, do not murder
it! Voltaire wrote: "You reproach us with our E mute, as a sad, dull
sound that dies on our lips, but in this very E mute lies the great
harmony of our prose and verse." Littre recognizes two forms of the E
mute: the E mute, faintly articulated as in "_ame_;" and the E mute
sounded as in _me, ce, le;_ but he does not allude to an E which is
entirely null.

Once more, then, that there may be no misunderstanding, let me say that
the word _mute_ added to the E, has but a relative sense, in view of the
two vowels of the same name and marked with an acute or a grave accent.

One fact throws light on the question: did any author ever make a
character above the rank of a peasant or a lackey, say:

/ "_J'aime' ben Lisett' J'crois qu'ell' m'en veut!"_ P/

Take an example from Voltaire (tragedy of the Death of Caesar): "_Voila
vos successeurs, Horace, Decius_." Evidently, if the E mute had not been
counted, the second hemistich of the Alexandrine verse would have had
but five syllables instead of six.

Would any one like to know how the heresiarchs of the E mute would
manage?

In this instance they would repeat the A of the penultimate, aspirating
it and pronouncing thus: "_Voila vos successeurs, Hora ... as',
Decius_."

In this way they would have the requisite number of syllables; but they
would be wholly at odds with the dictionary of the good actors of the
Theatre Francais.

This falsification is especially common in singing, though it is no less
revolting in that field of art. How often at concerts--the force of
tradition saves us at the theatre--do we hear even artists of great
reputation pronounce:

"_Quel jour prosp'..er' plus de myste..er_," instead of: "_Quel jour
prospere plus de mystere._" And, in one of the choruses of the opera
"_La Reine de Chypre_":

"_Jamais, jamais en Fran ... anc'
Jamais l'Anglais ne regnera!_"

Instead of:

"_Jamais, jamais en France,
Jamais l'Anglais ne regnera!_"

This anomaly is most offensive in the final syllable of a verse, because
there the measure is more impaired than ever, and in this way that
alternation of male and female rhymes is suppressed, which produces so
flowing and graceful a cadence in French verse.

_E mute before a Vowel._

The encounter of E mute in a final syllable, with the initial vowel of
the word which follows it, makes the defect more apparent and
accordingly easier to fight against.

Delsarte's process