instruction must begin at the beginning or it will but sub- 
 stitute one mannerism for another. Teachers of oratory 
 have too often done this, and nothing more ; and the ef- 
 fect of their lessons has been — as many affirm — to make 
 what was bad become worse ; to put an ill-fitting garment 
 slouchingly on a man's shoulders, instead of the easy 
 though rudely fashioned one which custom had made to 
 sit upon him without constraint. 
 
 At present, the first business of the oratorical instructor 
 is not to teach but to unteach ; not to cultivate elegance 
 but to extirpate deformity ; not to build up, but to pull 
 down, and to dig for new foundations. Articulation, which 
 should have been perfected in the school-boy, presents a 
 mass of confusion and error in the grown-up candidate for 
 oratorical refinement. The tongue, which should have 
 been trained to accuracy of movement, is still, in this, the 
 lowest sense, an "unruly member ; " the lips, which should, 
 as the portals of the mouth, expand and shut with smooth- 
 ness and precision, are warped and unwieldy, pushed awk- 
 wardly ajar or rudely slammed together; the whole organ- 
 
Oratory and Orators. 155 
 
 ism works at random, and the mechanism of speech is 
 distorted and imperfect. 
 
 Notice has been already taken of certain class character- 
 istics of Delivery,* otherwise there is no peculiar style of 
 oratory which should be distinctive of any class of pub- 
 lic speakers. The same powers, to be more or less devel- 
 oped according to circumstances, are required by all. But 
 if energy and the use of homely, heart-touching phrase- 
 ology, and, above all, of natural tones, be more called for in 
 one case than another, they should be found in the pulpit. 
 Yet the different kinds of profane oratory exhibit by far the 
 higher proportion of these qualities. 
 
 There was a time when the stage stood first in oratorical 
 rank. In the theatre was the model of pronunciation, and 
 the taste of the gifted players softened, refined and varied 
 our language in its sounds, and exalted the popular appre- 
 ciation for the intellectual charms of poetry. Now, the 
 ballet, the opera, the spectacle, the pantomime, the troupes 
 of acrobats or performing dogs are the attractions which, 
 in managerial phraseology, will best " draw." The degen- 
 eracy would seem thus to be as much in the public taste as 
 in the stage. It is true the theatres are not now frequented 
 by the class of auditors who graced the efforts of a Gar- 
 rick and a Siddons. The stage is no longer the national 
 amusement. But why is this ? Let not the fashionable 
 deserters of the drama "lay the flattering unction to their 
 souls " that the degeneracy of the theatre has driven them 
 from it. The cause is rather that their unintellectual pref- 
 erence for dancers and singers has made the stage what it is. 
 Starve a man and he will become lean ; desert the theatre 
 and it will inevitably lose caste ; and managers must cater 
 to the taste of such classes as will support them. 
 * See "Class Characteristics of Delivery." 
 
156 Oratory and Orators. 
 
 Dramatic exhibitions are fascinating. They always make 
 a deep impression on the mind. If, therefore, the stage is 
 not a public good it will become a public nuisance, power- 
 fully operative for the perversion of taste, and the endan- 
 germent of morality. In the theatre we should : 
 
 "See Comedy, with pointed ridicule, 
 
 Pierce to the quick each knave and vicious fool; 
 
 And Tragedy — a warning to the times — 
 
 Point high her dagger at exalted crimes. 
 
 Drive from the heart each base, unmanly passion, 
 
 Till virtue triumph in despite of fashion." 
 
 Nature seldom gives us more than the faculty to excel 
 in any work. Her gifts must be moulded and fashioned by 
 her handmaid, Art. As in husbandry, she yields her riches 
 to industry, and to indolence is unprolific and sterile. So 
 in Oratory. The liberality of Nature is everywhere visible 
 in the distribution of oratorical powers, and it is only from 
 the want of cultivation that we see no correspondent pro- 
 duce of excellence. The field of oratorical utility extends 
 far beyond the limits of the learned professions, and in- 
 cludes all ranks of citizens as interested in its culture. 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 157 
 
 XXV. AN ALPHABET OF ORATORS, 
 
 OF " CAPITAL " AND " LOWER-CASE " TYPES. 
 
 The quality of oratory or oral utterance, has been de- 
 scribed * as representative of character ; and — as will now 
 be shown — we may run through the whole alphabet in 
 glancing at only a few of the characteristics of representative 
 orators. The alphabet consists of large, or what printers 
 call " Capital " letters, and small, or what they denominate 
 " Lower-case " letters ; and the varieties of oratory are, like 
 the letters, either of Capital type — the less common — or of 
 Lower-case type — decidedly the more common. 
 
 To take the alphabetic letters seriatim, we find — as A 1 
 — the Amatory Orator ; of Capital type when the love that 
 thrills the voice is chaste, sincere, unselfish, aiming only at 
 the good of the beloved object ; but of Lower type when a 
 meaner motive prompts the tongue. The Amatory Orator 
 may well take the lead in our category, for of all the passions 
 none is so eloquent as love. The adage says : " men are 
 born poets, and made orators " by art. There are many 
 cases where even the highest art would fail ; but love fails 
 never. Love is an inspirer of eloquence. A person 
 who " cannot say bo to a goose," under ordinary circum- 
 stances, will do the beau to admiration when before a silver- 
 tongued, responsive belle. It is true that lovers are often 
 tongue-tied in the crisis of their oratory, but this militates 
 nothing against the asserted eloquence of love. For the 
 feeling that hangs weights upon the tongue is rather one of 
 fear than love. Perfect love has no fear — no hesitancy. 
 What can surpass the eloquent prattle of a young mother 
 to the new intelligence of her nursling ? She is an Ama- 
 
 * See " Oratory and Orators." 
 
