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 \ BRIEF TREATISE 
 
 PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 
 
 ELOCUTION 
 
 By JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 
 
BRIEF TREATISE 
 
 PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 
 
 ELOCUTION. 
 
 "If nature unassisted couid form the eminent speaker, where were the use of art or culture, 
 which yet no one pretends to question? Art is but nature improved and refined ; and before 
 improvement is applied, genius is but a mass of ore in the mine, without lustre, and without 
 value, because unknown and unthought o/." 
 
 James Burgh, Author of the Dignity of Human Nature, Sec. <$-c 
 
 AX 
 By JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND PUBLISHED BY 
 PEABODY & Co. 219 BROADWAY, 
 
 AND 
 
 GEORGE LONG, 161 BROADWAY 
 
 PRICE 37i CENTS. 
 
b e 
 
 
 <? 
 
 " Entered according to Act of Congress, the 6th day of November, in the year 
 1833, by John Forrester. Foot, in the Office of the Clerk of the Southern 
 District of New- York." 
 
 G. F. Hopkins & Son, Print. 
 
A BRIEF TREATISE 
 
 PRINCIPLES AND ADVANTAGES 
 
 ELOCUTION. 
 
 When I first entertained the idea of announcing my inten- 
 tion to take a limited number of pupils, I declined offering a 
 regular course of Lectures on the principles and advantages 
 of Elocution, from a conviction that little more was left to 
 me than to recapitulate what had been already so ably advan- 
 ced by Sheridan, Walker, and others ; whose lectures, for 
 the most part, had been printed, and are well worthy the 
 perusal of all who are desirous of becoming proficients in a 
 polished and classical delivery. 
 
 Indeed, so highly have I ever esteemed the merit of their 
 united labours, that, for some time, I was in doubt whether 
 I could better advance my practice, or promote the object I 
 had in view, than by offering them as a general standard, by 
 which I professed to submit my mode of instruction to the 
 notice of the public. Yet, upon mature reflection, I considered, 
 that however excellent they may be as general rules, they 
 might not always apply to particular cases coming under my 
 own immediate view. I shall now, therefore, submit some 
 
brief ideas of what I conceive to be the principal elements 
 of elocution ; and afterwards point out the advantages to be 
 derived from their study. 
 
 Elocution consists in a just and harmonious management 
 of the voice, accompanied by graceful and appropriate ges- 
 ture and action; and I shall here enumerate the requisites 
 for the attainment of perfection in the above particulars. 
 
 A just and harmonious management of the voice depends 
 on articulation, pronunciation, accent, emphasis, pauses and 
 stops, and inflexion of tones or notes. 
 
 First, on articulation, as by this we give to every letter in 
 a syllable its due proportion of sound, and also distinguish in 
 words of more than one syllable, to which syllable each letter 
 belongs. This is the only explanation given by all the wri- 
 ters I have read upon the subject. 
 
 On this head, I would remark, that, in giving every letter 
 in a syllable its due proportion of sound, it seems to be the 
 first essential point towards a just delivery, so it will be 
 necessary to ascertain how this power of voice can best be 
 acquired. Let me then ask, whence this sound or voice 
 arises ? I answer, from the lungs ; — and, next to the pre- 
 servation of life, the most important use of respiration seems 
 to be that of forming the voice. The organ of speech has 
 always been considered as a kind of musical instrument, 
 which may be compared to a flute, a hautboy, or an organ, 
 and for the following reasons : — 
 
 The trachea (or windpipe,) which begins at the root of the 
 tongue, and terminates in the lungs, may be compared to the 
 pipe of an organ, the lungs dilating like bellows during the 
 time of inspiration ; and, as the air is drawn out from them 
 in expiration, it finds its passage straightened by the cartila- 
 ges of the larynx, (or upper part of the trachea,) against which 
 it strikes. These cartilages being elastic, occasion, in their 
 turn, more or less vibration in the air, and thus produce the 
 
sound of the voice ; — the variation in which must depend 
 on the state of the glottis, (being the head of the trachea and 
 aperture of the larynx,) which, when straightened, produces 
 an acute tone, but a grave one when dilated. 
 
