FOREIGN ACCENT IN LECTURING. 405 



stood and spoke French, had by no means 

 accustomed him. He would often have been 

 painfully embarrassed but for his own sim- 

 plicity of character. Thinking only of his 

 subject and never of himself, when a critical 

 pause came, he patiently waited for the miss- 

 ing word, and rarely failed to find a phrase 

 which was expressive if not technically cor- 

 rect. He often said afterward that his sole 

 preparation for these lectures consisted in 

 shutting himself up for hours and marshaling 

 his vocabulary, passing in review, that is, all 

 the English words he could recall. As the 



o 



Lyells had prophesied, his foreign accent 

 rather added a charm to his address, and the 

 pauses in which he seemed to ask the for- 

 bearance of the audience, while he sought to 

 translate his thought for them, enlisted their 

 sympathy. Their courtesy never failed him. 

 His skill in drawing with chalk on the black- 

 board was also a great help both to him and 

 to them. When his English was at fault he 

 could nevertheless explain his meaning by 

 illustrations so graphic that the spoken word 

 was hardly missed. He said of himself that 

 he was no artist, and that his drawing was 

 accurate simply because the object existed in 

 his mind so clearly. However this may be, 