158 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 tory Orator of the Capital kind — large Capital ! But love 
 letters generally are of Lower type. 
 
 Next to Love as an inspirer of Oratory is, perhaps, that 
 other more gross intoxicant which Burns addresses in 
 " Tam o' Shanter • " 
 
 " Inspiring bold John Barleycorn, 
 What dangers thou canst mak us scorn ! 
 Wi' tippenny we fear nae evil — 
 Wi' usquebaugh we face the d — I." 
 
 The Bacchanalian Orator, therefore, comes next on our 
 list. There is no Capital variety of this species : it is all 
 of Lower type. Nothing can be more dangerous than the 
 custom to which nervous orators sometimes habituate them- 
 selves of " keeping the spirits up by pouring spirits down," 
 before making a public appearance. A spirit is thus raised 
 within them which not all the force of philosophy and 
 religion can lay. Each present quaff is found to be a draft 
 on future spirits, for the reaction is not less certain thap the 
 short-lived action. The nervous speaker can only, in 
 safety, draw his " spirits from the vasty deep," in the shape 
 of the distilled mountain dew that runs in silver streamlets 
 down the cloud-capped hills. The speaker of nervous 
 temperament, who leans on a barley reed to steady him- 
 self, is precisely the one who will be most apt to lean too 
 heavily and fall. 
 
 Having now got fairly afloat in the alphabet, we may 
 proceed to C. The most prominent variety of speaker 
 under this category is the Catechising Orator : one who is 
 continually asking if you are attending to him, if you arc 
 following him, if you understand him, if you agree with 
 him, if you believe him, if you are convinced by him, if 
 you will act on your convictions, if you will do this and 
 that, and if you won't do the other thing ; if, in fact, you 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 159 
 
 have penetration enough to discover that black is black, 
 and that white isn't — that two and two make four, and that 
 two and three don't. It is tiresome and worrying to be 
 continually questioned when no opportunity is afforded you 
 of replying. Questions are idle and rude when they are 
 not expected to be answered. A question implies either 
 an appeal to the hearer's will or knowledge, or a desire for 
 information, arising from doubt or ignorance on the part pf 
 the speaker. There can be no doubt about the ignorance 
 of the constantly catechising speaker — ignorance of the art 
 of oratory, ignorance of human nature. People like to 
 draw conclusions for themselves, or to fancy that they do 
 so. The true orator will so put his premises before the 
 hearer's mind as to force upon it, unconsciously, the logical 
 conclusion he desires ; but if the speaker is always doubt- 
 ing, and probing, and investigating, and catechising, to find 
 out if the process is going on, he is like the youthful bota- 
 nist who was continually pulling up his plants to see if they 
 had struck root ! A question is Capital when it is put in 
 reference to an unanswerable proposition, or to a fact or 
 argument which answers it triumphantly in the statement ; 
 but questions are of Lower type when they are put — as : by 
 the craft of catechising orators — without reference to ar- 
 gument or reason. 
 
 We have now got to the end of the ABC, although we 
 are yet only at the beginning of the alphabet. Under the 
 next letter, the speaker that seems most worthy of notice 
 is the Deliberate Orator. Of this variety we find both 
 kinds — Capital and Lower type. Deliberation is Capital, 
 when the speaker weighs, or seems to weigh, his phrases 
 before he utters them. His manner is complimentary to 
 his hearers, as though he studied to speak worthily of such 
 an auditory ; and his deliberation further seems to intimate 
 
160 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 his conviction that what he says is worth the uttering, and 
 worth the listening to. But hurrying speech, or glib un- 
 broken fluency from period to period, sounds as if the 
 speaker either did not think his audience worthy of more 
 care, or his address worthy of being pondered. The one 
 speaker is attentively listened to by willing hearers — every 
 noise is hushed, every rustle stilled until the appropriate 
 interval ; the other is listlessly yawned at, while his voice 
 is drowned in coughs and shufflings ; and what is heard 
 " goes in at one ear and out at the other." Deliberation 
 is of unquestionably Lower type when the speaker pauses, 
 not for thoughts, but for words ; above all, when he hums 
 and haws, and drawls for lack of ready language. 
 
 Our examination will now go on with E's. Here we 
 have a choice between Effeminate speakers — Capital when 
 •of the real sort, and heard at the right time and place; 
 Egotistical speakers — always of Lower type ; and Efferves- 
 cent speakers. Let us select the last. The Effervescent 
 Orator varies the general tameness of his delivery by sudden 
 outbursts of unsustained energy. He has two keys : one 
 .soft, semi-voiced, and confidential ; the other harsh, abrupt, 
 and ear-splitting. The first lulls you into a state of sleepi- 
 ness, and when you are just subsiding into a doze, the 
 second violently tingles you back to consciousness. You 
 hear the pop as of a champagne cork, and lo ! it is followed 
 only by humble ginger-beer, — which, after the first gush, 
 is " stale, flat and unprofitable." The quality of efferves- 
 cence is pungent and agreeable, so that there be flavour 
 with it, and something more than froth. It is then Capital ; 
 but it is decidedly of Lower type when it consists of " vox 
 et preterea nihil." 
 
 The Foppish Orator may stand as representative of the 
 class under F; not Capital, but of Lower type. Nothing 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 161 
 
 can make oratorical foppery Capital — unless as a capital 
 offence. The clerical fop is, of course, the worst. As the 
 poet says : 
 
 " In man or woman, but far most in man, 
 And most of all in man that ministers 
 And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe 
 All affectation." 
 
 The Foppish speaker is continually occupied in little ad- 
 justments of his dress, his gown, his wig, his cravat, his 
 collar, his cuffs. His pronunciation is mincing and pre- 
 cise, as if his polished voice were stepping over stones in a 
 muddy lane ; and he keeps his hearers so occupied with 
 himself that they cannot attend to what he says, or rather, 
 they hear and heed not. 
 
