The elements of reading and oratory

Preface

Of all the departments of learning in our schools, there is none which, by general concession, is more important than that of reading and speaking ; and yet, there is none in which the instruction given is at once so arbitrary, so vague, so unprofitable. In every other, there exists some recognised standard of propriety, tangible, and always at hand, by reference to which, the student can accurately prepare himself for recitation beforehand ; and by reference to which, should he make a mistake, while the recitation is in progress, his teacher can intelligibly correct him : make him clearly comprehend the nature of the error into which he has fallen, and effectually guard him against a repetition of it. In writing, he must imitate his copy : in geography, he must implicitly receive the statements of his text-book, and studiously conform to the delineations of his map : in arithmetic, every process has its rule, which offers itself to him as an infallible guide, through all the intricacies and mazes of numbers : in reading and speaking alone, he is left to acquire a correct and graceful delivery, as he may, with such imperfect light as his teacher, whose judgment may be riper, but whose sources of information are not better than his own, can throw upon his path. In truth, the only means by which either of them can determine, that a given passage should be delivered in one way rather than in another, is a mere supposition ; namely, that such is the way in which it would be delivered by an artless speaker ; or, to adopt the cant phraseology of the day on this subject, such is the natural way ; or the way in which one would deliver it, who conforms to nature : a supposition, which, considering the inexperience of the parties forming it, the extensive observation and comparison of the best models of delivery, the cultivated judgment, and the nice critical tact, necessary to form it, and withal the prevalence of bad examples even at the Bar and in the Pulpit, to say nothing of the vicious elocution of the multitude, is as liable to be false, as true ; and whether false or true, it can be neither denied nor affirmed ; since there is nothing beyond itself, in the shape of an authorised standard, with which it may be compared. To conform to nature, or rather to know when we conform to nature, we should previously know what that nature is : what it prescribes : what it excludes.

The inadequacy, I had almost said, the absurdity, of such a method of instruction in grammar, if method it may be called, would be apparent to the most indifferent thinker in the land. Imagine a student endeavoring to acquire a knowledge of its principles without a nomenclature, designating and describing the parts of speech : without examples, illustrating them : without rules showing their relation and government : in short, without any guide whatever to a knowledge of its facts and laws, except a vague reference to the conflicting

IV PREFACE.

practice of those who speak and write the English language : does not every one perceive, that, with such means of study, it would be all but impossible to obtain a clear insight into the mysteries of the science ? or that, if some inquirer, more ardent than usual, should persist in the pursuit until success crowned, at length, his diligence, the work would consume a large proportion of his life ? Yet there is no difficulty here, which does not meet the student in learning to read and speak by the same process ; the scene is changed, but the actor and his part remain as before. He must grope his way in the dark in the same manner : with uncertain footing, and at a venture. He can never be sure of his position, and he is as likely to move in a circle as to advance.

Nor will it materially avail him, in the absence of a nomenclature and of rules, that he possesses in his teacher the very best model of elocution. From such a teacher he may acquire a good articulation, for this, in some measure, is subject to rule ; but beyond this, which, though important, is yet subordinate, he can derive no more aid from such a teacher than from any other immeasurably his inferior. Indeed, he will derive less, if the latter, with his imperfect qualifications as a reader, should happen to possess the superior tact as a disciplinarian : greater facility in winning the regard of his pupils ; in commanding their attention ; in exciting their emulation. In other respects, the more and the less gifted teacher, occupy, in relation to him, the same level. Neither of them can do more than superintend his exercises : neither of them can add anything to the benefit he derives from the practice those exercises afford. Whatever may be his faults of modulation, no correction of theirs, however just, can, from the very nature of the case, be followed by improvement. To have occular and auricular demonstration of this, we have only to enter one of our schools in city or country, when a class, containing perhaps a dozen pupils, is called up to read. Observe. The lesson, distributed among them, gives to each scarcely more than a single sentence for rehearsal. One of the pupils, reading his sentence, fails in the judgment of the teacher, to employ the proper delivery. He is now shown how it should be read, (that is, the teacher reads it for him, with, what he deems, the proper modulation,) and is commanded to read it again; and this time, we may presume, he will read it correctly. But what then ? If this was the only sentence he ever expected to read, the correction might answer a good purpose. He would probably remember it ; and at the next reading, and still more certainly at the next, he would make no mistake. But when called up again, he has the infinitesimal portion of another lesson, to which no correction of the one previously read, is applicable ; or if it is, neither he nor his teacher is aware of it. His reading is again faulty, and is again corrected ; and so on with every successive lesson, day after day, the year through. Each correction is an independent one. Having its root in no settled principle, illustrated by examples ; falling under no general law, confirmed by reason and obvious facts ; it neither borrows light from the past, nor reflects light on the future. It guards the pupil against nothing but the specific error corrected : its whole force is exhausted on a single sentence which may never be read again, or, if read, recognized as having been read before. It is therefore manifestly of no use, then or thenceforward. In any other branch of study, it

* PEEPACE. V

would be the stopping-stone of a continually accelerating progress ; here it terminates with itself: elsewhere a quickening spirit ; here a dead letter.

