An Essay on Elocution

So all was clear'd, and to the field they haste.
But first from under shady arborous roof,
Soon as they forth were come to open sight
Of day-spring, and the sun, who, scarce uprisen,
With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean brim,
Shot parallel to the earth his dewey ray,
Discovering in wide landscape all the east
Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains,
Lowly they bow'd adoring, and began
Their orisons, each morning duly paid
In various style; for neither various style
Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise
Their Maker, in fit strains pronounc'd, or sung
Unmeditated; such prompt eloquence

Flow'd from their lips, in prose or numerous verse;
More tuneable than needed lute or harp
To add more sweetness.

LOVE.

AND said I that my limbs were old,
And said I that my blood was cold,
And that my kindly fire was fled,
And my poor withered heart was dead,
And that I might not sing of love?
How could I to the dearest theme
That ever warmed a minstrel's dream,
So foul, so false a recreant prove!
How could I name love's very name,
Nor wake my heart to notes of flame!

In peace, Love tunes the shepherd's reed;
In war, he mounts the warrior's steed;
In halls, in gay attire is seen;

In hamlet's dances on the green.

Love rules the court, the camp, the grove,

And men below, and saints above;

For love is heaven, and heaven is love.

CONTENTS.

Preface,

E-say on Elocution,

Termination of the Essay,

Remarks on reading Prose, Verse, and blank Verse,.
Suggestions to Instructors of the Art of Elocution,
Select Sentences,

CAUSES OF BAD READING AND SPEAKING.

Dwyer.

Too slightly sounding the accented Vowels, .......
Too slightly sounding the unaccented Vowels,............. Ibid.
Wavering pronunciation of the Vowels under the secondary

accent,

. Ibid.

The liquid sound of K, C, or G hard, before the Vowels
A and I,....

Ibid.

short sound,..

....

Not sounding the H where it ought to be sounded, and

the reverse,
Improper pronunciation of the words for, from and by,. Ibid.
Tribute of respect to the Memory of Noah Webster,.... Ibid.
Observations on the pronunciation of certain words

frequently mistaken in reading or speaking, ...... Ibid.
When you is to be pronounced like ye, and my like me,. Ibid.
On the pronoun my,
When of, for, from and by, are to have a long, and when a

How to pronounce the possessive pronoun thy,.
How to pronounce the adjective possessive pronoun,

mine,
Improper and indistinct pronunciation of the word, not,. Ibid.
Improper pronunciation of the terminating ing,
Improper pronunciation of the word to,................

......

... Ibid.

Ibid. 67

Page

ELOQUENCE OF RELIGION.

The Saviour's Sermon on the Mount,

I. Corinthians, XV. Chapter,

Paul's Defence before Agrippa,

Extract from the XIV. Chapter of Job,

Character of a Christian Mother,...By Rev. W. B. Kirwan.

The Cause of the King against the Honourable Mr. Justice

Curran. 93

ELOQUENCE OF POPULAR ASSEMBLIES.

.Ibid. 102
..Ibid. 107

Dwyer. 143

Extract from an Oration, delivered in the New-York Forum,
April, 1821,..

Lord Chatham's Speech against arming the Savages, in 1778,
On Slander,

Brutus' Harangue on the death of Cæsar,.

Antony's Oration over Cæsar's Body,......

145

Griffin. 146
Sheridan. 148

Shakspeare. 149

... Ibid. 150

Eulogy pronounced at the city of Washington,
1826, ...

October 19,

.. Wirt. 152

Description of Gen. Conway's situation on the Repeal of the

American Stamp Act,....

Description of Junius,.....

Lamentation for the loss of his Son,...

Character of Mr. Fox, in support of his India Bill,.
Character of Lord Chatham,................

Invective against Mr. Corry in reply to his Aspersions,. Ibid. 176
Extracts from a Speech against Warren Hastings,. Sheridan. 178

A Speech delivered at Cheltenham, on the 7th October, 1819,
at the Fourth Anniversary of the Gloucester Missionary
Society,..

Page

Phillips, 180

Ibid. 185

SUBJECTS DESCRIPTIVE AND MISCELLANEOUS.

The Self Inflicting Torments of the Gamester...... Godwin. 187

A Description of the field of Battle, where Varus the Roman
General and his Army, had been destroyed by Armineus;
also of the Tribute of respect paid by Germanicus and his
Legions, to the scattered and unburied bones of their
slaughtered countrymen,.

Eulogy on General Washington,. . . .

188

Tacitus.

Dwyer. 189

On General La Fayette's Reception in the United States,