 In the next series we find the Galvanic Orator. Every 
 accent of his voice, like the contact of the poles of a bat- 
 tery, makes his whole frame jerk with the emphasis of utter- 
 ance. He is certainly a most moving speaker, for he can- 
 not be still. But his restlessness is not merely of the fidgety 
 kind — it is shocking. Being so, we shall take an abrupt 
 leave of him and turn to the next category. 
 
 A gentle cough calls our attention to the Hemming 
 Orator, who is continually clearing his throat for words that 
 hang fire, and will not go off until the glottal percus- 
 sion-cap has snapped to open the passage ; and next to 
 him is the Humdrum Orator, whose tame and tardy utter- 
 ances have no fire at all. The less heard of him the better. 
 
 And now what a host of speakers we have under our I's : 
 the Illiterate, the Imaginative, the Imitative, the Impetuous, 
 the Independent, the Insinuating, the Ironical and a crowd 
 of others. As representative of the most important class, 
 we may select the Imitative Orator. He is a speaker of 
 vivacity, of agility. Let his voice say " up," and up go his 
 
162 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 arms; let it say "down," and the obedient members fall. 
 If he speaks of his heart, he shows you its locality, and points 
 out the position of his head, lest you should not other- 
 wise discover its whereabout. He depicts by gesture every 
 word, and addresses his discourse as much to the eye as to 
 the ear. When his action is mechanically good he pro- 
 duces a great effect on an uncritical assembly, but he is a 
 tiresome tautologist to the intellectual. People of average 
 understanding do not require such double information, and 
 they become disgusted with a person who is continually 
 thrusting upon them lessons in anatomy without an atom 
 of necessity. Gesture should be suggestive of something 
 which the words do not fully express, or should only add 
 an impressive earnestness to utterance. Imitative action 
 belongs exclusively to the Lower type, or is suited only to 
 a congregation of deaf persons, when it accompanies lan- 
 guage as a pantomimic glossary. 
 
 We have no great variety under the letter J. The Ju- 
 venile. Orator is, perhaps, the one most worthy of selection. 
 In the nursery, the oratory of the very juvenile speakers is 
 really eloquent. What an accord of tone and sentiment ! 
 What winning wiles — what imperious mandates — to coax 
 the doll or to command the cat ! This is Capital ; but 
 juvenile oratory is of Lower type when the little parrot 
 stands forth to squeak grandiloquently language far above 
 his comprehension. The first requisite for effective oratory 
 is a perfect understanding of what is spoken ; and the 
 natural eloquence of childhood is lost in the delivery of 
 words which convey no meaning, or a very imperfect one, 
 to the little speaker's mind. Habits of unnatural oratory 
 are thus acquired which all the efforts of after-life cannot 
 remove. The various classes of professional orators teem 
 with speakers whose perverted mannerisms have this early 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 163 
 
 origin. Children should neither read nor recite language 
 the import of which they cannot feel. Attention to this 
 precept would probably do as much for adult oratory as 
 all the treatises and trainings of rhetoric and elocution. 
 
 The letter K does not offer a very wide selection. The 
 speaker most needing observation is one whom we may call 
 the Kneading Orator. He is undoubtedly a handy man, 
 for he is constantly handling his subject as if it were a lump 
 of dough ; and he cannot be denied the merit of being a 
 moststriking orator — with his fists. He is most frequently 
 found in the pulpit where the cushions before and around 
 the speaker offer a soft and yielding surface for his knuckles. 
 One is tempted to ask, on seeing him so industriously oc- 
 cupied on the velvet, what is the purpose of his kneading. 
 The fact is, it is only the expression of an undisciplined 
 energy which needs to be properly directed. It does no 
 good to anybody but the upholsterer. Instruction is the 
 one thing needing in such cases. We need not lengthen 
 this section. The next is longer — a couple of L's. 
 
 The most prominent speaker in the L category is he of 
 the ell-wand, the Ladies' Orator. What a captivating bow 
 he makes with the newest cap-ribbon ! How he holds 
 forth on trie merits of a mantle or the fashion of a feather, 
 while he holds forth the lovely article in fascinating atti- 
 tude ! He is a very Cupid in address, as he excites the 
 dress-cupidity of his customers. He is equally good at 
 fitting and counterfeiting. In his encounters with the fair, 
 he can act and counteract, charge and countercharge, 
 charm and countercharm, countervail and counterwork, 
 with an eloquence and elegance against which few persons 
 or purses can count on being counterproof. He is the true 
 special pleader of the gown and the long robe, and of all 
 sorts of suits — the Barrister of the counter ! Moreover, 
 
164 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 if shop-visitors be credited, few pleaders are so successful 
 in avoiding a non suit. 
 
 We cannot neglect another most interesting speaker in 
 the L category — the Lisping Orator. Well he may be lo- 
 quacious, for what a long tongue he has ! or, rather, seems 
 to have, for it is not necessarily long in being seen. The 
 hissing sounds of S and Z, not knowing exactly the way 
 out of the mouth, are accompanied by the tongue as far 
 as the teeth, — sometimes as far as the lips. This politeness 
 is awkward in its consequences, for the organ cannot get 
 back in time to attend to other duties within. Lisping 
 is merely a habit of obtrusive lingual action, perfectly re- 
 movable by so simple a discipline that there is no excuse 
 for its continuance, unless the speaker is in love with it. 
 And this is sometimes the case. The defect is so common 
 in the pretty, imperfect prattle of childhood, that the poets 
 have adopted lisping as the symbol of infant innocence 
 and grace. On this account, children of a larger growth 
 become attached to the habit, and preserve the soft, sweet 
 sound for the sake of its associations. But, however be- 
 coming lisping may be in the little nursery Miss, it is far 
 from being so in a man : in him it is decidedly amiss. If 
 we grant it Capital in pinafores, it is, assuredly, of Lower 
 type in crinolines and stand-up collars. 
 
