La voix de la girouette: The French Connections of John Thelwall’s Elocutionary Theory

49 LA VOIX DE LA GIROUETTE: THE FRENCH CONNECTIONS OF JOHN THELWALL’S ELOCUTIONARY THEORY Judi h Thompson DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2024.68.4 Abs ac : This a icle is d awn om he i s ull biog aphy (in p og ess) o John Thelwall, he o emos adical o a o and leading heo is , eache and he apis o speech in he B i ish Roman ic pe iod. Focusing on his li le-known a els in F ance in 1814-1818, i explo es his ela ionship wi h wo philosophes he me he e: he Abbé Sica d, who an he amous École des Sou ds-Mue s (School o he Dea and Dumb), and Amau y Du al, a ounde o he g oundb eaking jou nal La Décade Philosophique. Re aluing and adap ing o Thelwall a de oga o y e m o en applied o hese men (gi oue e, o wea he cock), i compa es hei s a egic uses o he language o ac ion o na iga e poli ical change om he e olu iona y o he pos - e olu iona y pe iods. I ela es Thelwall’s o al heo y and p ac ice o F ench ma e ialis heo ies o body and mind, o o hophonie (o logopaedia) and o p osody (mode n “ he apoe ics”) and highligh s h ee de ining ea u es o o ali y he sha es wi h Sica d and Du al – ma e ialism, mobili y and mul i alence – which uni e Thelwall’s poli ical and elocu iona y ca ee s. Keywo ds: John Thelwall, Abbé Sica d, Amau y Du al, o hophonie, body poli ic, he apoe ics I is be e o be immu ’d in a Bas ille, han o ha e he Bas ille in one’s mou h, o lock up he ongue om all communica ion wi h he hea . John Thelwall, lec u e on Spies and In o me s, 1795 John Thelwall is a key igu e in he mobiliza ion o speech and public pe o mance in he B i ish Roman ic pe iod, as i s o emos popula o a o and leading heo is and eache o he a , ac and science o u e ance. His highly o iginal elocu iona y heo y and p ac ice we e ounded in he deba ing socie ies o he 1780s, sha pened du ing his medical s udies in 1791-1793 and inca ce a ion in 1794, and Judi h Thompson 50 ins umen alized in his amous lec u es. His poli ical lec u es o 1793-1795 we e ollowed by lec u es on classical his o y (1796-1797) and elocu ion, poe y and d ama, i s i ine an (1801-1806) and hen in his celeb a ed elocu iona y Ins i u ion in London, om which he con inued o en u e on lec u e ou s, a and wide, un il his dea h in 1834. In a ca ee o o e o y yea s, he deli e ed upwa ds o 2 500 o a ions, all punc ua ed by eci a ions o e se ( om wi y sedi ious ballads ha ligh ened his poli ical lec u es o ambi ious public odes ha heigh ened his celeb i y), in a leas six y u ban cen es in England, Sco land, I eland and e en F ance. This a icle ocuses on he con ibu ion o Thelwall’s li le-known F ench connec ions o his o al heo y and p ac ice. He made a leas h ee ips o F ance: a amily pleasu e excu sion in 1814 ( eco ded in a se ial dia y published in he Cou ie newspape and hen as a book), a lec u e ou in 1818 (p ima ily in Pa is), and a pedes ian ske ching ou o he Seine in 1819 (wi h a ellow a is ). Two membe s o Thelwall’s F ench ne wo ks we e pa icula ly impo an o his wo k: he Abbé Sica d, who an he amous École des Sou ds-Mue s (school o he dea - mu e) in Pa is be ween 1789 and 1822; and Amau y Du al, a leading in ellec ual and pa icipan in a se ies o encyclopedic en u es, including La Décade Philosophique, a g oundb eaking jou nal o epublican a and cul u e ounded in 1794. Toge he hey in oduce my i le concep o he gi oue e, o wea he cock, an image o down- o-ea h ma e ialism, mul i-di ec ional mobili y and ideological mul i alence ha illumina es he wo k o all h ee men. Du ing he F ench Re olu ion, wea he cocks associa ed wi h he