These obvious defects of the prevailing method of instruction, and the enormous waste both of money and of time, it occasions, have led a number of ingenious and able men, during the last sixty or seventy years, to inquire whether a better one could not be devised : whether, in other words, the facts and principles of elocution could not be systematised like those of grammar, arithmetic, &c, and hence taught in the same manner. Their works, which are before the public and well known, propose for our consideration, two distinct systems : the one formed on sentential construction, the other, variously modified, on a theory of Dr. Rush. Of these, the first is unquestionably the system of nature ; and that it should not have made its way into public favor, and become the basis of elementary instruction wherever the English language is spoken, must be imputed, not to anything wrong in the plan, but simply to the imperfect manner, in which, hitherto, it has been developed ; for, unfortunately, Mr. Walker, by whom it was first broached in his " Elements of Elocution," and by whom it was carried to a point, not yet passed, and scarcely reached, by those who have followed him, stopped short with an extremely imperfect account of one or two sentences only, and arbitrarily applied, or expected the student to apply, the laws derived from these, to every other, however unlike in structure. Hence his failure : acknowledged by himself in the Rhetorical Grammar which the published subsequently to the " Elements." His work, therefore, sustains the same relation to a complete system of Elocution, that would be sustained by a defective map of the state of New-York, to a universal Atlas ; and, carrying the illustration a little farther, to expect it, with whatever diligence studied, to form a good reader or speaker, would be equivalent to expecting, that a man, by looking at such a map of this state, should be qualified to describe the boundaries, towns, rivers, lakes and mountains, of every other state and empire on the surface of the globe.

The other system, that derived from Dr. Rush, and confined, I believe, to this country, however ingenious, and though ably and fully developed, is rather, it must be admitted, a system of vocal exercises, than of elocution : as such, its utility in the school room is not readily seen. Should a person become thoroughly versed in its various movements, which is no easy attainment, he has not taken, as yet, one step toward a correct and graceful delivery of a single sentence in the English language. Suppose a sentence presented : the question is, with what vocal movements, or more generally, with what modulation, shall it be read or spoken ? To this question the system gives no reply : the appropriate delivery is yet to be ascertained. These authors end, therefore, just where Walker and others begin ; or if they proceed farther, and prescribe a delivery for a given passage, they are governed in so doing, by no broad general principles authorised by induction, but by the caprices of individual tastes, or like the writers just mentioned, by questionable laws, derived from a few isolated cases. — I may add, that this system is exposed to the serious objection of having a strong tendency to form an artificial and mechanical delivery. I

VI PREFACE.

have met with several individuals, whose voices, trained by its processes, very distinctly betrayed it.

Such are the exceptions which may be taken to the most systematic and elaborate writers on elocution : writers of the higher aim, and the more solid worth. Of others, it is scarcely necessary to speak ; for they attempt rather to mitigate the evils of the existing method of instruction, than to remove them by introdu - cing another. Their observations are local, isolated, special : not without value jn the particular instances to which they apply ; but apart as they are, from principles, and incapable of generalisation, they merely supersede the incidental and arbitrary dogmas of the instructor.

On the whole, it must be acknowledged that the desideratum in the department of elocution ; the work, which seizes, generalises and arranges its facts, develops its principles, and declares its laws ; the work in which the public may universally confide as an exposition of true science ; the work on which the professor, the academical and common school teacher, can lay their hands, assured that, in it, they have a safe guide in all that relates to reading and speaking ; the work, finally, which shall displace the prevailing inefficient, and clumsy method, and banish it forever from our schools ; — such a work is yet to appear ; and when it does appear, it will doubtless bear upon its face the evidence of its mission, and compel assent to its revelations ; and the man who produces it, there can be as little doubt, will be hailed as the benefactor of the young.

That the following work, which I have now the honor of submitting to the public, possesses this high and decisive character, I am, of course, far from believing. Yet, I confess, I am not entirely without hope, (founded on long and patient investigation, unbiased by received theories, or preconceived opinions, and still more on having tested its utility, during the past two years, in the institution with which I am professionally connected.) that it may prove to be at least, the herald of the morning : the day-star to such a sun. If it should, I shall be content ; though merely glimmering for a space, where my successor will pour full-orbed effulgence.