 Now, let me ask, if by the most learned, the organ of 
 speech has ever been considered as a kind of musical instru- 
 ment, why may we not form a speaking as well as musical 
 gamut, or, at least, something very nearly resembling it? 
 
 I hope I shall be pardoned for dwelling on this part of the 
 subject, as it has been upon this very principle, that I can boast 
 of having formed powerful as well as harmonious voices in 
 the several pupils in England, who entrusted themselves to 
 my care ; I, therefore, have proofs to support my theory. 
 
 Before I proceed further, let me be permitted to pay my 
 most ardent tribute of respect to an author of unquestionable 
 ability : — I mean Dr. Rush of Philadelphia. He has treated 
 this part of the subject with the most philosophic precision. 
 I shall not presume to contend with him for priority, though I 
 can confidently assert that the above has been the foundation 
 of my practice for fourteen years. It is sufficient to gratify 
 my vanity, that I could ever have considered the subject in 
 the same view with that accomplished gentleman and enlight- 
 ened scholar. 
 
 But to continue : — If, by a musical gamut, we imply a 
 scale of musical notes, why will not the other procure a scale 
 of speaking tones ? 
 
 Something of this sort, indeed, has been urged by Walker, 
 in his " Elements of Elocution," and in his " Rhetorical Gram- 
 mar," under the article of " Theory of the Inflexions of the 
 Voice," and which he illustrates by plates of rising and falling 
 lines. 
 
 " The two slides, or inflexions of voice, therefore, are the 
 axes, as it were, on which force, variety, and harmony of 
 speaking turns." 
 
 " All vocal sounds may be divided into two kinds : — ■ 
 namely, speaking sounds and musical sounds. Musical 
 sounds are such as continue a given t ime on one precise point 
 
of the musical scale, and leap, as it were, from one note to 
 another ; — while speaking sounds, instead of dwelling on the 
 note they begin with, slide either upwards or downwards, to 
 the neighbouring notes, without any perceptible rest on any ; 
 — so that speaking and musical sounds are essentially dis- 
 tinct ; the former being constantly in motion from the moment 
 they commence, the latter being at rest from some given 
 time in one precise note." 
 
 "It may not, perhaps, be altogether useless to observe, 
 that these angular lines may be considered as a kind of bars 
 in the music of speaking." — Walker's Elements and Smith's 
 Harmonies. 
 
 But, be it remembered, that this theory is not advanced, 
 till he is speaking of whole sentences; thereby presuming, 
 that quality of voice is already obtained, though he has not 
 given us to understand the direct principle. What I assert 
 is, that this speaking gamut, employed e principw, forms the 
 very pivot on which good and distinct articulation in words, 
 nay, in syllables, depends. I will endeavour to prove it, by 
 first asking, " What are those letters of the alphabet most 
 necessary to be distinctly heard ? Most unquestionably the 
 vowels. — Why ? Because no word can be formed without 
 one or more ; and the vowel may be said to be the soul, as 
 the consonants form the body of a word. 
 
 As the first step to form a distinct and powerful voice, I 
 recommend a free and frequent sound of each vowel by itself, 
 beginning in the lowest tone, and gradually rising to the up- 
 per tones, or vice versa. This will appear the more neces- 
 sary, when it is considered, that the consonants themselves 
 require the aid of a vowel, either before or after them, to 
 give them their true pronunciation. 
 
 be k ai e r 
 
 c e el e s 
 
 d e em t e 
 
 e f en v e 
 
 g e p e ex 
 
 It is also absolutely necessary, that the consonants should, 
 
by themselves, be clearly and frequently sounded ; for the 
 neglect of this practice forms one of the most prevalent causes 
 of indistinctness, more especially in the terminations of words. 
 The conjunction and is but too commonly pronounced an ; 
 - — you an I, instead of you anc? I. Those who, by bad exam- 
 ple or negligence, have been seduced into a careless manner 
 of delivery, would reap much benefit by a slow and loud 
 repetition of sentences, by single words, without any regard 
 to point or connexion, till they acquire the free and full 
 sound of each word ; and this would better be practised in 
 the presence of some literary friend. 
 