ancien égime we e le elled and u ned upside down;1 he wo d hen ga he ed he nega i e conno a ions o u ncoa oppo unism and apos asy ha i e ains in F ench poli ics. Acco ding o Pie e Se na, a gi oue e was a adical cen is ci il se an , whose chameleon adap abili y enabled him o na iga e changes and con ingencies o opinion and ideology, ejec ing ex emes and he eby allowing go e nmen o ope a e.2 The e m i s appea ed in he Décade Philosophique in a 1799 a icle ecognizing he need o “ hinke s allied o ac i e men, a ached o hose noble p inciples, which can no longe be obscu ed by he abuses o oyalism o he c imes o ana chy.”3 Bo h Sica d and Du al we e such men: philosophical ac i is s, in ellec uals and 1 Mona Ozou , Fes i als and he F ench Re olu ion, ans. Alan She idan (Camb idge, MA: Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1988), 235-41. 2 Pie e Se na, La République des Gi oue es: 1789-1815 e au-delà (Seyssel: Champ Vallon, 2005), 11-28. 3 La Décade Philosophique 10 (10 ni ôse VIII [31 Decembe 1799]); quo ed in English by James Li esey, “The Poli ical Cul u e o he Di ec o y,” in A Companion o he F ench Re olu ion, ed. Pe e McPhee (Ox o d: Blackwell, 2015), 330. La oix de la gi oue e 51 p agma is s whose s a egic adap abili y allowed hem o su i e he Re olu ion and ill c ucial oles in public cul u e. Thelwall did he same in B i ain. Al hough he was a li elong enemy o apos asy, pe pe ually p oclaiming his in eg i y, he could no escape he ain o he u ncoa , censu ed by no only his an i-Jacobin enemies bu his e s while allies, e en in ecen imes.4 Ne e heless he oo, like Sica d and Du al, was a poli ical su i o who cul i a ed a p incipled and many-minded in ellec ual mobili y ha allowed him o esis y anny and main ain ideals while heo izing and p ac icing a socially-use ul epublican a and science. In wha ollows I iangula e Thelwall and his wo k be ween hese wo F enchmen and hei s, highligh ing he language o philosophical ac ion ha hey sha e, and i s con inui ies om he e olu iona y o he pos - e olu iona y pe iod. In so doing I ocus on h ee de ini i e ea u es o Thelwall’s heo y and p ac ice o o al language ha uni e his poli ical and elocu iona y ca ee s: i s s a egic ma e ialism, mobili y and mul i alence. I begin wi h Roch-Amb oise Cucu on, he Abbé Sica d (1742-1822), a dis inguished eache and heo is o he dea -mu e, who had aken o e he g oundb eaking Ins i u des Sou ds-Mue s om i s ounde he Abbé L’Epée upon he la e ’s dea h in 1789. Sica d is a ascina ing igu e in ha despi e being a p ies who ne e ook he e olu iona y Oa h and was imp isoned du ing he Sep embe massac es, he na owly escaped execu ion and sa ely na iga ed he ac ionalism ha ollowed; indeed his school was gi en p eeminen s a us and espec as an Ins i u Na ional a he e y heigh o he Reign o Te o . One eason o his is ha i s egali a ian pedagogy was so consis en wi h undamen al epublican p inciples: Sica d ega ded and showcased he disabled as in ellec ually capable pa io s, whose inna e abili ies and igo ous aining alike epi omized he alue o uni e sal eason, gi ing hem he ools o become sel -su icien ci izens; he school’s cu iculum included ma hema ics, g amma , mechanics and philosophy as well as p ac ical ins uc ion in a ade. De o ed as he was o sign language as a mode o bo h ad anced hinking and public speaking, a means o in ellec ual enqui y and de elopmen a he han simply o e epe i ion o animal ins inc , Sica d’s heo y and p ac ice we e consis en wi h enligh enmen ideals o uni e sal eason in ac ion.5 His aim was o allow all ci izens, including he disabled, o pa icipa e in he epublic o eloquence he championed in an essay o 1793: 4 I onically, Thelwall’s g ea es wen ie h-cen u y champion E.P. Thompson ega ded elocu ion as a be ayal o his adical p inciples, p onouncing he “poli ical ox […] dead” by 1804. E.P. Thompson, “Hun ing he Jacobin Fox,” in The Roman ics: England in a Re olu iona y Age (New Yo k: The New P ess, 1997), 190. 