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Thomas Sheridan: Pioneer in British Speech Technology

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Thomas Sheridan: Pioneer in British Speech Technology This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 67-2513 PATTERSON, Robert Ellis, 1907- THOMAS SHERIDAN: PIONEER IN BRITISH SPEECH TECHNOLOGY. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 %)eech University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan 0 Copyright by Robert Ellis Patterson 19671 THOMAS SHERIDAN; PIONEER IN BRITISH SPEECH TECHNOLOGY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Robert Ellis Patterson, A.B., B.S., M.A. * A *. ft ft ft * The Ohio State University 1966 Approved by à J ï Adviser Department of Speech PREFACE But when he [the author] adds, that he is. the first who ever laid open the principles upon which our language is founded, and the rules by which it is regulated, he hopes the claim he has laid in to the office he has undertaken, will not be considered either vain or pre­ sumptuous . Thomas Sheridan Dictionary, Preface, p. xi. Probably everyone would like to discover, or be the first to do something. It is only a vicarious thrill that this author has. This is a study in the evaluation and comparison of one who pioneered. Thomas Sheridan may not have thought of himself as having pioneered in three aspects of the speaking situation. He may not have thought of himself as having pioneered in three phases of British speech technology. But this is. the way the present author looks upon one man th a t h isto ry has overlooked. Evaluation is made easy by the passing of time. Comparison is made easy and is abetted by the possession of knowledge about two or more things. The evaluation and comparison of Thomas Sheridan has not been attempted pre­ viously due to oversight. Sheridan felt a moral obligation to expose the vagaries of the British educational system. This author feels obliged to present Thomas Sheridan. i i In 19 55, when this study first came into focus, the first idea was to present Thomas Sheridan as a man who was two hundred years ahead of his time as a speech teacher. But as time and evidence accumulated it was found that he was not only more general in his worldly knowledge, but he was more specific in the application of his idea to the speech situation. That results in a three­ fold treatment which will be shown as (1) Sheridan the Pioneer in Education, (2) Sheridan the Pioneer in Elocu­ tion, and (3) Sheridan the Pioneer in Lexicography. These do not describe the whole man for the theatre is hardly touched, his additional successes as a lecturer are merely noted, and his penchant for orthoepy scarcely mentioned. Tliis division into three parts is a natural divi­ sion that treats Thomas Sheridan chronologically and sub­ jectively at the same time. The title of this dissertation does not imply that Thomas Sheridan set out to write concerning British speech technology. In his day this expression had not come into use. It is therefore strictly a twentieth-century term applied to an eighteenth-century action. Sheridan began his writing in much the same way as others in the eighteenth century, by way of the pam­ phlet. Thus the Golden Age of English Literature provided i i i w riters whose driving urge was to broadcast th e ir ideas by way of the corner printer. Since they seldom wrote about each other (except perhaps Boswell) no one read what any other writer was having printed. The pamphlets of John Locke, John Milton, Thomas Paine, and, later, the Reverend Thomas Maithus are well known for their content. Boswell is known for his "in depth" treatment of Samuel Johnson. Few know that the famed Boswell knew and studied under Thomas Sheridan before coming to London. In the two- volume account, of Boswell’s trip to Holland there are no fewer than twenty-seven references to Thomas Sheridan, his activities, or his writings. These include a reference to the house of the Sheridans on Bedford Street where Johnson and other literary figures of the day came to afternoon tea. Sheridan’s managership of the Drury Lane Theatre, his Course of Lectures on Elocution, his Dictidnary, and the fact that the Irish Parliament paid Sheridan a compli­ ment are mentioned. Boswell referred to Sheridan as his instructor in pronunciation, tells of Sheridan’s threaten­ ing to go to America, and of Sheridan’s lament that Handel was a foreigner who wrote good music but ill-fittin g Eng­ lish words. Despite all of these comments, Boswell said Sheridan was "dull naturally." IV Not always is a task lik e th is one so easy. In the tradition of debate, Sheridan set out,, first, through pamphlets as noted, to show, that there was a need for change. These he later expanded into his first book, British Education; or, the Source of the Disorders of Great Britain, etc., which was published in 1756. In order to produce income, as well as to inform the world, his next book was a compilation of. his Lectures on Elocu­ tion (1762). Then, bearing out the analogy of the debate Sheridan advanced his