James E. Murdoch's contributions to the arts were widely diversified. Aside from acting, the man was interested in both the practical and theoretical aspects of elocution. The thread of continuity which existed between elocution and interpretation became apparent to Murdoch through his analysis of the works of Sheridan, Walker, and Rush, the earlier elocutionists. Murdoch drew upon previous ideologies in order to formulate his own theory of elocution. Combined with his own terminology and the modified philosophies of his predecessors, Murdoch was able to devise an "eclectic" approach to the teaching of elocution. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate and demonstrate that Murdoch's "eclectic" method does have an important bearing upon the present day technique of teaching oral interpretation. An analysis of "A Plea For Spoken Language" and "Analytic Elocution," written by Murdoch, shows that teachers today are still using the principles which were set down over almost 125 years ago by a forgotten man in the history of interpretation. (Contains 16 notes.) (Author/RS)