5 Emme Kennedy, Abbé Sica d’s Dea Educa ion: Empowe ing he Mu e, 1785-1820 (New Yo k: Palg a e Macmillan, 2015), 1-21. Judi h Thompson 52 In hese days o libe y and equali y, a kind o gene al oca ion calls e e y ci izen o de end his coun y, and […] uphold i s igh s. […] To cul i a e eloquence will be […] o pay one’s deb o one’s coun y […]. In he middle o hese g ea assemblies, alen will de elop […] in epublican mou hs. We oo will ha e ou Demos henes and ou Cice os.6 Belo ed by his pupils, he gi oue e Sica d ose in epu a ion h ough he ideological wis s and u ns o Re olu ion, Republic, Empi e and Res o a ion, a ac ing na ional and in e na ional acclaim as he o e ed public exhibi ions and pe o mances in on o in ellec ual celeb i ies and ou is s om all o e he con inen , as well as England, whe e Sica d himsel a elled in 1815 and was pa icula ly imp essed wi h i s “nume ous ins i u ions o public heal h and ins uc ion.”7 One o hose was Thelwall’s idiosync a ic bu highly success ul “Ins i u ion o he Cu e o Impedimen s, Ins uc ion o Fo eigne s, Imp o emen o O a o y, and P epa a ion o You h o he Highe Depa men s o Ac i e Li e” in London. Acco ding o he jou nals o Hen y C abb Robinson, on 4 July 1815 Sica d and se e al o his pupils we e he e o wi ness one o he public pe o mances by Thelwall and his pupils ha , like hose o Sica d, egula ly a ac ed an audience o celeb i ies and in ellec uals.8 This was a e u n isi , o Thelwall had al eady me and had ex ensi e con e sa ion wi h Sica d on his i s ip o F ance in 1814, which was in pa mo i a ed by his desi e o isi Sica d’s school and s udy i s me hods.9 Thei co espondence con inued a leas un il 1818, when a a e su i ing Thelwall le e men ions his ha ing sen Sica d in o ma ion abou “ he Scien i ic pa o my sys em.”10 Thelwall p obably encoun e ed Sica d’s widely publicized wo k as pa o his esea ch in o disabled educa ion in conjunc ion wi h he ounding o his Ins i u ion in Li e pool in 1805, when he isi ed he “School o he Indigen Blind” es ablished he e by his iend, he adical (and isually impai ed) poe Edwa d Rush on. 6 Abbé Sica d, Jou nal Encyclopédique (July 1793), quo ed by Kennedy, Abbé Sica d’s Dea Educa ion, 29. 7 Kennedy, Abbé Sica d’s Dea Educa ion, 101-15, quo ing an 1873 biog aphy o Sica d. 8 Thomas Sadle , ed., Dia y, Reminiscences and Co espondence o Hen y C abb Robinson, 3 ols. (London: MacMillan, 1869), 2:492. 9 F ance was enowned o i s enligh ened ins i u ions ounded du ing he e olu iona y pe iod, and Thelwall’s anonymously published Dia y o an Excu sion o F ance in he Mon hs o Augus and Sep embe , 1814, in a Se ies o Le e s (Edinbu gh: Pe e Hill, Manne s and Mille , 1814), 86 and passim, indica es ha he isi ed many o hem, almos e e y day. 10 John Thelwall o M. Mau y Du al, 5-6 July 1818, Wellcome Ins i u e Au og aphs, MS 7734/1-30. La oix de la gi oue e 53 Thelwall’s longs anding in e es in F ench ideas and ins i u ions p eceded he Re olu ion;11 he was well ead in F ench philosophy and li e a u e, and by 1820 he 6 000- olume lib a y o his Ins i u ion included a leas 200 F ench-language wo ks in poe y, d ama, his o y, law, philosophy and science, including mo e han six y olumes o Vol ai e.12 Like Sica d, Thelwall was dedica ed o enabling he communica ion ha acili a ed ull ci izenship