It will be seen, on examination, that the leading idea of Mr. Walker, is mine ; namely, that the law of delivery must be derived from the structure of the sentence. Mr. Walker, however, either because that idea was not a very clear one, or because he wanted leisure or patience for a wide, comprehensive and exact induction, satisfied himself, as I have already observed, with an extremely imperfect development of it. What he left undone, I have attempted to do : to give a complete enumeration of the different sentences in the English language, and a description of their distinctive peculiarities of structure. This part of my work, which forms its base, is comprised in chapter fourth. Chapter second, on Punctuation, chapter third on Modulation, and chapter sixth, containing the laws of delivery, with a long train of examples under each for exercise, are merely derivations from chapter fourth.

The chapter on Emphasis, (ch. 5th,) is the result of discovering, that the laws of delivery, derived from structure, are limited to termination and direction : to the former, in declarative, and to the latter, in interrogative sentences. In other words, I found that structure determined the modulation at the end of declara-

PREFACE. VII tive sentences, and of their parts, and the general direction of the voice, through interrogative; but not the modulation of the intermediate portions. This I subsequently traced to the nature, position and influence of emphasis ; my discussion of which, the fruit of laborious and protracted examination, will be deemed, I trust, satisfactory : few subjects have been treated, hitherto, with less precision : why, it would be difficult to explain.

Having now made the student thoroughly acquainted with every variety of sentential structure, and the laws of delivery as derived from structure and emphasis combined, I introduce him, in chapter seventh, to the common reading-book ; where he is mainly left to apply for himself, the information obtained from the previous portions of the work. As a reading-book, I think it will be found inferior to none in use. In some respects, it is peculiar. The selections comprise sentences of every variety of construction, and in every degree of expansion, both in prose and verse. With most of the reading-books in use, this is not the case. I have introduced colloquial pieces, as well as the more sustained composition of books ; and also several other species of reading, not usually met with in school-books : such as epigrams ; anecdotes ; preambles and resolutions of deliberative assemblies ; advertisements ; legal notices ; letters ; &c, &c. These are all written to be read, and I cannot perceive why we should not learn to read them ; but I have inserted them more particularly, to show that the construction of sentences is the same in every species of composition ; and that these sentences are subject to the same laws of delivery, wherever found : whether in low life, or high life ; in conversation or in writing ; and in one kind of writing as well as in another ; in prose or verse.

The chapter on Pronunciation, the latest written and perhaps the least studied of the series, though occupying the first place, is introduced not so much on account of its value, as to mark my sense of the importance of the subject. Distinct, easy, accurate utterance of elementary sounds, syllables, and words, is a fundamental and indispensable quality of good reading and speaking ; and yet how sadly is it neglected, beyond a few unmeaning and inefficient commonplaces, by a majority of the teachers of the present day ! However, it may be hoped, that better habits are forming. There are a few instructors, certainly,who seem, in this respect, apprised of their responsibility ; and among these, it gives me pleasure to refer to the accomplished principal of the Normal School, at Albany, as an example of just appreciation, and unwearied labor in this department. I have not personally witnessed his exercises, but I have been told, by those competent to judge, that they are, as it regards accurate and tasteful pronunciation, thorough. From his position, and the influence it will enable him to exert over elementary instruction throughout the State, we may anticipate, I think, the happiest results, not only in this relation, but in others equally important to the educational interests of the people.

In bringing these prefatory observations to a close, it may be proper for me to say, that, although I have endeavored to confirm every position taken in the following work, by a sufficient number of examples, or where examples were inadmissible, which is seldom the case, with sufficient reasons, it may appear notwithstanding, that I have sometimes spoken unadvisedly : if so, I trust that

V1I1 PREFACE.

I have, at the same time, placed at the disposal of the reader, all that can be requisite for my correction. It may appear also, after more extended and searching examination, that some things, I have advanced, need additions, abridgment or modification. As I do not profess to have produced a perfect work, but merely to have laid the foundations for one ; I hope such deficiencies may be regarded with some degree of indulgence. I should state that what may be deemed one of these, my silence on the subject of gesture, is the result of design ; my plan, in the present work, limiting me to those " elements" which are common to " Reading and Oratory."

