Elegance of style in

of during

"such

is possible for a poetical style to be affectedly and offensively ornamented, yet the same degree and kind of decoration which is not only allowed, but required, in Verse, would in Prose be disgusting; and that the appearance of attention to the Beauty of the expression, and to the Arrangement of the words, which in Verse is essential, is to be carefully avoided in Prose. And since, as Dr. Smith observes, a design, when it exists, is almost always prose not to betrayed;" the safest rule is, never, during be thought the act of composition, to study Elegance, the act of or think about it at all. Let an author study writing. the best models-mark their beauties of style, and dwell upon them, that he may insensibly catch the habit of expressing himself with Elegance; and when he has completed any composition, he may revise it, and cautiously alter any passage that is awkward and harsh, as well as those that are feeble and obscure: but let him never, while writing, think of any beauties of style; but content himself with such as may occur spontaneously. He should carefully study Perspicuity as he goes along; he may also, though more cautiously, aim, in like manner, at Energy; but if he is endeavouring after Elegance, he will hardly fail to betray that endeavour; and in proportion as he does this, he will be so far from giving pleasure, to good judges, that he will offend more than by the rudest simplicity.

Finis.

PART IV.

OF ELOCUTION.

CHAP. I.-General Considerations relative to
Elocution.

§ 1. On the importance of this branch, it is hardly necessary to offer any remark. Few need to be told that the effect of the most perfect composition may be entirely destroyed, even by a Delivery which does not render it unintelligible; that one, which is inferior both in matter and style, may produce, if better spoken, a more powerful effect than another which surpasses it in both those points; and that even such an Elocution as does not spoil the effect of what is said, may yet fall far short of doing full justice to it. "What would you have said," observed Æschines, when his recital of his great rival's celebrated Speech on the Crown was received with a burst of admiration-" what would you have said, had yon heard him speak it?"

The subject is far from having failed to engage attention of the prevailing deficiency of this, more than of any other qualification of a perfect Orator, many have complained; and several have laboured to remove it: but it may safely be asserted, that their endeavours have been, at the very best, entirely unsuccessful. Probably not a single instance could be found of any one who has attained, by the study of any system of instruction that has hitherto appeared, a really good Delivery; but there are many-probably nearly as many as have fully tried the experiment--who have by this means been totally spoiled;-who have fallen irrecoverably into an affected style of spouting, worse, in all respects, than their

original mode of Delivery. Many accordingly have, not unreasonably, conceived a disgust for the subject altogether; considering it hopeless that Elocution should be taught by any rules; and acquiescing in the conclusion that it is to be regarded as entirely a gift of nature, or an accidental acquirement of practice. It is to counteract the prejudice which may result from these feelings, that I profess in the outset a dissent from the principles generally adopted, and lay claim to some degree of originality in my own. Novelty affords at least an opening for hope; and the only opening, when former attempts have met with total failure.*

Requisites § 2. The requisites of Elocution corresof Elocu pond in great measure with those of Style: tion. Correct Enunciation, in opposition both to indistinct utterance, and to vulgar and dialectic pronunciation, may be considered as answering to Purity, Grammatical Propriety, and absence of Obsolete or otherwise Unintelligible words. These qualities, of Style, and of Elocution, being equally required in common conversation, do not properly fall within the province of Rhetoric. The three qualities, again, which have been treated of, under the head of Style, viz. Perspicuity, Energy, and Elegance, may be regarded as equally requisites of Elocution; which, in order to be perfect, must convey the meaning clearly, forcibly, and agreeably.

Reading § 3. Before, however, I enter upon any and Speak- separate examination of these requisites, it ing. will be necessary to premise a few remarks on the distinction between the two branches of Delivery, viz. Reading aloud, and Speaking. The object of correct Reading is, to convey to the hearers, through the medium of the ear, what is conveyed to the reader by the eye;--to put them in the same situation with him who has the book before him;-to exhibit to them, in short, by the voice, not only each word, but also all the This is, in substance, one of Bacon's Aphorisms.