 Two opposite classes of speakers are suggested by the 
 letter M — the Melodious Orator, and the Monotonous 
 Orator. The Melodious orator has a tune to which all his 
 sentences are set, so that when you hear one sentence you 
 have got a revolution of his barrel, and all the others are 
 just like it. Dialectic speakers belong to this class ; for 
 every dialect has its tune. In some of them the voice is 
 always falling, and in some it is as regularly rising, from 
 the beginning to the end of a sentence ; in some it makes 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 165 
 
 a wave of one kind, and in others of the entirely opposite 
 kind. This sort of melody — as well as that first referred to 
 above — is of the Lower type ; but melody is Capital, when 
 it varies with the mood which the words express. 
 
 The Monotonous Orator has as little music as a muffled 
 drum. All his tones are repetitions of the same note, and, 
 whether the matter that he utters is grave or gay, the 
 manner of his utterance undergoes no change. Monotony 
 may be Capital, when it is sparingly introduced for an 
 occasional effect ; but it is always of Lower type when it 
 is habitual. 
 
 The speaker that claims notice under the next letter is 
 the Nasal Orator. Some elements of speech are entirely 
 nasal : these, in English, are three consonants only ; but 
 in some languages there is a class of vowels of a semi- 
 nasal quality, which produce a highly characteristic effect 
 on pronunciation. What is meant, then, by nasal speaking 
 is not simply the passing of sound through the nose, for that 
 is a regular and necessary process in certain elements, but 
 the diversion of the main current of voice from a purely 
 oral to a partially nasal channel. The quality of speech is 
 greatly affected by this change of route, and not agreeably 
 so to unhabituated ears. The voice acquires a dull reso- 
 nance in the cavities of the head; a muffled funereal 
 quality, suggestive of gloomy solemnity; like the "dim 
 religious light " of a cathedral aisle, which may, perhaps, 
 account for the prevalence of nasality in the 
 
 " Conventicle, where worthy men, 
 Misled by custom, strain celestial themes 
 Through the pressed nostril, spectacle-bestrid. " 
 
 The dialectic nasality which characterises some districts on 
 both sides of the Atlantic, may, perhaps, be a legacy left by 
 
166 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 the Puritan fathers, who thus have given a tone to speech 
 as well as to sentiment. 
 
 From the next category'we select the Obstreperous Ora- 
 tor, as one who makes a great noise in the world. It is 
 utterly impossible by any description to convey an idea of 
 his extraordinary vocal flights and physical feats. No 
 building can contain his voice, and the wonder is that any 
 platform can sustain his body, or any pulpit hold it in. 
 He roars and writhes, as though all the tortures of the 
 Inquisition were simultaneously racking him, while the per- 
 spiration of a porter in the dog-days pours from every 
 pore. This is, by way of earnest of his earnestness, a 
 Capital quality, but not necessarily associated with rabid 
 ferocity of manner. The Obstreperous Orator, even when 
 he talks of love and tenderness and mercy, looks and 
 speaks as if the " tender passion " put him in a towering 
 passion ; and mercy filled him with excruciating misery. 
 His hearers, wide awake, certainly, sit gazing in terrified 
 wonder at the awful vehemence which lashes the waves of 
 sound about their ears. And what is the reason of all this 
 uproar? It is — "like a tale told by an idiot — full of 
 sound and fury, signifying nothing.'' There is no malice, 
 no anger, no threatening intended. Let not little Red 
 Riding Hood be afraid. It is not a naughty wolf dressed 
 up like grandmamma, but only good grandmamma dressed 
 like a wolf. 
 
 Now we must mind our P's and Q's. We shall, this 
 time, seek a subject in a region of refinement — in the Leg- 
 islative chamber. Here we have a whole houseful of ora- 
 tors. Every man on the benches has passed through the 
 ordeal of committee-room and caucus speechifying ; and, 
 before the congregated voters of district, town, or county, 
 has proved his fitness to be their representative and spokes- 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 167 
 
 man. Here, surely, if anywhere all must be Capital. The 
 assembled Political Orators represent all varieties of Large 
 Capital and Small Capital — few but capitalists being 
 elected ; — and of every variety of type — modern Roman 
 
 — old English — long Primer — small Pica — Burgeois — 
 and Minion — little Titling — and large Posters — the 
 wooden and the leaden type : — all are represented in the 
 House of Representatives. The orators here should be of 
 the most sparkling kind, filtered as they have been through 
 every stratum of society, and many plies of canvass. They 
 must be interesting speakers, for they represent all interests ; 
 they must be long-winded, for they have often to speak 
 against time ; they must be high-toned, for they have to be 
 heard all over the country. Political oratory, on the whole 
 is garnished with a larger proportion of Capital qualities 
 than is elsewhere to be met with ; although the Lower type 
 is far from being uncommon. 
 
 The preceding section furnishes the cue for the next. 
 Under the letter Q we select for notice the Quizzical Ora- 
 tor. He is no stranger in the arena of Politics, but he is 
 most frequently found in that of Law. Quizzical oratory 
 is the peculiar and telling characteristic of learned counsel. 
 How he plays with his victim in the witness-box, and makes 
 game of his learned brother on the other side ! The Bar 
 
 — as everybody knows — is licensed ; and raw spirits, under 
 proof, are extensively "sold" in virtue of the licence. 
 Sometimes the selling is carried too far, and a Prohibition 
 act seems desirable to put restrictions on the custom of the 
 Bar, and " shut up " the unfair dealer. Quizzical oratory 
 is Capital, when it exposes pretentious ignorance, or trans- 
 fixes hypocrisy with the shafts of ridicule ; but it is of a 
 Lower type when it " plays its brilliant parts " to injure 
 
1 68 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 honest dulness, or to insult the meek and quiet spirit of 
 truth. 
 