Something I wished to say, before concluding, on the bearing of what I have advanced, if acknowledged to be just, on the art of composition : something on its relation to the general subject of style : something also on its application to elementary instruction in other languages, both ancient and modern ; soon, probably, to be tested by one of the most finished classical scholars in the country ; but having already extended my observations to an unusual length, I reluctantly suppress what I might add on these points, and submit my work, without farther ceremony, to the judgment of an intelligent and candid Public : being very sure, that if it possesses value, it will receive proportionate approbation ; and that it can fail to be approved only, because, in the opinion of discerning and just men, less interested than myself, it fails to deserve it.

Hamilton College, September 1st, 1845.

Chapter I. Pronunciation

Pronunciation anciently included the whole of delivery. By modern usage, it is limited to the enunciation of single words. It comprehends articulation and accent.

SEC I. ARTICULATION.

I. Articulation primarily, signifies the junction which takes place in the organs of speech when a sound is interrupted and thus separated from other sounds ; and, secondarily, by an easy transition from cause to efFect, the distinct utterance of the various vocal sounds, represented by letters, diphthongs, triphthongs, syllables and words.

II. By distinct utterance is to be understood,

1. The expression of all the sounds which enter into the pronunciation of a word.

The fault opposed to this, the suppression of essential 6ounds, is one of common occurrence. Thus, h is often dropped in the pronunciation of where, which, what, and their derivatives : of shrill, shriek, shrunk, humble, and many others. N is often dropped from government ; pronounced as if written goverment : er from governor, andw, from regular; as if written goviior, reglar.

*2. The exact expression of the sounds which enter into the pronunciation of a word.

It is not sufficient, for example, that a should have any one of its sounds, but that specific sound which usage ascribes to it in a given position ; as in mane, man, mat.

Bad articulation, in this respect, will leave the hearer in doubt as to the particular word used, or suggest one different from that used ; and the result will be either a perplexed or perverted meaning.

3. The separate and complete expression of sounds, whether of let ters, syllables or entire words.

Intermingling sounds is the fault here. Thus, the following sentence, He understands and obeys, would be read or spoken by many, as if written, He understan-zan-dobeys.

It cannot be too often, or too earnestly impressed on the minds of instructors and students, that in reading or speaking, the sound of every letter which is not mute, of every syllable, and of every word, should be accurately and distinctly uttered, before another is heard. Unless this be done, the delivery will not be intelligible : much less distinguished by that force and grace, to which good articulation contributes in so great a degree.

III. To acquire an articulation which shall be, at once, accurate and tasteful, it is necessary,

1. To get an exact knowledge of the elementary sounds of the language;

2. To learn the appropriate place of these sounds, as determined by usage, in syllables and words ; and,

3. To apply this knowledge, constantly, in conversation, reading and speaking, with a view to correct every deviation from propriety which we may detect in expressing them.

Most writers on elocution give exercises for the improvement of articulation; but manifestly, from the nature of the case, with little benefit to the student. A good articulation is not to be acquired in a day, nor from a few lessons. Practice should begin\vith the spelling book, and continue through the whole course of education ; and even then, there will remain room for improvement.

IV. The elementary sounds of language are represented by vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs and consonants.

In describing these elementary sounds on succeeding pages, I have, in a few instances, differed from received opinions. I have enumerated some sounds as regular, which are treated by others, apparently for no valid reason, as irregular ; I have adopted the middle a sound of Perry, and have added a corresponding short sound, though found only in unaccented syllables ; I have denominated the vowel sounds succeeding a, when identical, as they often arc, with those of a, as the alphabetical, middle, flat, or broad a sound of e, i, &c, and omitting the mute, liquid, and semi-vowel distinction of consonants, I have substituted others more simple, and, as I conceive, in a practical, oratorical point of view, more important. Should any one object to these changes, I can only say, that they seem to me well founded, and that I have tested their utility : especially in relation to the sounds of the unaccented vowels, and the easier discrimination of the consonants ; the former of which, have not received that degree of attention they deserve.

V. A vowel is a sound which may be uttered either alone, or in connection with another vowel.

Some orthoepists define vowels as simple sounds ; others, as sounds which may be uttered with the mouth open ; and others, as sounds which may be uttered without aid from the organs of articulation. Each of these definitions is objectionable: the first, because at least two of them are compound : the second, because many of the consonants are uttered with the mouth open as well as the vowels : the third, because disproved by experiment. It will be found, on trial, that they require the aid of the articulatory organs as really as consonants. The most that can be said, is, that they do not require the aid of all of them, nor to the same extent ; which is also true of the consonants.

VI. The vowels are seven in number : a, e, i, o, u, y and w. Of these,

1. A, e and o, are simple sounds: may be uttered alone.

2. / and u are compound sounds : cannot be uttered alone.

3. I, y and zv are sometimes consonants.

I. A has eight sounds.

Alphabetical

" short.