*

Im

Impressive reading.

stops, paragraphs, italic characters, notes of interrogation, &c. which his sight presents to him. His voice seems to indicate to them, "thus and thus it is written in the book or manuscript before me." pressive reading superadds to this, some degree of adaptation of the tones of voice to the character of the subject, and of the style. What is usually termed fine Reading seems to convey, in addition to these, a kind of admonition to the hearers respecting the feelings which the composition ought to excite in them: it appears to say, this deserves your admiration;-this is sublime;-this is pathetic, &c." But Speaking, i. e. natural speaking, when the Speaker is uttering his own sentiments, and is thinking exclusively of them, has something in it distinct from all this; it conveys, by the sounds which reach the ear, the idea, that what is said is the effusion of the Speaker's own mind, which he is desirous of imparting to others. A decisive proof of which is, that if any one overhears the voice of another, to whom he is an utter stranger-suppose in the next room -without being able to catch the sense of what is said,

Speaking

*It may be said, indeed, that even tolerable reading aloud, sup. plies more than is exhibited by a book to the eye; since though italics, e. g. indicate which word is to receive the emphasis, they do not point out the tone in which it is to be pronounced; which may be essential to the right understanding of the sentence; e. g. in such a sentence as in Genesis i. "God said, Let there be light; and there was light :" here we can indicate indeed to the eye that the stress is to be upon "was;" but it may be pronounced in different tones; one of which would alter the sense, by implying that there was light already.

This is true indeed; and it is also true, that the very words them selves are not always presented to the eye with the same distinctions as are to be conveyed to the ear; as, e. g. "abuse," "refuse," "project," and many others, are pronounced differently, as nouns and as verbs. This ambiguity, however, in our written signs, as well as the other, relative to the emphatic words, are imperfections which will not mislead a moderately practised reader. My mean ing, in saying that such reading as I am speaking of puts the hearers in the same situation as if the book were before them, is to be understood on the supposition of their being able not only to read, but to read so as to take in the full sense of what is written.

Attention

pathy.

he will hardly ever be for a moment at a loss to decide whether he is Reading or Speaking; and this, though the hearer may not be one who has ever paid any critical attention to the various modulations of the human voice. So wide is the difference of the tones employed on these two occasions, be the subject what it may.* The difference of effect produced is proconnected portionably great: the personal sympathy with sym- felt towards one who appears to be delivering his own sentiments is such, that it usually rivets the attention, even involuntarily, though to a discourse which appears hardly worthy of it. It is not easy for an auditor to fall asleep while he is hearing even perhaps feeble reasoning, clothed in indifferent language, delivered extemporaneously, and in an unaffected style; whereas it is common for men to find a difficulty in keeping themselves awake, while listening even to a good dissertation, of the same length, or even shorter, on a subject, not uninteresting to them, when read, though with propriety, and not in a languid manner And the thoughts, even of those not disposed to be drowsy, are apt to wander, unless they use an effort from time to time to prevent it; while on the other hand it is notoriously difficult to withdraw our attention even from a trifling talker of whom we are weary, and to occupy the mind with reflections of its own.

Of the two branches of Elocution which have been

* "At every sentence let them ask themselves this question; How should I utter this, were I speaking it as my own immediate sentiments?—I have often tried an experiment to show the great difference between these two modes of utterance, the natural and the artificial; which was, that when I found a person of vivacity delivering his sentiments with energy, and of course with all that variety of tones which nature furnishes, I have taken occasion to put something into his hand to read. as relative to the topic of conversation; and it was surprising to see what an immediate change there was in his Delivery, from the moment he began to read. A different pitch of voice took place of his natural one, and a tedious uniformity of cadence succeeeded to a spirited variety; insomuch that a blind man could hardly conceive the person who read to be the same who had just been speaking." Sheridan, Art of Reading.