The Talking Machine in 1758?

[Lucius1958]

While scrolling through The Talking Machine World (Vol.1, no. 1), I was intrigued by the little article on Page 18, relating John Wesley's encounters with the inventor of a 'talking statue' in Lurgan, Northern Ireland.

I found this info:

http://www.craigavonhistoricalsociety.o ... tatue.html

Is it conceivable that this might have been some sort of phonograph, or a speech synthesizer in the manner of (and, I believe, anticipating) von Kempelen's 'speaking machine'?

Note: Wesley described the statue's speech as 'loud, clear and articulate', at a time when most attempts to synthesize speech could produce only approximations of syllables; and Wesley was not the sort of man to be fooled by hoaxes…..

Alas, the inventor, Mr. Miller, having found no one willing to fund further research, later disassembled his automaton - though he told Wesley he would like to have built another that could sing hymns.

I wonder, are there any accounts of this machine from other sources?

Bill

[Player-Tone]

Interesting, I am intrigued.