 The next letter suggests a literary character, a man of 
 letters, as the French say, of " Belles Lettres " — the Rhe- 
 torical Orator. Rhetoric signifies the art of Eloquence, 
 but it is apt to be too artificial. Rhetoric teaches the use 
 of Figures of speech, but it is sometimes used so that the 
 speaker only makes a " figure " of himself. Butler says, in 
 " Hudibras," that 
 
 " all a rhetorician's rules 
 But teach him how to name his tools. " 
 
 The satire is still true ; for modern rhetoric deals too little 
 with the practical, too much with the merely discriminative • 
 too little with the plain, too much wilh the subtle. The 
 Rhetorical speaker cannot be satisfied with simplicity ; he 
 must be fine, till fineness degenerates into finesse. His 
 oratory makes a grand display of flowers, but bears pro- 
 portionately little fruit. The soil too richly manured, the 
 crop is more abundant in straw than oats. The Rhetorical 
 speaker ought to be the best. He knows his tools, if he 
 would but use them as he should best know how. Only a 
 clumsy workman leaves the mark of his chisel on the face 
 of the statue. Rhetoric is only Capital when the speaker 
 uses it so as to fulfil the end of his oratory ; and to make 
 the hearer feel that the work has been well done, rather 
 than that it has been done well. 
 
 The ancient rhetoricians were artists in the true sense of 
 the word ; they were workers rather than theorists ; with 
 them art meant execution ; they distinguished between art 
 and the rules of art ; and the application of the rules of 
 Rhetoric, what we now call Elocution, was considered as 
 the most important part of rhetorical study. Hence their 
 excellence in the Forum. Rhetoric now subordinates 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 169 
 
 practice to theory ; and hence the prevailing mediocrity of 
 our most learned orators. Those who are faultily rhetori- 
 cal, fail, not from using too much, but too little of the rhe- 
 torical quality. They have stopped too soon, and left un- 
 acquired the highest grace of art, in keeping art out of 
 sight. 
 
 The next speaker to be noticed is one who claims our 
 sympathy — the Stammerer. He is the victim of a habit 
 which unnerves him. A nightmare sits on him by day, 
 and he can neither speak nor hold his tongue. The con- 
 flict of will and powerlessness convulses him with futile 
 effort ; and the more he tries to shake off the incubus, the 
 more firmly does it grasp him. In him the instinct of 
 speech is perverted, and he is altogether unconscious that 
 the cause of his failure is his own blind contest with the 
 organs of speech. The lingual elements linger on the 
 palate, the labials labour on the lips, the gutturals gurgle in 
 the throat, and the whole utterance is clogged with self- 
 inflicted impediments. Those who have acquired the habit 
 of easy articulation are not sufficiently sensible of the 
 blessing they enjoy — the inestimable privilege of free 
 speech ! They might have changed places v/ith the stam- 
 merer ; for they are as unconscious of the m~ans by which 
 they have succeeded as he is of the reason of his failure. 
 This is a discreditable fact. When the physiology of speech 
 shall be studied as it deserves to be, and teachers of the 
 elements of language shall be skilled in sounds as well as 
 letters ; when the juvenile stumbler over difficulties shall 
 be kindly directed by knowledge, not chastised or ridiculed 
 by ignorance, then stammering, with all its train of mental 
 evils and unutterable sufferings, will be unknown. 
 
 Let us now take T. The Theatrical Orator stands forth 
 as the representative under this head. The player's art 
 
170 An Alphabet of Orators. 
 
 ought to be serviceable to all classes of society, and especi- 
 ally to speakers of every class. For what is the purpose 
 of playing ? It is : " To hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to 
 Nature, to show Virtue her own feature, Scorn her own 
 image, and the very age and body of the Time its form and 
 pressure." To see our faults reflected on the stage is to be 
 made cheaply conscious of them ; and to know a fault is 
 almost to be cured of it. Acting, however, has lost much 
 of its reflecting property, and, from showing men and man- 
 ners, it has come to be a display of showmen and manner- 
 ists. The theatrical orator is no safe model for the speaker, 
 nowadays." His delivery is mouthing, his tones are con- 
 ventional, " of the stage stagey," his passion is bombast, 
 his tragedy is comic, and his comedy is burlesque. There 
 are, no doubt, brilliant exceptions, but the " stars " are few 
 and far between, that shine amid the paltry jet-lights of the 
 modern stage. A theatrical delivery is Capital, when it 
 unites grace with energy and classic propriety ; but it is 
 of Lower type when these qualities are superseded by ex- 
 travagance and buffoonery. 
 
 Our next example should be from U ; but on the prin- 
 ciple that "present company are excepted" we shall pass 
 on to the following letter. 
 
 In the V category the Vulgar Orator seems worthiest of 
 selection. Vulgar means " common," and vulgar speakers 
 are certainly common. The field of vulgarity is wide ; 
 and, although it abounds in weeds, it is richly besprinkled 
 with wild flowers, beautiful and sweet. The dialects of 
 many districts have an expressive charm which is perfectly 
 untranslatable into a more cultivated phrase. This charm, 
 however, is lost when dialects are used out of place. A 
 Yorkshire " Hamlet " would be offens'ive in Drury Lane ; 
 and a Billingsgate "Bailie Nicol Jarvie," in the Saltmarket 
 
An Alphabet of Orators. 171 
 
 of Glasgow. The dialectic speaker must have " audience 
 meet,'' unless he speaks in some eventful crisis, when eccen- 
 tricity is lost sight of in emergency. Within its own ap- 
 propriate sphere, Vulgar oratory may be as effective as the 
 most scholarly delivery. 
 