in hose who had been mu ed by impedimen s “men al, mo al and o ganic,” and his published case s udies e eal his in e es in a ange o disabili ies, including hea ing and isual impai men , and wha we would now call au ism.13 Al hough he pu a p emium on speech, and did no each he dea pe se, as a scien i ic elocu ionis he was well- e sed in he body language o signs and ges u es used in hei educa ion. His Le e o Hen y Cline champions public heal h and democ a ic educa ion in e ms e y simila o hose ha Sica d had a icula ed in his 1793 essay, alking abou “en anchis[ing] he ongue” and “ indica [ing] he igh o di using hose p inciples, ha we e o gi e o he Mu e, and he con ulsi e S amme e , he ee exe cise and enjoymen o a acul y, which cons i u es he essen ial a ibu e o ou species” o “e en om among he pupils o his desc ip ion, migh s a o h some new Demos henes, o enligh en and ene gize he ising gene a ion.”14 Thelwall’s exchange wi h Sica d highligh s an in iguing connec ion be ween e olu iona y poli ics, philology and he p ac ical, medical, ma e ialis science o language known as logopaedia o o hophonie, which has been o e looked in discussions o Roman ic language heo y, ocusing as hey do almos exclusi ely on he Ge man idealis adi ion, la gely in luenced by Thelwall’s e s while iend and i al Samuel Taylo Cole idge.15 The a and science o language sha ed by Thelwall and Sica d wen back o English empi icis s, especially Locke, channeled h ough F ench encyclopedis s 11 F ench a ai s igu e p ominen ly in Thelwall’s i s anonymously published miscellany The Biog aphical and Impe ial Magazine (London, 1789-91). 12 A Ca alogue o he Genuine Lib a y o Valuable Books &c o John Thelwall, Esq. (London: A ms ong, 1820). 13 Emily S anback, “Disabili y and Dissen : Thelwall’s Elocu iona y P ojec ,” in John Thelwall: C i ical Reassessmen s, ed. Yasmin Solomonescu (Roman ic Ci cles P axis 2011), accessed 12 No embe 2024, h ps:// oman ic-ci cles.o g/p axis. 14 John Thelwall, A Le e o Hen y Cline (1810), in Selec ed Poli ical W i ings o John Thelwall, ed. Robe Lamb and Co inna Wagne , 4 ols. (London: Picke ing and Cha o, 2009), 4:10-13, 106. 15 Oli ia Smi h, The Poli ics o Language 1791-1818 (Ox o d: Ox o d Uni e si y P ess, 1986) is an excep ion o his. Mo e ecen ly and di ec ly ele an a e Yasmin Solomonescu, The Ma e ialis Imagina ion (New Yo k: Palg a e Macmillan, 2014), especially 95-119 and 153 n18; and Alan Richa dson, B i ish Roman icism and he Science o he Mind (Camb idge: Camb idge Uni e si y P ess, 2001), 154-60. Judi h Thompson 54 including Dide o , Rousseau, Condo ce and Condillac, who heo ized a “na u al language” o ac ion, composed o c ies and ges u es, common be ween animals and humans, which hen e ol ed in o spoken and inally w i en language, bu was s ill undamen al o all hough (which Condillac de ined as “ ans o med sensa ion”) and all a : as he pu i , “ he language o ac ion has p oduced e e y a p ope o exp ess ou hough s; such as ges u e, dancing, speech, declama ion […] pan omimes, music, poe y, eloquence, w i ing, and he di e en cha ac e s o language.”16 The same ma e ialis ideas in luenced cu ing-edge heo ies o mind ha Thelwall had abso bed a p es igious Guy’s Hospi al, whe e he a ended lec u es on ana omy, chemis y and physiology, subjec s ha we e a he cen e o he ma e ialis u n in b ain science.17 These s udies issued in wo g oundb eaking lec u es ha Thelwall p esen ed a he Guy’s Hospi al Physical Socie y a he same ime ha Sica d published his essay on epublican eloquence. Ea ly in 1793 he spoke on Animal Vi ali y, and la e ha yea deli e ed an essay on “Men al Ac ion