 To attain a yist pronunciation, which consists in uttering each 
 syllable, and general connexion of a word, in the most appro- 
 ved manner, the best authorities ought to be consulted ; and 
 happy it is for the cause of literature in general, and elocu- 
 tion in particular, that Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary 
 may be referred to as a certain standard of polite and clas- 
 sical delivery. To that work all persons addicted to provin- 
 cialisms are most urgently referred ; and, as the English Ian- 
 guage is composed from so many different primitive tongues, 
 reasoning by analogy must necessarily yield to the force of 
 custom. 
 
 I cannot conclude this part of my subject without acknow- 
 ledging the merit of many of the alterations submitted by 
 Webster in his different editions of Spelling Books and Dic- 
 tionaries. He appears to be a gentleman of indefatigable 
 industry and research, and his works having received the 
 sanction of so many literary and scientific characters of this 
 country, I cannot, without more mature consideration, totally 
 dissent from many of his alterations. Yet I must be permit- 
 ted to observe, that he not only differs with Walker, John- 
 son, Sheridan, and others, but very frequently with himself. 
 Some, nay, very many, of his errors and inconsistencies are 
 ably pointed out in a pamphlet by Mr. Lyman Cobb, 
 
Whatever may have been the precise meaning attached to 
 accent by the ancients, and of which, indeed, among some 
 modern scholastics, there still remains a considerable diver- 
 sity of opinion, yet, in the English language, I conceive it is 
 nothing more than the means by which we point out the 
 particular syllable in a word, on which a stress is to be laid, 
 for the purpose of division, or distinction from words simi- 
 larly spelt ; and to make its quantity long or short ; as also 
 to ascertain whether the stress ought to attach itself to a 
 vowel or consonant ; and this is most material, as, to the 
 non-observance of this, we may attribute many of the errors 
 into which most provincials, but particularly the Scotch, 
 generally fall. I could dwell for some time on this subject, 
 but shall reserve my further remarks for those who may think 
 proper to entrust me with their tuition. 
 
 Emphasis bears relation to words or parts of sentences as 
 accent does to syllables, and gives due effect to the construc- 
 tion and force of eveiy sentence. In verse, every syllable 
 must have the same accent, and every word the same empha- 
 sis as in prose. If, by observing this rule, some poetry should 
 be reduced to prose, the fault must rest with the poet, not 
 with the reader or speaker. Few productions of genius are 
 to be found in the English language, the recital of which is 
 better calculated for the display of emphasis, or for the exer- 
 cise and preparation of the organs, indispensable for the 
 higher graces of oratorical expression, than Collins's Ode on 
 the Passions. 
 
 Cicero has very judiciously directed, that a public speaker 
 remit, from time to time, somewhat of the vehemence of his 
 action, and not utter every passage with all the force he can; 
 to set off, the more strongly, the more emphatical parts, as the 
 painters, by means of shades properly placed, make the 
 figures stand off bolder. For, if the speaker has uttered a 
 weaker passage with all the energy he is master of, what is 
 he to do when he comes to the most pathetic parts ? 
 
 In the foregoing sentence, the reader will find a salutary 
 rule, in which the prominent words are printed in italics. 
 
Mr. James Burgh, author of " The Dignity of Human Na- 
 ture," &e. in his " Essay on the Art of Speaking," has given 
 many excellent rules for expressing properly the principal 
 passions and humour, which occur in reading and public 
 speaking, and I shall conclude this part of my subject with 
 transcribing some of his remarks, and observe the manner in 
 which he has marked emphatic words. 
 
 "In every sentence, there is some word, perhaps several, 
 which are to be pronounced with a stronger accent or em- 
 phasis, than the others. Time was, when the emphatical 
 word, or words, in every sentence, were printed in italics ; 
 and a great advantage it was toward understanding the sense 
 of the author, especially where there was a thread of reason- 
 ing carried on. But we are now grown so nice, that we 
 have found the intermixture of two characters deforms the 
 page, and gives it a speckled appearance. As if it were not 
 of infinitely more consequence to make sure of edifying the 
 reader, than of pleasing his eye. But to return to emphasis, 
 — there is nothing more pedantic than too much laid upon 
 trifling matter. Men of learning, especially physicians and 
 divines, are apt to get into a fulsome, bombastic way of 
 uttering themselves on all occasions, as if they were dictating, 
 when perhaps the business is of no greater consequence than 
 
 " What's a clock ? or, how's the wind ? 
 