 By way of amends for passing over U, we have a \V 
 this time. In this category the Wriggling Orator claims 
 our attention. This St. Vitus-like speaker does not stand 
 firmly in his boots, but his feet wriggle from heel to toe 
 and over one another; his knees are not braced to hold up 
 his body, but they wriggle outwards, inwards, backwards, 
 forwards ; his sides are not erect to sustain bis chest, but 
 they bend and wriggle, first one way then another; his 
 shoulders are not squared to the spectator's eye, but they 
 wriggle up, down, out, in ; his arms are not expanded in 
 their movements, but they wriggle about and seem to crawl 
 over his body. His head wriggles on the wriggling neck, 
 — his tongue wriggles in his mouth, — the words wriggle 
 out, — and he wriggles all over, and all together. Wrig- 
 gling is Capital, when it is intended to be funny ; but it is 
 of Lower-case, and intolerable, in connection with any 
 department of serious oratory. 
 
 There is one extra class of orators ; but .they will not 
 range under X. They are not found among the Y's, and 
 they have nothing in common with Z. They are those 
 who have a difficulty in coming to the end of any sub- 
 ject. They seem to get to their wit's end before they con- 
 clude. Half a dozen times they appear to have done, and 
 you gather up hat and gloves to be off, when, lo ! another 
 of their many " heads " starts up, and you pop your hat 
 out of sight again. The title of this essay tells where these 
 observations must end : — at the End of the Alphabet. 
 
A Shadow-Class of Students. 173 
 
 XXVI. A SHADOW-CLASS OF STUDENTS. 
 
 Allow me to introduce to you a class of Shadow-students. 
 With your mind's eye, you will please to notice them now 
 gathered around the reading-desk. These gentlemen 
 have all some dialectic peculiarities or faults of utterance, 
 which they desire me to point out and correct. I take 
 the opportunity of doing so in your presence, thinking 
 that you may be interested in the progress of the work ; 
 and that possibly you may afterwards make some profit- 
 able application of the principles which I shall have occa- 
 sion to rehearse. 
 
 Now, Shadow-gentlemen, I shall call on each of you to 
 read a few lines, to exemplify your present styles; and, as I 
 point out the characteristics requiring attention in each in- 
 dividual case, I invite you to put any questions or make 
 any observations that may aid in securing a perfect under- 
 standing of the directions and the principles involved. 
 
 Mr. Anderson, will you please to commence ? 
 
 (Edinburgh.) " Shall I read any particular part? " 
 
 Open the book at random; take the first passage that 
 meets your eye. 
 
 " No more shall nation against nation rise, 
 Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes ; 
 Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er, 
 The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more." 
 
 Thank you. Your pronunciation is strongly dialectic. 
 I say nothing of dialects in the way of approving one or 
 contemning another. Each has its charm to ears accus- 
 tomed to it. But dialects are out of place in all public 
 life. Our standard literature has no dialects, neither should 
 our standard speech have any. A pure and uniform pro- 
 
174 A Shadow-Class of Students. 
 
 nunciation should be taught in every school. There are 
 but few elements in speech ; correct these and the whole of 
 speech is corrected. For example, in the passage just read, 
 more than one-half of the words were mispronounced. The 
 proportion would have been the same had the number 
 been multiplied by thousands. Yet the correction of nine 
 or, at most, ten elements would rectify the entire vocabu- 
 lary. Thus : 
 
 " No more (not more) shall nation (not nation) against nation rise (not 
 rise), 
 
 Nor ardent warriors (not warriors) meet (not meet) with hateful eyes ; 
 
 Nor fields with gleaming ste.el (not fields with gleaming steel) be cov- 
 ered o'er " (not covered o'er), etc. 
 
 " I'm afraid I should never remember so many changes." 
 
 Not if each word involved a separate act of recollection. 
 You are in the habit of using several hundred words in 
 your common speech ; and Hyde Clarke's little English 
 dictionary contains a hundred thousand words, but all 
 these are made up from about forty elements of sound, and 
 the latter only have to be studied in order to make pro- 
 nunciation uniform. 
 
 You were about to say something, Mr. Dunlop ; we shall 
 be happy to hear you. 
 
 (Glasgow?) " I was just going to observe that there's a 
 twang in Mr. Anderson's speech that shows he comes from 
 Edinburgh. Now, it's strange that we have nothing of the 
 sort in Glasgow." 
 
 Why, you have just illustrated the Glasgow twang, which 
 is quite as marked as that of Edinburgh, although it is very 
 different. Your ear is accustomed to it, and therefore you 
 are not conscious of its peculiarity, while you immediately 
 detect another twang simply by its diversity from your own. 
 
 " Ay ! What is the Glasgow twang ? " 
 
A Shadow-Class of Students. 175 
 
 There is in every dialect a prevailing melody, consisting 
 of repetitions either of the same tone or of the same in- 
 tervals of tone ; and this is the most marked feature in all 
 dialects. The Glasgow tune consists of repetitions of fall- 
 ing tones with a very acute commencement, to which the 
 voice is jerked up on every accent. The Edinburgh tune 
 consists of terminal rising tones with a very limited and 
 gliding ascent ; and the farther north you go in Scotland 
 the rising tones become more and more acute, until, in 
 Aberdeen, the voice is jerked as high in the terminations 
 of tones as in Glasgow it is jerked up at their commence- 
 ment. 
 