explained on he sys em o Ma e ialism.” The i s pape was igo ously applauded; he second led o his expulsion om he Socie y, owing o in ensi ying hys e ia o e associa ions be ween a heis ma e ialism and e olu iona y poli ics in England. Thelwall’s wo medical lec u es coincided wi h, and di ec ly in luenced, his poli ically no o ious Chaun icle e lec u e (wi h i s abled, cocky F ench he o), deli e ed in all 1793. All h ee lec u es show he in luence o ano he F ench ma e ialis , he o e ly a heis Julien O ay de La Me ie, who ounded his heo ies o mind on examples om na u al his o y, including a decapi a ed oos e whose abili y o con inue unning and lapping i s wings wi hou i s head p o es “ ha e e y ib e, ha he minu es pa s o o ganized bodies, a e pu in o mo ion by a p inciple inhe en in hemsel es.”18 While none o Thelwall’s ma e ialis lec u es ocused explici ly on language, hey may be conside ed as a o m o applied language heo y, as Solomonescu poin s ou , in ha hey d aw an analogy be ween he way he i al p inciple ope a es in he body and he way language ope a es in he body poli ic.19 This in 16 Lo ne Falkens ein and Gio anni G andi, “É ienne Bonno de Condillac,” in The S an o d Encyclopedia o Philosophy, ed. Edwa d Zal a, accessed 12 No embe 2024, h ps://pla o.s an o d.edu/en ies/condillac/; Ola Gunde sen, “Condillac be ween Locke and He de ,” in Language and P axis, accessed 12 No embe 2024, h ps://web.abo. i/ ak/h / iloso i/Resea ch/Sp axis/. Kennedy, Abbé Sica d’s Dea Educa ion, 7-11 compa es he sign language o Épée, Sica d and Condillac, who epo edly isi ed he Ecole des Sou ds-Mue s. 17 Solomonescu, The Ma e ialis Imagina ion, 1-33. 18 Solomonescu, The Ma e ialis Imagina ion, 16-26. Julien O ay de La Me ie, Man a Machine, ans. Jean-Bap is e de Boye , Ma quis d’A gens (London: W. Owen, 1749), 58. 19 Solomonescu, The Ma e ialis Imagina ion, 20-26, 99-104. La oix de la gi oue e 55 u n became he ounda ion o Thelwall’s complex and well-de eloped heo ies o elocu ion, o al communica ion and language in gene al, which p eda ed and p o oked Cole idge’s i al idealis heo ies in Biog aphia Li e a ia.20 Essen ially Thelwall main ained ha language is p oduced by he body, h ough a sympa he ic coope a ion, o co espondence, among o gans (which he de ined as p ima y, seconda y and enuncia i e, o pe cep i e, execu i e and ecipien ). Di e en o gans a e esponsible o di e en aspec s o language ( o example powe , modula ion, a icula ion, one, ha mony, passion, cha ac e ). Language being li e ally o ganic, i ope a es by he “uni e sal p inciple o ac ion and e-ac ion” ha go e ns all “p og essi e mo ion, o ganic o mechanical.”21 Acco ding o Thelwall, he mind, hough powe ul, is s ill a bodily o gan, which does no domina e bu coope a es wi h o he s, such as he la ynx, ongue o diaph agm. Since speech is a “musical science” and he human oice a “conce o many ins umen s […] exceedingly di e en om each o he ,” he speake ’s mind is like an o ches al conduc o , who “di ec [s]” and “command[s] he co esponden ones” o b ing he o gans in o ha mony.22 Mind and body, cogni ion and exp ession, pe cep ion and execu ion a e no hie a chical bu collabo a i e. Adap ing Shakespea e, Thelwall asse s ha he mou h “is pa cel o he mind” and, by analogy, so is he mou h o he ea , and he ea o he eye.23 Jus as o al and au al o gans and elemen s o language co espond wi h one ano he , so oo do o al, isual and isce al ones, including he ges u es cen al o mo e “mechanical” schools o elocu ion, and he sign language (o , as Thelwall some imes calls i , dac ylology) used in dea educa ion. Acco ding o Thelwall, i s bodily