 Whose coach is that we've left behind ?" — Swift. 
 
 " Nor can an error be more ridiculous, than some that have 
 been occasioned by an emphasis placed wrong. Such was 
 that of a clergyman's curate, who, having occasion to read 
 in the church our Saviour's saying to the disciples, 
 
 " fools, and slow of heart (that is, backward,) to believe all that the prophets 
 have written concerning me !" — St. Luke, xxiv. 25. 
 
 placed the emphasis upon the word believe, as if Christ had 
 called them fools for believing. Upon the rector's finding 
 fault, when he read it next, he placed the emphasis upon all, 
 as if it had been foolish in the disciples to believe all. The 
 rector again blaming this manner of placing the emphasis, 
 2 
 
10 
 
 the good curate accented the word prophets ; as if the pro- 
 phets had been persons in no respect worthy of belief. 
 
 " A total want of energy in expressing pathetic language is 
 equally blameable. I have often been amazed how public 
 speakers could bring out the strong and pathetic expressions, 
 they have occasion to utter, in so cold and unanimated a man- 
 ner. I happened lately to hear the tenth chapter of Joshua 
 read in a church in the country. It contains the history of 
 the miraculous conquest of the five kings, who arose against 
 the people of Israel. The clergyman bears a very good 
 character in the neighbourhood ; I was, therefore, grieved to 
 hear him read so striking a piece of scripture history in a 
 manner so unanimated, that it was fit to lull the whole parish 
 to sleep. Particularly I shall never forget his manner of ex- 
 pressing the twenty-second verse, which is the Jewish gene- 
 ral's order to bring out the captive kings to slaughter: — 
 ' Open the mouth of the cave, and bring out those five kings 
 to me out of the cave ;' which he uttered in the very manner 
 he would have expressed himself, if he had said to his boy, — 
 ' Open my chamber door, and bring me my slippers from 
 under my bed.'" 
 
 It is not enough, as Quintilian says, to be a human crea- 
 ture, to make a good speaker •„ As, on one hand, it is not true, 
 that a speaker's showing himself in earnest, is alone sufficient, 
 so, on the other, it is certain, that if he does not seem to be 
 in earnest, he cannot but fail of his design. The enthusias- 
 tic rant of the fanatic, cannot please the judicious, — it can 
 only excite their laughter, or their pity. 
 
 Dean Swift, in his Letter to a Young Clergyman,writes thus : 
 " I cannot but think, that what is read differs as much from 
 what is repeated without book, as a copy does from an origi- 
 nal. At the same time, I am fully sensible, what an extreme 
 difficulty it would be upon you to alter this ; and that if you 
 did, your sermons would be much less valuable than other- 
 wise, for want of time to improve and correct them. I 
 would, therefore, gladly come to a compromise with you in 
 this matter." 
 
11 
 
 He then goes on to advise, that the young clergyman should 
 write his sermons in a large fair hand, and read them over 
 several times before delivering them, so as to be able, with 
 the occasional help of his eyes, cast down now and then, 
 upon the paper, to pronounce them with ease and force. 
 
 The grammatical pauses and slops are generally so well 
 understood, that it would be a waste of time to notice them 
 particularly ; yet I submit, that, though in silent reading they 
 may be adequate to the purposes for which they are designed, 
 yet, in rhetorical delivery, sentences are often so long, that 
 the breath requires the aid of what is called the Ccesural 
 pause. This, however, cannot be too cautiously employed ; 
 — for if it be too frequently admitted, and of too long a dura- 
 tion, it tends to destroy the harmony, as well as confound the 
 meaning of a sentence. I have been led to this latter remark, 
 by my recent observation of its indiscriminate introduction 
 on the stage. That transcendent genius, the late Edmund 
 Kean, employed this pause with the happiest effect : — his 
 servile imitators only make themselves ridiculous by its indis- 
 criminate adoption. 
 