 " I would like to understand the tune you speak of. You 
 say the Glasgow tones have a high commencement ? " 
 
 I think if you pronounce these last words again, slowly 
 and observingly, you will yourself be conscious of this. 
 Repeat the same words. 
 
 " The Glasgow tones have a high commencement." 
 
 Yes ; and the Aberdeen tones have a high termination, 
 and consequently a relatively low commencement. 
 
 (Aberdeen.) " Perhaps if I read a little bit it may illustrate 
 the Aberdonian tune." 
 
 Thank you, Mr. Grant ; no doubt it will. 
 
 "Then say not man's imperfect, heaven in fault, 
 Say, rather, man's as perfect as he ought ; 
 His knowledge measured to his state and place, 
 His time a moment, and a point his space." 
 
 Now, if Mr. Dunlop will please to read a couple of lines 
 of the same passage the contrast will show very clearly the 
 difference between these dialectic tunes. 
 
 (Glasgow.) " Then say not man's imperfect," etc. 
 
 Perhaps Mr. Anderson will oblige us with his version of 
 the same lines. 
 
176 A Shadow-Class of Students. 
 
 {Edinburgh!) " Then say not man's imperfect," etc. 
 
 Thank you. The only difficulty in correcting these pe- 
 culiarities arises from the insensibility of the ear to the 
 melody to which it is accustomed. Diversities of tune are 
 infinite, but the elementary tones of which they are com- 
 posed are few in number, and every ear may be made sen- 
 sitive to these. Master the gamut, and then you can an- 
 alyse the tune and learn to regulate intonation by principle 
 instead of habit. 
 
 (Irish.) " Excuse me, but I don't see how there can be 
 any principle in tones, when we all of us use them so dif- 
 ferently, and yet perfectly understand each other." 
 
 Mr. O'Brien's observation is a very natural one. Vernac- 
 ular speech is altogether a habit, and wc learn it by imita- 
 tion without any perception of the laws of expression, which, 
 nevertheless, have a real existence. Although these laws 
 are so variously violated in dialects, yet all diversities vanish 
 before excitement . and people of every nationality, dialect 
 and language, express their passions by one common instinct 
 of natural intonation. But we want to be natural without 
 the necessity of getting into a passion for the purpose. 
 To this end, we must investigate and apply the principles 
 of natural expression. 
 
 (Irish.) " People tell me that I have what they call a 
 brogue. Does it arise from my way of pronouncing, or from 
 my tones, or what is it they refer to ? " 
 
 Something unmistakably Hibernian, at all events. I pre- 
 sume Mr. Dunlop will recognise this more readily than he 
 did the Glasgow twang. 
 
 (Glasgow.) " O, yes; I begin to see the thing a little 
 now. A brogue is just a — a sort of a twang.'' 
 
 (Edinburgh.) " Ay, mh'm ; and a twang, ye maun mind, 
 is just a sort of a brogue." 
 
A Shadow-Class of Students. 177 
 
 {Aberdeen.) " In Aberdeen they ca' them a' brogues the- 
 gither." 
 
 Well, Mr. O'Brien, to answer your question. In the 
 Irish dialects we hear a great variety of speech-tunes, and 
 yet we recognise among them all a something which they 
 have in common, which we call a brogue. The brogue is, 
 therefore, primarily, a characteristic of pronunciation. 
 The Irish consonants do not open sharply on the vowels, 
 but between the elements there is a slight hiatus with a 
 more or less perceptible aspiration that softens the transi- 
 tion, and makes /sound like s,p like/, etc. Then nearly 
 all unaccented vowels are pronounced alike ; that is, with- 
 out any difference between a, e, i, etc. If Mr. O'Brien 
 will read a few lines, we shall probably hear these points 
 exemplified. 
 
 (Irish.) " I cannot, my lords, I will not, join in congratulation on 
 misfortune and disgrace. This, my lords, is a perilous and tremendous 
 moment. It is not a time for adulation ; the smoothness of flattery 
 cannot save us in this rugged and awful crisis. It is now necessary to 
 instruct the throne in the language of truth." 
 
 Thank you. You would observe — at least all but Mr. 
 O'Brien would probably observe — that in the words, " mis- 
 fortune, perilous, tremendous, crisis, necessary, language," 
 etc., the unaccented syllables were all alike in sound. With 
 
 reference to the tones I beg your pardon, Mr. Jones, 
 
 yo';. were about to say something. 
 
 ( Welsh.) " I was just going to ask if the tones of Mr. 
 O'Brien's reading were not chiefly falling tones, and yet 
 very unlike the Glasgow ones ? " 
 
 You are perfectly right. The prevailing tone was a 
 simple downward turn, but without the high pitch which 
 characterises the West-Scottish dialects. Since you seem 
 
178 A Shadow-Class of Students. 
 
 to have a good ear, can you discover the key-note of your 
 own speech ? Let us hear you read a few lines. 
 
 (Welsh.) "The great pursuit of man is happiness; it is the first 
 and strongest desire of his nature ; in every stage of life he searches 
 for it as for hidden treasure, and though perpetually disappointed still 
 persists, and runs after and inquires for it afresh." 
 
 Thank you. Do you recognise any predominant tone ? 
 
 " I can hardly be positive ; for it seems to be always up 
 and down, up and down." 
 
 You have expressed the characteristic more accurate'y 
 than you intended. The tones of speech either go directly 
 up, as in the north and east of Scotland, or directly down, 
 as in Ireland and the west of Scotland, or they turn from 
 one to the other direction, and go down and up, or up and 
 down, on a single accent. Your dialectic tone is the com- 
 bined " up and down," or compound fall. But the Welsh 
 dialect, as you illustrate it, has other and stronger pecu- 
 liarities, arising from a general staccato pronunciation of 
 syllables, and from the non-vocality of certain consonants, 
 so that v sounds like/, d like t,j like ch, etc. 
 
