great
monarch of them all.

And here, as the name of Mont Blanc will of course often appear in this
volume, I have a word or two to say in respect to the proper
pronunciation of it in America; for the proper mode of pronouncing the
name of any place is not fixed, as many persons think, but varies with
the language which you are using in speaking of it. Thus the name of the
capital of France, when we are in France, and speaking French, is
pronounced _Par-ree_; but when we are in England and America, and are
speaking English, we universally pronounce it _Par-is_. It is so with
almost all names of places. They change the pronunciation, and often the
mode of spelling, according to the analogy of the language used by the
person speaking of them.

Many persons suppose that in order correctly to pronounce the name of
any place we must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around
the place. But this is not so. The rule, on the other hand, is, that we
must pronounce it as the people do who live in and around the place _the
language of which we are speaking_. Thus the people of France call their
capital _Par-ree_; those of Spain call theirs something like
this,--_Madhreedth_; the Italians pronounce theirs _Roma_; but we, in
talking English, say simply, _Paris_, _Madrid_, and _Rome_; in other
words, when we are talking English, we _talk English throughout_, using
English words for names of things, and English pronunciation for names
of places, in all cases where there is an English pronunciation
established,--as there is in respect to all the rivers, towns,
mountains, and other localities on the globe that are well known and
often spoken of in the English world.

Mont Blanc is one of these. Like the word _Paris_ it has its French
pronunciation for the French, and its English pronunciation for the
English; and its English pronunciation is as if it were spelled Mount
Blank or Mont Blank. Under this name it has been known and spoken of
familiarly all over England and America for centuries; and this, it
seems to me, is the proper name to give it when we are speaking English.

Its French pronunciation is very different. It is one which none but a
practical French scholar can possibly imitate, except in a very awkward
manner. Those who have visited France and Switzerland, and have been
accustomed to the French sound, often give the word the French
pronunciation; but it is not at all necessary to do so. The word, like
_Paris