o ien a ion ende s language egali a ian, ac i e, p agma ic and social. Since in his iew he body is also he body poli ic, each o hese p inciples wo ks o cul u e a la ge, which is also in a ecip ocal co espondence wi h public o gans o speech, o ough o be. This is he key connec ion be ween Thelwall’s e olu iona y and pos - e olu iona y, o ea ly 20 Thelwall’s heo ies we e in place, and being widely publicized in lec u es, a icles and ea ises, om 1804 onwa d; he ou majo ea ises a e “In oduc o y Discou se on he Na u e and Objec s o Elocu iona y Science” (1806), A Le e o Hen y Cline (1810), “In oduc o y Essay on he S udy o English Rhy hmus” (1812) and Resul s o Expe ience in he T ea men o Cases o De ec i e U e ance (1814). I summa ize hei conclusions in wha ollows. 21 Thelwall, A Le e o Hen y Cline, 15. 22 Thelwall, A Le e o Hen y Cline, 22. 23 John Thelwall, “In oduc o y Essay on he S udy o English Rhy hmus,” in John Thelwall, Illus a ions o English Rhy hmus [Selec ions o he Illus a ion o a Cou se o Ins uc ions on he Rhy hmus and U e ance o he English Language] (London: J. M’C ee y, 1812), x i. Judi h Thompson 56 poli ical and la e elocu iona y wo k. Acco ding o he “ heo y o sounds” ou lined in his Essay on Rhy hmus, he powe o language, while o igina ing in he p ima y o gans, depends upon “modi ica ions” o seconda y and e ia y o gans wi h which he p ima y impulse in e ac s; his includes he “sympa he ic media, whose seconda y ib a ions co-ope a e wi h, and assis in he di usion o p omulga ion o he p ima y ib a ions” and he “sani y and suscep ibili y o he ecipien o gan[s].”24 Though he does no explici ly ollow up i s sociological implica ions, Thelwall essen ially lays he ounda ion o a science o public communica ion ha applies equally well o p in and o al cul u e, and o he ole o media in socie y, and is as po en ially use ul as heo ies o dialogism, speech ac s and mediology ha e been in he wen ie h cen u y.25 Likewise, in he headno es o he elocu iona y Selec ions ha accompany Thelwall’s lec u es, which o e de ailed ins uc ions o speake s’ pe o mances o pa icula ex s, we glimpse p in aces o wha he o e ed mo e ully, o ally, in his school: a comple e heo y and p ac ice o ocal in e p e a ion in eg a ed wi h, and in eg al o he unde s anding o , li e a u e; a o m o elocu iona y close eading ha co esponds wi h, and dese es o be augh beside, he p in o malism ha has come down o us om Cole idge and his c i ical successo s. As impo an as Thelwall’s o ganic ma e ialism is he “p og essi e mo ion,” o modula ion, ha esul s om his uni e sal p inciple o “ac ion and eac ion”: he hy hmic al e na ion o “ hesis and a sis,” o “pulsa ion and emission,” common o hea bea , oo s ep and poe ic oo . I go e ns “all ibes o oice,” human and non-human, and all elemen s o exp ession, including a ia ions o sound in e se and p ose.26 This s ands a he hea o Thelwall’s g ound-b eaking physiological p osody, o he apoe ics, as Julia Ca lson calls i .27 Lea ing aside i s ana omical echnicali ies, i s li e a y p inciples a e bes seen in he classical Pinda ic ode, which o igina ed in ac i e- eac i e mo emen a once physical (o he cho us side o side and cen e a he Olympic games), s uc u al (s ophe, an is ophe, epode) and concep ual ( hesis, an i hesis, syn hesis). Thelwall ega ded he Pinda ic 24 Thelwall, “Essay on Rhy hmus,” xx iii. 25 J.L. Aus in, How o Do Things wi h Wo ds, 2nd ed. (Ox o d: Cla endon P ess, 1975); M.M. Bakh in, The Dialogic Imagina ion, ans. Michael Holquis and Ca yl Eme son (Aus in, TX: Uni e si y o Texas P ess, 1982); Régis Deb ay, T ansmi ing Cul u e, ans. E ic Rau h (New Yo k: Columbia Uni e si y P ess, 2004) and Cou s de médiologie géné ale (Pa is: Gallima d, 1991). 