X.

Middle

" short,

Flat

" short,

Rroad

H.

short,

I game, debate, spectator.

{ any, many, miscellany, herbage.

< care, dare, fare.

, , ■ } liar, regular, inward.

5 father, calm, star, lava.

J far, that, glass.

\ all, law, salt, walk, also, water, war-

\ what, want; was, wash, warrant,

REMARKS.

I. Alphabetical a long has this sound,

1 . When it ends an accented syllable ; as in maker, legislation.

Exceptions. Papa, father, mama, lava, water, and proper names ending with a.

2. When followed by a single consonant (except r) and e mute in the same accented syllable.

Exceptions. Gape, are, have.

Note.— In unaccented syllables, it often retains this sound.

II. Alphabetical short a. This sound is treated by orthoepists as irregular. The reason for this, I presume, is, that it occurs under accent, only in the two words adduced in the table : a reason which will apply with nearly equal force to other sounds, enumerated notwithstanding among those that are regular ; as, for example, the sound of o in move. My reasons for treating it as regular, aside from the one involved in what I have just said, are,

1. That e in men is precisely the short sound of Alphabetical a, as acknowledged by the best orthoepists ; (see Walker ;) and this is precisely the sound of a in many.

2. The improper diphthong ai, under accent, has this sound in numerous words ; (see diphthong ai ;) but why it should, unless alphabetical short a is a regular sound, I am unable to perceive.

The admission of this short sound of alphabetical a among regular sounds, has, I conceive, an important bearing on the pronunciation of the unaccented terminations of a large class of words ; as age, any, able, ably, ace, ate, ately, &c, in most of which the long alphabetical sound is abandoned ; and in which, consequently, the short, as being the nearest, should be heard.

III. Middle a long. I follow Perry in regarding this sound as quite too remote from alphabetical a long, to be classed with it. It is called middle a because its sound is about equally distant from that of a in game, and a in father. It occurs only before r and final e mute.

IV. Middle a short. I am alone, I believe, in enumerating this among distinct vowel sounds. It sustains precisely the same relation to a in care, fare, dare, &c, that a alphabetical short, sustains to alphabetical a long. It appears only in unaccented syllables before r ; but it is represented by e before r in the same syllable under accent ; as in herd, merchant, &c. : hence, the a in liar, friar, &c, is not accurately represented, as Walker intimates, by short u ; it has a sound a shade less guttural and broad ; as may be observed in comparing mercy and merry with murder, blunder, &c.

V. Flat a long. A has this sound when followed by r or h in the same accented syllable ; as in art, cart, dart, ah, bah.

Exceptions. A in this position preceded by w, has its long broad sound ; as in war, ward.

VI. Flat a short. " The short sound of middle or Italian a, (i. e. flat a,) which is generally confounded with the short sound of slender a, (alphabetical a,) is the sound of this vowel in man, pan, tan, hat, &c. &c."

Walker.

A has this sound for the most part,

1 . When followed by a single consonant, (except r and occasionally I,) in the same accented syllable ; as in ballad, capstan, massive. Exceptions. Alien, ancient, cambric, chamber, manger, angel.

2. When followed by more than one consonant, (except ?-and /, followed by another consonant,) in the same accented syllable ; as in band, catch, cramp, act, apt.

VII. Broad a long. The regular place for this sound is before 11 ; as in all, ball, call, fall, hall, wall ; though it occurs in some other positions ;. as in ward, bawd, chalk.

2. E has five sounds.

1. Alphabetical J j me, scheme, theme.

2. " short, ', j pretty, been, England, faces, linen

3. " a short, i as heard in ) bet, end, them, sell, method.

4 Middle a / \ where, there, ere, e'er, ne'er.

5. " (< short. J \ herd, merchant, certain,consternation,

REMARKS.

E is mute,

1 . When final and preceded by another vowel in the same syllable ; as in mute, rebuke, literature.

2. When preceding I and n, in final unaccented syllables in many instances ; as in navel, drivel, swivel, weasel, open, often, heaven.

3. When it precedes d in the preterit of verbs, and is not preceded by d or t ; as in lived, loved, revealed, justified.

Note.— E is often in position final, where, in pronunciation it is not; as in theatre, centre massacre, : where final, it is often viciously treated, as if not ; as in the derivatives knavery, brave-ry, xmage-ry, nicety, slave ry, finery, savage ry, &c. ; all of which words, Walker pronounces in three or four syllables ; while others, correctly enough, he pronounces m two ; as in safety, ninety, surety. Webster adverts to this error of Walker, yet in several instances leaves it uncorrected.