case by publishing A Plan of Educa­ tion for the Young Nobility, etc. in 1769. Then, in 1775 he added to his income by furthering his ideas on the delivery of a speech. The Art of Reading. Sheridan had, by this time, stated that there was a need to change the present system; had had described the situation and its weaknesses, proposed his plan and shown how it would work. The most ambitious work of Sheridan was his General Dictionary of the English Language, the first pronouncing dictionary of any comprehension. He borrowed the spellings of Johnson, borrowed some of Kendrick's ideas, but was able to produce a dictionary that changed lexicography for all time. This two-volume work, to which was prefixed a "R hetorical Grammar," is the summation of the work of a lifetime. This was the zenith of the man who was constantly V on the offensive to show that his language was the best in the world and that his own people should study it more closely to keep it the best. Indeed, he wrote a play and altered two. His' Life of Dean Swift was not of the same caliber as his other feats of authorship. Thus it was that the Dictionary could be pointed out as being the first comprehensive phonetic contribution to the world. Johnson had done the quantity study in philology. as perhaps there never was a language, which required, or merited cultivation more; and c ertain ly there never was a people upon earth, to whom a perfect use of the powers of speech were so essentially necessary, to support their rights, priveleges, and all the blessings arising from the noblest constitution that ever was formed. Thomas Sheridan, Dictionary, Vol. I, Preface, p. 3. VI CONTENTS Page PREFACE........................................................................................................ i i ILLUSTRATIONS ...... viii INTRODUCTION.........................................T ...................................... 1 PART I CONTRIBUTIONS OF THOMAS SHERIDAN TO BRITISH SPEECH TECHNOLOGY THROUGH HIS INTERESTS IN EDUCATION ............................ 8 PART I I CONTRIBUTIONS OF THOMAS SHERIDAN . THROUGH HIS WRITINGS ON ELOCUTION AND READING............................................................... 110 PART I I I THOMAS SHERIDAN AS A PIONEER IN LEXICOGRAPHY ............................................................. 199 PART IV THOMAS SHERIDAN IN RETROSPECT............................. 245 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................... 262 V I 1 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Title Page from British Education ...................................... 9 T itle Page from A Plan o f E d u c a tio n .................................. 51 T itle Page from A Course of Lectures on Elocution ............................................................... I l l T itle Page from Lectures on the Art of R e a d in g ...................................................................................... 186 Title Page from A General Dictionary of the English Language ......................................................... 200 Title Page from the Stephen Jones Dictionary of the English Language ................................... 213 Four Consecutive Pages from A Rhetorical Grammar . ............................................................................ 220 T itle Page from Betsy Sheridan’s J o u r n a l ...................... 246 V lll THOMAS SHERIDAN: PIONEER IN BRITISH SPEECH TECHNOLOGY Introduction I must be so plain as to tell your Lordship, that if you will not take some care to settle our lan­ guage, and put it into a state of continuance, I can not promise that your memory shall be pre­ served above an hundred years.1 No English speaking zealot has ever been so intense upon perfecting his language as has Thomas Sheri­ dan, M.A. In his thorough treatment of English he has handed down many things that are used daily by students of speech. Little known as he is in America these days, he was one man who pursued his lifetime dream just short of fanaticism. He was one man who stood tall in his criti­ cism of hisfellowmen while backing himself all the way with solutions to his proposals. Generally he was alone, but part of the time he worked with others. In his scholarship, he remained alone. In the matter of obtain­ ing a livelihood, he made many lectures, successfully acted with the greatest of his day, and enjoyed the com­ pany of b r i l l i a n t men. But who was Thomas Sheridan? Dean Swift in a letter to the Lord Treasurer Oxford, quoted by Sheridan in Preface, British Education, p. v ii. ; 2 The first Sheridan (or rather 0’Sheridan) to whom we owe notice is the Reverend Doctor Thomas Sheridan of Dublin. He was a close friend of Jonathan Swift and a member of the Anglican clergy in Ireland. It is his son, Thomas Sheridan, M.A., about whom this paper is concerned. But the world today will know Thomas Sheridan, M.A., bet­ ter if he is pointed out as being the father of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, dramatist, orator, and confidant of the court.
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