 This fault once gave rise to a hearty laugh in the Court of 
 King's Bench in Dublin. An eminent barrister had been 
 speaking in reply for more than two hours, when, thinking he 
 had gained the full possession of the jury by a strong asser- 
 tion, he paused for awhile, before he had finished his intend- 
 ed sentence : Lord Norbury, however, having made up his 
 mind on the evidence of the case, rose to sum up, but was 
 interrupted by the pleader, who intimated that he had not 
 finished his remark. His lordship sat down, hinting that he 
 feared the jury needed some relief from the learned gentle- 
 man's bathos ! 
 
 I have already advanced what I deemed necessary to the 
 formation of a good voice, under the head of articulation, and 
 
12 
 
 I am fully persuaded it will be found the most essential par! 
 of the study of elocution. As to the inflexions of tones and 
 notes, I willingly refer my readers to Walker. His rising and 
 falling lines afford many useful illustrations of the practice 
 he recommends. 
 
 Young readers and speakers are apt to get into a rehear- 
 sing kind of monotony, of which it is very difficult to break 
 them. Monotony is holding one uniform humming sound 
 through a whole speech or discourse, without rising or falling. 
 Cant is, in speaking, as psalmody in music, a strain consist- 
 ing of a few notes rising and falling without variation, like 
 a peal of bells, let the matter change how it will. The chaunt 
 with which the prose psalms are half sung, half said, in ca- 
 thedrals, is the same kind of absurdity. All these are unna- 
 tural, because the continually varying strain of the matter 
 necessarily requires a continually varying series of sounds to 
 express it. 
 
 In the translations of French tragedies, which, for the most 
 part, are descriptive, we discover a tiresome monotony and 
 a pompous declamatory style ; and the numbers of these, 
 with which the English theatres, for years, were inundated, 
 got the actors into the same trammels. The variations of 
 voice so necessary to express the different passions, were 
 almost totally disregarded. It is a well known fact, that, to 
 an English ear, the French actors appear to pronounce with 
 too great rapidity ; a complaint much insisted on by Cibber, 
 in particular, who had frequently heard the famous Baron 
 upon the French stage ; and I have heard the same remarks 
 on the late celebrated Talma. I have heard it stated that 
 Napoleon, who was a great admirer of the latter, not unfre- 
 quently repeated passages to the idol of the French stage, 
 who is said to have been benefitted by the fire and variety of 
 tone insisted on by the late Emperor of the French. The 
 pronunciation of the genuine language of a passion is ne- 
 cessarily directed by the nature of the passion, particu- 
 larly by the slowness or celerity of its progress, and of 
 course is susceptible of every inflexion of tone or note. Plain- 
 tive passions, which are the most frequent in tragedy, having 
 
13 
 
 a slow motion, dictate a slow pronunciation ; — in declama- 
 tion, on the contrary, the speaker warms gradually, and, as 
 he warms, he naturally accelerates his pronunciation. In 
 either case, the rising and falling inflexions are necessary to 
 be called into frequent action. 
 
 To conceive and to execute are very different qualifications ; 
 the first may arise from study and observation ; the latter 
 must be the effect of practice, and I shall conclude this part 
 on the adoption of the rising wad falling inflexions, by urging 
 a strict attention to the state of the lungs ; for, if they are 
 affected by cold, or impaired by any other cause, their exer- 
 cise should be as lenient as possible ; and although we are 
 told that Demosthenes overcame an habitual shortness of 
 breath by running up mountains ; such a practice appears to 
 me much better calculated for a prize-fighter than an orator. 
 
 I come now to the last head under the General Principles 
 of Elocution, namely, — 
 
 ACTION AND GESTURE. 
 
 These appear more difficult to be duly regulated than the art 
 of speaking ; for the student's own ear, in some measure, may 
 judge of the voice and its variations, but he cannot see the 
 workings of his eyes or brow, or mark the motions of his limbs 
 or the posture of his body, without the aid of a mirror ; and 
 even then, under this disadvantage, that it represents on the 
 right, what is, in fact, on the left. I have generally found, 
 that when a public speaker enters fully into the spirit of his 
 harangue, the hands and arms move with corresponding nerve 
 and propriety ; that is, when they are left to themselves. 
 At the bar, indeed, they sometimes are most unwarrantably 
 used ; and I remember once hearing the late Lord Erskine 
 (on being called on by a young barrister, who had spoken in 
 mitigation of his client's punishment,) deliver a criticism, 
 which, I think, should not be permitted to remain unknown. 
 
