If at a loss for a word, not to ch-ch-ch or eh-eh-eh, but to
stop and wait for it. It soon comes, and the bad habits are
broken and fluency soon acquired.
Never doubt a correction given to me by another.
His niece, Miss Reid, who lived from 1830 to 1840 at the Institution
with the Faradays, gave the following amongst her recollections:--
Mr. Magrath used to come regularly to the morning lectures, for
the sole purpose of noting down for him any faults of delivery
or defective pronunciation that could be detected. The list
was always received with thanks; although his corrections
were not uniformly adopted, he was encouraged to continue his
remarks with perfect freedom. In early days he always lectured
with a card before him with _Slow_ written upon it in distinct
characters. Sometimes he would overlook it and become too
rapid; in this case, Anderson had orders to place the card
before him. Sometimes he had the word _Time_ on a card brought
forward when the hour was nearly expired.
[Sidenote: AS LECTURER.]
In spite of his recourse to aids in acquiring elocutionary excellence,
his own style remained simple and unspoiled. “His manner,” says Bence
Jones, “was so natural, that the thought of any art in his lecturing
never occurred to anyone. For his Friday discourses, and for his
other set lectures in the theatre, he always made ample preparation
beforehand. His matter was always over-abundant. And, if his
experiments were always successful, this was not solely attributable
to his exceeding skill of hand. For, unrivalled as he was as a
manipulator, in the cases in which he attempted to show complicated
or difficult experiments, that which was to be shown was always well
rehearsed beforehand in the laboratory. He was exceedingly particular
about small and simple illustrations. He never merely _told_ his
hearers about an experiment, but _showed_ it to them, however simple
and well known it might be. To a young lecturer he once remarked: ‘If I
said to my audience, “This stone will fall to the ground if I open my
hand,” I should open my hand and let it fall. Take nothing for granted
as known; inform the eye at the same time as you address the ear.’ He
always endeavoured at the outset to put himself _en rapport_ with his
audience by introducing his subject on its most familiar side, and then
leading on to that which was less familiar. Before the audience became
aware of any transition, they were already assimilating new facts which
were thus brought within their range. Nor did he stay his discourse
upon the enunciation of facts merely. Almost invariably, as his
allotted hour drew towards its close, he gave rein to his imagination.
Those who had begun with him on the lower plane of simple facts and
their correlations were bidden to consider the wider bearings of
scientific principles and their relations to philosophy, to life, or to
ethics.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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