358 



ON VOICE AND LANGUAGE; 



by the priests and priestesses to the credulous multitude around them» And 

 although this able writer has not fully succeeded in establishing his point, it 

 must be allowed by every one that no art, while it continued occult, could 

 better answer the purpose of such a sort of imposition ; for an adept in the 

 science is capable of modulating and inflecting his voice with so nice a dex- 

 terity, as not only to imitate, with equal accuracy, the cries of dogs, cats, 

 infants, and persons in distress, together with every modification of articulate 

 speech, but apparently to throw the mimic sound from whatever quarter he 

 chooses : from the ceiling or roof of a house ; the corner of a room ; the 

 mouths, stomachs, or pockets of any of the company present ; from their 

 hands or feet, from beneath a hat or a glass, or from a wooden doll. A hu- 

 morous artist of this kind is said to have amused himself some years ago, 

 by frequenting the fish-market at Edinburgh, and making a fish appear to 

 speak, and give the lie to its vender in her own gross phrasing, upon her 

 affirming that it was fresh, and caught in the morning; the fish quaintly 

 replying as often as she so asserted, that it had been dead for a week, and 

 that she knew it. 



This singular art has given rise to a variety of extraordinary tales, and 

 some of them of a very amusing kind. The following, which 1 copy from 

 M. Bordeau, a learned critic of the sixteenth century, is of this description, 

 and 1 will for once break through our accustomed gravity in order to give 

 it you :-T- 



valet-de-chambre, of the name of Lewis Brabant, who was also a most skilful 

 ventriloquist. Lewis Brabant had the misfortune to fall desperately in love 

 with a young, very beautiful, and very wealthy heiress, whose father forbade 

 his addresses in consequence of the disparity of his condition. The father, 

 however, died soon after, and the courageous lover, unsubdued by a first 

 repulse, was determined to try his fortune a second time, under favour of the 

 new state of circumstances, and to see whether it would not be possible, upon 

 a severe push, to call to his aid the art of ventriloquism, in which he was so 

 considerable an adept. 



He accordingly waited upon the mother as soon as decency would allow, 

 and once more submitted his proposals. But faithful to the views of her 

 deceased husband, the mother of the young lady made no scruple of once 

 more giving Lewis Brabant a direct refusal. While, however, she was in 

 the act of doing so, a low, hollow, sepulchral voice was heard by herself, and 

 by every friend who was with her, and which was instantly recognised as the 

 voice of the deceased, commanding her to give her daughter's hand imme- 

 diately to Lewis Brabant, whom the piteous spirit affirmed he now knew to 

 be a most worthy and fexcellent man, and considerably wealthier than he had 

 taken him to be when alive ; adding, at the same time, that he was at that 

 moment suffering a part of the pains of purgatory for having ill-treated, by 

 his refusal, so exemplary a man ; and that he would not be released from 

 them till his widow .had consented. 



All was mute astonishment ; but Lewis Brabant appeared more astonished 

 than the rest. He modestly observed, that whatever his merits or his virtues 

 might be, he had no idea that they were worthy of being commemorated by 

 a voice from the grave ; but that nothing could give him more pleasure than 

 to be made the happy instrument of extricating the old gentleman from the 

 pains of purgatory, which it seemed he was suffering on his account. There 

 was no doubt as to the voice ; and, consequently, there was no doubt as to 

 the path to be pursued ; the mother, the daughter, the whole family, imme- 

 diately assented with one accord, and Lewis Brabant had the honour to 

 receive their commands to prepare for the nuptials with all speed. 



To prepare for the nuptials, however, required the assistance of a little 

 ready money ; but Lewis Brabant was destitute of such an article. It was 

 necessary, nevertheless, to procure it ; and he now resolved to try whether 

 the same talent which had obtained for him the promise of a wife, might not 

 also obtain for him the material he stood in need of. 



equally gallant and very shrewd 