14 
 
 " My dear Jack," said his lordship, " if Ellenborough could 
 have heard what you said only, without seeing your face, or 
 hearing your knuckles on the table, your client might perhaps 
 have been merely fined a solitary sixpence, and liberated im- 
 mediately ; but, my dear Jack, justice is not to be bullied. 
 You really seemed to me, like a man, who, when he meant 
 to ask pardon, held his fist in the offended party's face. For 
 the future, Jack, suit the action to the word, the word to the 
 action." The young barrister, evidently embarrassed, after 
 a short pause, began to excuse himself; but his lordship stop- 
 ped him, by saying, — " Nay, don't attempt to defend what 
 your better judgment must tell you is wrong ; if you do, I 
 shall think the court ought to have divided their sentence, — 
 by fining your client the £200, and keeping the six month's 
 confinement for yourself, in the House of Correction /" 
 
 But gesture and action, if skilfully managed, have this great 
 advantage above mere speaking, — that, by the latter, we can 
 only be understood by those of our own language ; but by 
 action and gesture, our thoughts and passions, whether ha- 
 tred, envy, fear, love, jealousy, revenge, hope, melancholy, or 
 anger, may be rendered intelligible to persons of all nations 
 and languages. 
 
 Extract from Burgh's Art of Speaking. — Though it may 
 be alleged, that a great deal of gesture or action at the bar, or 
 in the pulpit, especially the latter, is not wanted, nor is quite 
 in character ; it is yet certain, that there is no part of man 
 that has not its proper attitude. The eyes are not to be rolled 
 along the ceiling, as if the speaker thought himself in duty 
 bound to take care how the flies behave themselves. Nor 
 are they constantly to be cast down upon the ground, as if he 
 were before his judge, receiving sentence of death. Nor to 
 be fixed upon one point, as if he saw a ghost. The arms of 
 the preacher are not to be needlessly thrown out, as if he were 
 drowning in the pulpit ; or brandished, after the manner of 
 ancient pugiles, or boxers, exercising themselves by iighting 
 with their own shadows, to prepare them for the Olympic 
 contests. Nor, on the contrary, are his hands to be pocketed 
 
15 
 
 up, nor his arms to hang by his sides, as lank as if they were 
 both withered. The head is not to stand fixed, as if the speaker 
 had a perpetual crick in his neck. Nor is it to nod at every 
 third word, as if he were acting Jupiter, or his would-be son, 
 Alexander. 
 
 With ravish' d ears 
 The monarch hears, 
 Assumes the god, 
 Affects to nod, 
 And seems to shake the spheres. — Dry den. 
 
 A judicious speaker is master of such a variety of decent 
 and natural motions, and has such command of attitude, that 
 he will not be long enough in one posture to offend the eye of 
 the spectator. The matter he has to pronounce, will suggest 
 the propriety of changing, from time to time, his looks, his 
 posture, his motion, and tone of voice, which, if they were to 
 continue too long the same, would become tedious and irksome 
 to the beholders. Yet he is not to be every moment changing 
 posture, like a harlequin, nor throwing his hands about, as if 
 he were showing legerdemain tricks. 
 
 Above all things, the public speaker is never to forget the 
 great rule, ars est celare artem. It would be infinitely 
 more pleasing to see him deliver himself with as little motion, 
 and no better attitude, than those of an Egyptian mummy, than 
 distorting himself into all the violations of decorum, which 
 affectation produces. — Art, seen through, is execrable. 
 
 How offensive on the stage is it to witness the distortions 
 of the servile imitators of Kemble, Kean, Cooke, and Forrest? 
 One, with a fine powerful natural voice, grumbles like a fly 
 in a bottle, because Kemble had no voice ; another, of tall 
 and masculine form, becomes a dwarf because Kean was not 
 six feet high ; a third, wriggles and twists, because Cooke 
 had short arms and bow legs ; and a fourth, with spindle legs 
 and a childish treble voice, attempts the brawny Indian, and 
 fancies his lungs stentorian. What a pity that such masters 
 in their art should be libelled by such daws in peacock's fea- 
 thers. 
 