 " I know that Shakespeare makes Parson Evans say 
 ' fery coot,' with f and c instead of v and g, but that, I 
 should suppose, is a caricature." 
 
 It exactly represents your own mode of pronouncing such 
 letters. Let us hear you say, by way of test, " We should 
 sound v and g in the words ' very good.' " 
 
 " We should sound v and g in the words ' very good.' " 
 
 There ; you have proved the accuracy of Shakespeare's 
 orthography of Welsh. You must practise the defective 
 sounds until you can clearly distinguish such words as 
 " cease and seize, seal and zeal, proof and prove, choke and 
 joke" — which now sound alike. I shall be glad if Mr. West 
 will d vour us next. 
 
A Shadow- Class of Students. 179 
 
 (American.) " Well, I am very desirous to know all about 
 my own way of speaking. I guess there is no want of 
 vocality in my case." 
 
 No; you give the distinction between voiceless and 
 vocalised elements with perfect clearness. But your dia- 
 lectic habit presents peculiarities, both of tone and pro- 
 nunciation. 
 
 " My key-note, I suppose, is the opposite of Mr. Jones's 
 — the combined down and up variety ? " 
 
 Exactly so. But please to let us hear your ordinary 
 style of reading. 
 
 " Clearness, force and earnestness are the qualities which produce 
 conviction. True eloquence does not consist in speech. Labour and 
 learning may toil for it in vain. It must exist in the man, in the sub- 
 ject, and in the occasion." 
 
 Thank you. Your illustration has completed the gamut 
 of radical varieties of tone forming the key-notes of dia- 
 lects. The simple rise, predominant, is North-British , the 
 simple fall, Irish ; the compound fall, Welsh ; the com- 
 pound rise, American. But in your delivery we have, also, 
 some characteristic vowel sounds, and a strong tinge of 
 nasal quality. The vowel in the words earnestness, learn- 
 ing, etc., is so peculiarly dialectic that it is even difficult of 
 imitation by strangers. The sound is of very frequent 
 occurrence, and always before the letter r. R itself, also, 
 has a sound entirely different from that of the ordinary 
 English element. 
 
 " We certainly have a very strong objection to rolling 
 our r's." 
 
 Thank you for illustrating another variety of r in the 
 word " very " — where the r is modified by the lips. This 
 makes the American " very " very different from the Eng- 
 lish word. But the habit of nasalising vowels is the most 
 
180 A Shadow-Class of Students. 
 
 marked peculiarity. There are onlyjhree elements which 
 legitimately have a nasal sound — namely, m, n and ng — 
 and it is in combination with these that vowels are nasal- 
 ised in America. 
 
 " O, then, it is only when combined with a nasal conso 
 nant ? " 
 
 Chiefly so. But as m, n and ng occur very frequently, 
 and as vowels both before and after them are affected, the 
 whole of speech is tinged with nasality. This quality is 
 also rendered " prominent " by a fulness and " prolonga- 
 tion " of " sound " which adds greatly to the effect. 
 
 " We might justify that by saying that the nose is really 
 the most prominent of our features." 
 
 Yes ; but it should keep in its own place, and not go 
 poking about through all the parts of speech. 
 
 " Is there no mode of compelling the voice to keep out 
 of the nose, and go straight through the mouth ? " 
 
 The only true method is to teach the ear to discriminate 
 a purely oral sound. 
 
 (Obstructed Nasals.) " You spoke of the sounds of m, n 
 and ng as being legitimately nasal. What is wrong with 
 my pronunciation of these sounds ? " 
 
 The soft-palate at the back of the mouth covers the inner 
 end of the nostrils like a valve for all sounds that are not 
 nasalised, and it leaves the passage open for nasal sounds* 
 In your case, the voice, though it gets into the nose, can- 
 not get out through it, owing to some constriction or ob- 
 struction in the passage. The same effect is produced by 
 a " cold in the head," and sometimes by causes requiring a 
 surgical operation ; but, in most cases, the nasal channel is 
 susceptible of expansion by an effort of will, and the defect 
 can be remedied by exercise. Let us hear you try to pro- 
 
A Shadow-Class of Students. iSi 
 
 long the sounds of the nasals. Say, " CoMe, JohN, you've 
 beeN a loNG tiMe goNe." 
 
 " Come, John, you've been a long time gone." 
 
 That is very faulty. Say " coMe " as long as you can. 
 
 " CoMe." 
 
 Ah! the rush of breath through the nose proves that 
 you can sufficiently open the passage. Give pure voice to 
 the nasals, instead of mere breath, and they will soon be 
 perfect. I shall be glad to hear your voice, Mr. Jenkins. 
 
 (North-English.) " I have been listening powerfully, 
 though I mayn't have much to say." 
 
 I perceive your peculiarities are merely provincialisms. 
 Let us hear a few lines of reading. 
 
 "Tell me not in mournful numbers, 
 
 Life is but an empty dream ; 
 For the soul is dead that slumbers, 
 
 And things are not what they seem. 
 
 Life is real, life is earnest, 
 
 And the grave is not its goal ; 
 Dust thou art, to dust returnest, 
 
 Was not spoken of the soul." 
 
 Thank you. The organs pf speech get set — like instru- 
 ments tuned to various keys — so as to yield sounds that 
 individually differ but little, while their aggregate effect is 
 strongly characteristic. Your North-English dialect abounds 
 in minute variations of the vowel sounds, which a touch 
 on a peg, here and there, would bring into unison with 
 standard sounds. 
 
 If we now have a few lines from a gentleman with a 
 South- English habit, it should present a contrast to our last 
 
 example. I think I am right in pointing to you, Mr. . 
 
 Favour me with the name. 
 
 " All."