26 Thelwall, “Essay on Rhy hmus,” . 27 Julia Ca lson, “Thelwall’s The apoe ics,” in Julia Ca lson, Roman ic Ma ks and Measu es: Wo dswo h’s Poe y in Fields o P in (Philadelphia, PA: Uni e si y o Pennsyl ania P ess, 2016), 260-304. La oix de la gi oue e 57 as “by a he mos pe ec ” o m o ode, due o i s ange o “well-diges ed a ie ies,” “ egula esponses” and “acco dan quan i ies and accen s,” including in e wined and ecip ocal pa e ns o hy hm, hyme, syllable and syn ax. Repea ed pa e ns o sound, which speak o he ea (e.g., alli e a ion, in e nal and hal - hyme), c ea e a mo e disciplined eade (always a speake , o Thelwall). These pa e ns a e mo e e sa ile, bene icial and meaning ul han he “me e jingle […] o e mina i e elemen s” ( ha is, end- hyme), o igu a i e language ha speaks only o he eye.28 The bes example o his heo y in Thelwall’s own wo k is his sel -consciously “expe imen al” odes o 1803 (pa o his mili an esponse o he Edinbu gh Re iew’s campaign agains Jacobin poe ics).29 In “To D . Paley, o Hali ax” and “Ode Insc ibed on he Fan o M s. G.” (along wi h he “Sonne o S ella in he S yle o Ossian,” as Je ome McGann has sugges ed), he unde ook he mos adical expe imen in English e si ica ion be o e i s closes i al, he sp ung hy hm o Ge a d Manley Hopkins mo e han se en y- i e yea s la e .30 He combined he s uc u e o he Pinda ic ode wi h a dazzling p osody ha e lec ed bo h his ma e ialis elocu iona y heo y and his exposu e o ba dic adi ions h ough iendships wi h adical an iqua ians, especially Iolo Mo ganwg (Edwa d Williams). The “Welsh Ba d” in oduced him o he cynghanedd, a wickedly di icul ye down- o-ea h e se o m cha ac e ized by “in ica e sys em o consonan al alli e a ion, in e nal hyme and balanced s esses” ha embodied and showcased he highes in elligence and c a smanship o he ox populi.31 Thelwall ollowed hese expe imen s wi h a se ies o pa io ic odes on he dea hs o public igu es – Admi al Nelson (1805), Cha les James Fox (1806), P incess Cha lo e (1817) – and he ongoing igh o Spanish epublicans o independence om 28 John Thelwall, “On Ly ical Poe y,” in Poe ical Rec ea ions o The Champion (London, 1822), 154-59. 29 Judi h Thompson, John Thelwall in he Wo dswo h Ci cle: The Silenced Pa ne (New Yo k: Palg a e Macmillan, 2012), 161-71. The odes we e pa o a “se ies o Public expe imen s” he had announced in lec u es in Manches e and Hudde s ield in all 1803: see John Thelwall, Elocu ion and O a o y: Gene al Plan and Ou line o M . Thelwall’s Cou se o Lec u es (Manches e : R. and W. Dean, 1803). 30 Je ome McGann, “Roman ic Subjec s and Iambic Laws: Episodes in he Ea ly His o y o Con ac Nego ia ions,” New Li e a y His o y 49, no. 4 (2018): 597-615. Thelwall’s expe imen al odes and sonne may be ound in John Thelwall: Selec ed Poe y and Poe ics, ed. Judi h Thompson (New Yo k: Palg a e Macmillan, 2015), 99, 137, 192. 31 Ge ain Jenkins, A Ra leskull Genius: The Many Faces o Iolo Mo ganwg (Abe ys wy h: Uni e si y o Wales P ess, 2005), 72. Mo ganwg ounded he Eis edd od compe i ions ancho ed by he pe o mance o cynghanedd. Judi h Thompson 64 Ca lson, Julia. Roman ic Ma ks and Measu es: Wo dswo h’s Poe y in Fields o P in . Philadelphia, PA: Uni e si y o Pennsyl ania P ess, 2016. A Ca alogue o he Genuine Lib a y o Valuable Books &c o John Thelwall, Esq. London: A ms ong, 1820. Deb ay, Régis. Cou s de médiologie géné ale. Pa is: Gallima d, 1991. T ansla ed by E ic Rau h as T ansmi ing Cul u e. New Yo k: Columbia Uni e si y P ess, 2004. 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