16 
 
 In a consummate speaker, whatever there is of corporeal 
 dignity or beauty, " the majesty of the human face divine," 
 the grace of action, the piercing glance, or gentle languish, 
 or fiery flash of the eye ; — whatever of lively passion, or 
 striking emotion of mind ; — whatever of fine imagination, of 
 wise reflection, or irresistible reasoning ; — whatever of excel- 
 lence in human nature, — all that the hand of the Creator has 
 impressed of his own image upon the noblest creature we are 
 acquainted with, all this appears in the consummate speaker 
 to the highest advantage. And whoever is proof against such 
 a display of all that is noble in human nature, must have 
 neither eye nor ear, nor passion, nor imagination, nor taste, 
 nor understanding. 
 
 I shall now proceed to mention some of the principal im- 
 pediments to the progress of elocution, and notice the most 
 remarkable errors contracted by habit, and too frequently 
 overlooked by those who profess to give instruction. 
 
 It may be asked, at what period should the study of elo- 
 cution commence ? I answer that, as soon as children can 
 read, they ought to be instructed in the rudiments, by being 
 carefully and kindly cautioned of the importance of distinct- 
 ness and proper pronunciation ; — their little minds, by this 
 mode, will not be harassed or perplexed, if their primitive 
 instructers will but be content with the quality instead of the 
 quantity of each task. I am aware, also, that parents too often 
 interfere from an apprehension that the exercise may be too 
 much for their tender offspring ; and that the earliest teach- 
 ers, fearing to lose their scholars, by offending " Mama," are 
 content merely to teach the written alphabet, and to spell 
 and put syllables together just as they are written ; and should 
 any one of their scholars, from timidity, or the desire of rival- 
 ing competitors, contract a lisp or stutter, or be defective in 
 distinctness or pronunciation, these faults are set down as 
 natural impediments, or defects in the organs of speech, and 
 
17 
 
 the pupils are suffered to continue in their error, and pro 
 nounced incurable. 
 
 Not much more preferable is the situation of a child, when 
 sent to what is called a regular academy, to which he is 
 transported without one ray of knowledge of his own lan- 
 guage, and immediately involved in all the difficulties of Latin 
 and Greek. Hesitation naturally increases the faults he has 
 before imbibed, and, being huddled into a class, his imper- 
 fections are overlooked ; and as the master does not profess 
 to improve his English delivery, as soon as he can gabble a 
 book of Virgil or Homer, he is pronounced an apt scholar, 
 and perhaps speedily removed to some college, where he 
 may become learned, but not eloquent ; for, even there, the 
 prize is too often given to the swift. 
 
 He now arrives at the period, when the errors of his edu- 
 cation are more perceived, and more poignantly deplored. 
 Should he be destined for the pulpit, the bar, or the senate, 
 for either he finds himself deficient. He feels that, though 
 he has ideas that might benefit his fellow-creatures, he can- 
 not utter them, so as to make the desired impression on others ; 
 and should he apply to any professor of elocution, after toil- 
 ing to acquire voice, elegance, and grace, unfortunately in 
 vain, because their principles are commonly not fully explained, 
 or defectively understood, his lisping, his stammering, and his 
 stuttering are pronounced incurable. If he ascend the pul- 
 pit, he will shortly be without a congregation, and thus the 
 divine truths of revelation are oftentimes kept in obscurity. 
 If at the bar, he will be without a brief, or, at most, but a 
 chamber counsellor ; — and, if in the senate, he must remain a 
 silent orator, or, if he attempt to speak, let his matter be how- 
 ever well arranged, receive the mortification of being cough- 
 ed down, and aye and nay the only words he will be endured 
 to utter. 
 
