Waterbury Democrat., 1903-02-27
DECLINE OF ENGLISH SPEECH.
A Lively Address by George Riddle Be
fore Harvard Debating Club.

Il i = 54
A Lively Address by George Riddle Be
fore Harvard Debating Club.
'sThe very few men and women"
said the lecturer, ''who have high
standard of speech have not been able
to make that standard generally recog-
| nized consequently there have been
manifest for the last twenty years a
carelessness and vulgarity Of speech,
accompanied BY slouchiness OF man
| ner in all Of the professions and in so
ciety, which may well bring forth the
| query as to whether the art Of delivery
is lost art. The chief essentials Of
delivery on which the clearness Of our
discourse depends are correct pronoun-
citation and enunciation, though there
Is another essential in what may be
called manner, which includes attitude
and gesture. These essentials should
be acquired In childhood, when the
tongue and limbs are pIiable and elias
tic. Children should De taught to
sound the consonants distinctly, to ac-
quire knowledge Of the vowel sounds
and to avoid clipping the final sylla-
| b1es and the running Of words into one
| another, as well as all vulgarities Of
| speech.
"Al1 countries have d standard OF.
speech except ours, for our standard
is what each one pleases. The differ
ence between educated Americans and
Englishmen is one Of information and
infection. not of vowel sounds. Yet
our Ang1ophobiacs have carried the
| broad a. to a ridiculous extreme. The
English use the rising infection more
| than we do, and for that reason their
| speech sometimes seems monotonous
and lacking in variety. The trouble
with the American is that nothing de-
| lights him more than to apply the
provincialism of his dialect or locality
to words which have had d. stable pro
nunciation for generations. Some
years ago Webster OF Massachusetts
spoke of the sdrayma', and we have
been hearing OF sCleopaytra' ever since.
Zone must travel, or associate with
those who have travelled, If one wishes
to speak good English. Our own dia-
lects may be classified as Yankee
western and southern, though of late
| new cockney dialect has been intro
duced-that Of the smart set. 1t is the
diffusion Of these dialects that, If al
lowed to proceed, viii ruin the beauty
of our language. Why, even college
professors may be heard talking Of
nooz' instead Of news, and most of
the English used to-day in school and
| college is dfsfgured by vulgarisms of
| speech. refer to the glaring sole
eisms for the preparation of which
there is no authority whatever. many
of them the outgrowth of local dialects.
| while many also arise from careless
ness and Indifference
| This Is indeed the age OF INDECENT
superfcialness. OF skimming over the
surface of things in its alleged ecIecti-
cism and culture. Nor is It alone In
schools and colleges that detestable
English Is heard. We may listen to
| the clergy and remember that Bishop
| Potter recently pronounced the en-
| trance Into the pulpit of a minister I'M
able to speak good English as an i'm
| pertinent intrusion Go to the state
| houses and law courts, and hear sen
ators butcher our language while they
are twisting the lions tail. Listen to
the hoodlums of the fashionable draw
ing rooms on Fifth avenue Then go
to the theater and hear. at a Shakes
pearian play all the hideous mounting
and vices Of fifty years ago.
Some blame the teachers In the
schools but think such blame is un-
| just. The country has produced some
+
| dell Phillips and Henry Ward Beecher.
yet their delivery has not been great.
We have one who, while making
no attempt to scale the heights, has vet
dignffed his profession by the straight
forward simplicity and elegance Of his
diction, President Eliot. and it is posi-
BILE that Mr. Eliot's method OF speaking
may be the forerunner Of the speaking
of the future
Mr. Riddle here spoke of training for
public speech, and among modern ac-
| tresses paid high tribute to Mrs
Fiske as speakers whose English is a
i delight to the ear"
i AS for Sir Henry Irving" said the
lecturer, "he has wrought great mis-
chief to the speech of the contemporary
stage. and the mischief is the more de-
plorable on account of his popular sue
cess, his commanding position, and the
| artistic beauty of his productions. He
has treated his public like children: he
has helped TO destroy their Imagination
and sense Of hearing" In bringing his
/ lecture to a close, Mr. Riddle urged that
the reform he wished to bring about
could be well carried on by Harvard
Boston Herald.