Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-08-22
An English skeseh Of an American


Inc nrSt question an Engils1
wants answered by the
,ketcher of a Transatlantic orator,
IS, "Has he an American accent p
And this is a question which it is
rarely possible to answer without
ofe use. DR.. Quintard has no
. .erican accent or information
Except in a very short
ard almost elided pronunciation
if elided applies-of the word New
in New Zealand, there was nothing
in his orthoepy to distinguish it
from that of any cultivated Eng
But to say so is probably
to rub the wrong way a good deal
of American fur, for many.of our
transatlantic brethren resent the
supposition that the educated
among them have any accent at all;
and again to acknowledge the pu-
rity Of the Bishops pronunciation
may be to ignore certain distinc-
tions between the English Of
Tennessee and the English of
"N'York," which are as vital
in the minds of those most con-
cerned as that broad distinction
which educated Londoners rage to
think should be im%perceptible to
provincial ears between their speech
and that of common Cockneys. TO
make all as right as we can while pre-
tending to no knowledge, and not
going beyond our own experience,
let us record that the Bishop Of
Tennessee is the first American
we ever heard, from any part Of
the Union, whose public speech
did not betray him. His complex
ion is tanned and healthily sallow,
as with the operation Of a bot eli
mate and a solid abundance Of
thick black hair, with a bushy
beard of sable slightly silyered,
completes, with literary looking
spectacles and his bishops habili-
ments and a doctors hood, a very
acceptable and impressive exterior.
His voice is strong and searching
his enunciation deliberate; his
mode of delivery that adroit COM
promise between reading and re-
citing which is common among
American speakers; and his power
of sustaining the attention of an
audience more than sufficient.
* + + 4 4
English people judge American
} speaking aud writing by certain
very good and very bad specimens.
The average cultured American
cultured not always, perhaps, in
f our ornamental sense, but in the
practical and polished use of Ian
guage-is a genuine master of grave
i and elaborate expression. Henever
e forgets a word hat he wants, OF
n lacks the tournure of phrase in
e which to set it. His mind is toe
logical for his grammar to be shaky.
/ His aim is too serious for any
d frivolity of treatment. His obser.
:, walton is to general, and his atmos
h phere so free, that he cannot be
narrow in his conceptions. And
directing all the supple ability
y typical Of his race to The single
is purpose of nice, definite and NOV.
.e ing expression, his subject fructifei
as he proceeds, and yields man,
n admirable instances of true intel
% lectual eloquence. Preachers ant
s teachers and lecturers, of whom al
n this is true, abound in America.
4 + =
s. Describing the type of the highes
e. average of the American publ.
a man we have indicated the calibr
Is of the Bishop of Tennessee. Hi
Of opening sketch of the increasing
is and multiplying Of Christianit,
ne from the time when first under TIL
y Roman Empire it ''triumphed owe
- passion in its widest throbs an,
error in its richest robes" was ex
ceedingly good. There was an in
cisive epitome Of American Churc
se history. There was a biting ep.
ty sode on disestablishment, in whic
ii it was hard to say whether Bra
est tianism or Liberationism was MOI
severely treated, and in whic
.ro an English congregation heal
ed language more expressive
er' faith in an established Fl
IN ture than is usual from Il
Anglican pulpit. There was a viz
ng sketch Of the American civil stru
ms, gle, in which "the blood-stain(
heel of war was made to pivot c
as the industries of the Southel
'm. States;" and there was a simpl
on earnest appeal for help. The Sc
ted mon was in every sense sufficien
cor strong, well knit and balanced, al
me adequately emotional, while nov
sst falling short of the full dignity
cul. the preachers office and eyide.
be character. If the church in Anne
l, lea has many such bishops, it is j
ncn deed a living, efhorescent, healil
hat branch of TIE great tree which, 8
cordmg to DR.. Quintard, has ney
IF withered a day in England SIN
let the epoch of the Apostles.
Married POItteness.
II THsn -- gs "