 To those whose ambition may prompt them to pursue their 
 studies for any of the liberal professions, the knowledge of 
 the principles of elocution must be eminently desirable ; and 
 even, if they should have neglected, or not duly attended to 
 
18 
 
 the first grand method of establishing the powers of voice, the 
 sooner they endeavour to recover their lost ground, the greater 
 will be their chance of success. The longer a bad habit is 
 permitted to continue, the more difficult will be its removal. 
 To conclude : — If, in countries where the highest offices 
 of state, the greatest preferments in the pulpit and at the bar, 
 are too often confined to the descendents of already affluent 
 fortunes or high connexions ; and where a seat in the repre- 
 sentative assembly of the people is more frequently obtained 
 by weight of purse than depth of intellect ; — if there, I say, 
 the powers of oratory are felt as one of the surest paths to 
 preferment and honour, what tenfold advantages must accrue 
 from eloquence in a nation where the humblest citizen, by 
 perseverance, integrity, and education, may ultimately become 
 for a time, the representative of ALL, and by his patriotism 
 and oratorical ascendency, perpetuate that glorious independ- 
 ence for which his ancestors gallantly and nobly hazarded 
 their lives. 
 
Mr. FOOT 
 
 Respectfully informs the public in general, that he has made arrangements, by 
 which he hopes to be enabled to instruct a limited number of Pupils in the 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF ELOCUTION. 
 
 To young Gentlemen intended for the Pulpit, or the Bar, or to Ladies and 
 Gentlemen who are desirous of acquiring a correct knowledge of the Principles 
 of Elocution, the most scrupulous attention will be devoted ; and the theory ad- 
 vanced in his " Brief Treatise," Mr. Foot hopes will readily be confirmed by 
 Practice. 
 
 Schools regularly attended after 6 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 Ladies or Gentlemen, who wish to consult Mr. Foot, will be waited on at their 
 own residences, by signifying their intentions, in writing, at Mr. LONG'S Book- 
 store, No. 161 Broadway. 
 
 Speedily will be Published, 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE PRESENT STATE OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN FORRESTER FOOT. 
 AN ANALYSIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COMEDIES 
 
 OF FHE 
 
 MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, 
 
 AND 
 
 EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR. 
 
 BY THE SAME. 
 A CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 SCRIPTURAL PASSAGES, 
 
 PARAPHRASED IN THE 
 
 WORKS OF SHAKSPEARE. 
 
 BY THE SAME, 
 
AN ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 COMPARATIVE MERITS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE THREE GREAT ACTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 LAST HALF CENTURY, 
 
 Messrs. KEMBLE, COOKE, and KEAN, 
 
 In the principal characters performed by each. 
 CLAVIS DRAMATICA, 
 
 OR 
 
 A COMPANION TO THE THEATRE: 
 
 Being a Catalogue of all the British, to which are now added American Drama- 
 tic Works, completed to the end of 1833. By John Forrester Foot, late of the 
 Theatre, New- York. 
 
 Advertisement. — The "Biographia Dramatic a, or A Companion to the Play 
 House," ranks highest among the Chronicles of dramatic compositions, whether 
 considered in relation to its literary merit, or to the fidelity with which it has been 
 compiled. This laborious work was originally published in 1 764, by David Er- 
 skine Baker; continued thence to 1782, by Isaac Reid, the commentator on 
 Shakspeare ; and brought down to the end of 18 11, by Stephen Jones. In the 
 last edition, the number of recorded dramas, was nearly double that contained in 
 the second. This edition will bring down the history of the drama to the present 
 moment ; exhibiting an increase of more than one- third additional performances ; 
 many erroneous dates have been corrected, and many ascertained that were 
 hitherto uncertain. 
 
 The work is not only interesting to the lovers of the acting drama, but to lite- 
 rary men generally. The chronology of the stage is identified with that of polite 
 learning, and the progress of social improvement from age to age. This com- 
 pendium exhibits at a glance, what is often the subject of a tedious, and some- 
 times fruitless inquiry. The present edition possesses a peculiar claim to the 
 attention of the American public, as it refutes an idle assertion, to which many are 
 apt to give inconsiderate credit, that as yet the drama is alone confined to Europe. 
 The number embodied in this work will surprise those who have paid no atten- 
 tion to the subject ; comprising not only those which have been performed or 
 printed, but many in manuscript, to which the present editor has had access. 
 
 The "Clavis Dramatica" will consist of two octavo volumes, of 600 pages 
 each. Price to subscribers $7, payable on delivery ; non-subscribers, $8. 
 
LIBRARY OF 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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