VENTRILOQUISM, an art of speak ing, by means of which the human voice and other sounds are rendered audible, as . if they proceeded from various different places; though the titterer does not change his place, and in many instances does not appear to speak. It has been supposed to be a natural peculiarity, be cause feW, if any, persons have learned it by being taught ; and we have had no rules laid down for acquiring it. It seems to have been in consequence of this no tion, that the name ventriloquism has been applied to it, from a supposition that the 1 voice proceeds from the thorax or chest. It has seldom been practised but by per sons of the lower classes of society ; and as it does not seem to present any advan tages beyond that of causing surprize and entertainment, and cannot be exhibited on an extended theatre, the probability is that it will continue amongst them., Mr. Cough, in the Manchester Me moirs, and in various parts of Nicholson's Journal, has entertained the opinion, that the voice of ventriloquists is made to pro- • ceed, in appearance, from different parts of a room by the management of an echo. But the facts themselves do not support this hypothesis, as a great and sudden variety mid change of echoes would be required ; and his own judicious remarks,. in the same work, on the facility with which we are deceived as to the direc firm of sound, are adverse to his theory. From numerous attentive observations, it appears manifest th4 the art is not pe culiar to certain individuals, hilt may with facility be acquired by any person of accurate observation. It consists mere)* in an imitation of sounds, as they occur in nature, accompenied with appropriate action, of such a description as may best • concur. in leading the minds of the ob "servers to favour the deception.
Any one who.shall try, will be a little surprised to find how easy it is to imitate the noise made by a saw, or by a snuff when opened or shut, or by a large hand-bell, or a cork-cutter's khife, a watch while going, and numberless other inanitate objects ; "or the voices of ani male in their various situations and neces sities, such as a cat, a dog, or an hen en raged, intimidated, confined, &c. ; or to vary the character of the human voice by shrillness'or depth of tone, rapidity or drawling of execution, and distinctness or imperfection of articulating, which may be instantly changed by holding the month a little more open or more closed than usual, altering the position of the jaw, keeping the tongue in any determi nate situation, &c. And every one of the imitations of the ventriloquists will he rendered more perfect by practising them at the very time the sounds are heard, instead of depending on the me mory. The leading condi*;on of per that the voices and sounds of the dramatic dialogue to be exhibited, should succeed each other so rapidly that the audience should lose sight of the pro bability that one actor gives effect to the whole, and that where the business is simple, the aid of scenery or local cir cumstance should be called in.
We have seen an eminent philosopher of our own time, who had no previous practice of this art, but when speaking on the subject in a mixed company, took up an ha', and folding the flaps together said, by way of example, " Suppose had a small monkey in this hat;" and then cautiously putting his hand in, as if to catch it, he imitated the chatter of the supposed struggling animal, at the same time that Isis own efforts to secure it had a momentary impression on the specta tors, which left no time for them to ques tion whether there was a monkey in it or not: this impre'ssion was completed, when, the instant afterwards, he pulled out his hand as if hurt, and exclaimed " he has it me." It was not till then
that the impression of reality gave way to the diversion arising from the mimic art and one of the company, even then, cried' out, " Is there really a monkey in the hat ?" in this manner it was that, at the be ginning of the last century, the famous Torn King, who is said to have been the first man who gave public lectures on ex perimental philosophy in this country, WAS attended by the whole fashionable world, for a succession of many nights, to hear him " kill a calf." This per formance was done in a separate. part of the place of exhibition, into which the exhibitor retired alone ; and the imagi nation of his polite hearers wasp taxed to sllIpply the calf and three butchers, be sides a dog who sometimes raised his voice, and was checked for his unnecessa ry exertions. It appears, from tradition al narrative, that the calf was heard to be dragged in, not without some efforts and conversation on the part of the butchers, and noisy resistance from the calf; that they conversed on the qualities of the animal, and the profits to be expected from the veal ; and that, as they proceed ed, all the noises of knife and steel, of suspending the creature, and of the last. fatal catastrophe, were heard in rapid succession, to the never4iiiling satisfac tion of the attendants ; who, upon the rise of the curtain, saw that all these imaginary personages had vanished, and Torn King alone remained to claim the applause. • A similar fact may be quoted in the person of that facetious gentleman who has assumed and given celebrity to the name of Peter Pindar. This great poet, laughing at the proverbial poverty of his profession, is sometimes pleased to en tertain his friends with unexpected effu sions of the art we speak of One of these is managed by a messenger an nouncing to the Doctor (in the midst of company) that a person wants to speak with him ; he accordingly goes out, leav ing the door'a-jar, and immediately a fe male voice is heard, which, from the ua-. tore of the subject, appears to be that of the Poet's laundress, who complains of her pressing wants, di• a >pointed claims, and of broken promises, no longer to be borne with patience. It is more easy to imagine than describe the mixed emo tions of the audience. The scene, how ever, goes on by the Doctor's reply, who remonstrates, promises, and is rather an gry at the time and place of this unwel come visit. His antagonist untbrtunately is neither mollified nor disposed to quit her pound... Passion increases on both sides, and the Doctor forgets himself so far as to threaten the irritated female ; she defies him, and yhis last promise, very unlike the former ones, is followed by payment ; a severe slap on the face is heard ; the Poor woman falls dousti stairs, with horrid outcries ; the company, of course, rises in aleres, and the Doctor is found in a state of perfect tranquillity, apparently a stranger to. the whole trans action.