of nature for any thing so overdone is from the purpose of playing; whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature; to shew virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure. Now, this overdone, or come tardy of, though it make the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve: the censure of which one, must, in your allowance, o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. Oh! there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praise, and that highly (not to speak it profanely) that, neither having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, Pagan, nor man, have so strutted and bellowed, that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well; they imitated humanity so abominably.

"And let those that play your clowns, speak no more than is set down for them: for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too; though in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered :—that's villainous: and shews a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it."

By a little attention to the following rules, any young person may discover and correct those tones nd habits of speaking, which are gross deviations from nature; and which, as far as they prevail, must destroy all propriety and grace of utterance. These few plain directions, will also enable him to acquire a habit of reading or speaking, upon every occasion, in a manner suited to the nature of the subject, and the kind of discourse, or writing, to be delivered.

RULE I. Let your articulation be distinct and separate.—A good articulation consists in giving a clear and full utterance to the several simple and complex sounds. The nature of these sounds, therefore, ought to be well understood; and much pains should be taken to discover and correct those faults in articulation, which, though often ascribed to some defect in the organs of speech, are, generally, the consequence of inattention, or bad example.

RULE II. Let your pronunciation be bold and forcible.-An insipid flatness and languor, is almost a universal fault in reading. In order to acquire a forcible manner of pronouncing your words, accustom yourself while reading, to draw in as much air as your lungs can contain with ease, and to expel it with vehemence, in uttering those sounds which require an emphatical pronunciation. Read aloud in the open air, and with all the exertion you can' command.-Preserve your body in an erect attitude while you are speaking.-Let all the consonant sounds be expressed with a full impulse, or percussion of the breath, and a forcible action

of the organs employed in forming them; and let all the vowel sounds have a full and bold utterance.

RULE III. Acquire a compass and variety in the height of your voice.-Men, at different ages of life, and in different situations, speak in very different keys. The vagrant when he begs; the soldier, when he gives the word of command; the watchman, when he announces the hour of the night; the sovereign, when he issues his edict; and the senator, when he harangues, do not differ more in the tones which they use, than in the key in which they speak. Reading and speaking, therefore, in which all the variations of expression, in real life, are copied, must have continual variations in the height of the voice.

RULE IV. Pronounce your words with propriety and elegance. If there be any true standard of pronunciation, it must be sought for among those, who unite the accuracy of learning, with the elegance of polite conversation. An attention to such models, and intercourse with the best society, afford an effectual remedy for the peculiarities and vulgarisms of provincial dialects.

It would be endless to notice the variety of provincialisms which exist in different parts of England, not to mention the peculiar pronunciation of the Irish and Scotch. Yet we think it indispensable to enumerate some of the principal faults of the Cockneys or Londoners in this respect.

1. Pronouncing w for v, and inversely.

The pronunciations of v for w, and more frequently of w for v, among the inhabitants of London, and those not always of the lower order, is a blemish of the first magnitude. The difficulty of remedying this defect is the greater, as the cure of one of these mistakes, has a tendency to promote the other. Thus if you be very careful to make a pupil pronounce veal and vinegar, you will find him very apt to pronounce wine and wind as if written vine and vind. The best method of rectifying this habit is this: Let the pupil select from the dictionary not only all the words that begin with v, but as many as he can of those, that have this letter in any other part. Let him bite his under lip while he is sounding the v in those words, and practice this every day till he pronounce the v properly at first sight: then, and not till then, let him pursue the same method with the w; which he should pronounce by a pouting of the lips, without suffering them to touch the teeth.

2. Not sounding h after w.

The aspirate h is often sunk, particularly in the capital, where we do not find the least distinction of sound between while and wile, whet and wet, where and were, etc. The best method to

rectify this, is to collect all the words of this description from a dictionary, and write them down; and instead of the wh to begin them with hoo in a distinct syllable, and so to pronounce them. Thus let while be written and sounded hoo-ile; whet, hoo-et; where, hoo-are; whip, hoo-ip, etc.

3. Not sounding h where it ought to be sounded, and inversely.

A still worse habit than the last prevails chiefly among the people of London, that of sinking the h at the beginning of words, where it ought to be sounded, and of sounding it, either where it is not seen, or where it ought to be sunk. Thus we not unfrequently hear, especially among children, heart pronounced art, and arm, harm. This is a fault perfectly similar to that of pronouncing the v for the w, and the up for the , and requires a similar method to correct it.

As there are so very few words in the language where the initial h is sunk, we may select these from the rest, and, without setting the pupil right, when he mispronounces these, or when he prefixes h, improperly, to other words, we may make him pronounce all the words where his sounded, till he has almost forgotten there are any words pronounced otherwise: then he may go over those words, to which he improperly prefixes the h, and those where the h is seen, but not sounded. And as these latter words are few, we shall subjoin them. Heir, heiress, honest, honesty, honestly, honour, honourable, honourably, hospital, hostler, hour, hourly, humour, humourist, humourous, humourously, hu

moursome.

RULE V. Pronounce every word consisting of more than one syllable with its proper accent. In the accentuation of words, care should be taken to avoid all affected deviations from common usage. There is the greater occasion for this precaution, as a rule has been arbitrarily introduced upon this subject, which has no foundation, either in the structure of the English language, or in the principals of harmony; that, in words consisting of more than two syllables, the accent should be thrown as far backward as possible, This rule has occasioned much pedantic, and irregular pronunciation, and has, perhaps, introduced all the uncertainty which attends the accentuation of several English words. RULE VI. In every sentence, distinguish the more significant words, by a natural, forcible, and varied emphasis. This stress or emphasis, serves to unite words, and form them into sentences. By giving the several parts of a sentence its proper utterance, it discovers their mutual dependance, and conveys their full import to the mind of the hearer. It is in the power of emphasis, to make long and complex sentences appear intclligible and perapicuous.

RULE VII. Acquire a just variety of pause and inflection. Pauses are not only necessary in order to enable the speaker to take breath without inconvenience, and thus preserve the command of his voice, but in order to give the hearer a distinct perception of the construction and meaning of each sentence. In executing this part of the office of a speaker, it will by no means be sufficient to attend to the points used in printing; for these are far from marking all the pauses which ought to be made in speaking. In reading, it may often be proper to make a pause, where the printer has made none.

RULE VIII. Accompany the emotions and passions, which your words express, by correspondent tones, looks, and gestures. It is an essential part of elocution, to imitate this language of nature. No one can deserve the appellation of a good speaker, much less a complete orator, who does not, to a distinct articulation, a ready command of voice, and just pronunciation, accent, and emphasis, add, the various expressions of emotions and passion. But in this part of his office, precept can afford him little assistance. To describe in words the particular expression, which belongs to each emotion and passion, is, perhaps, wholly impracticable. It will be better to be guided by our feelings, with no other restraint than this special observance, that we o’erstep not the modesty of nature.

To give effect to these slight hints, and render them perma nently useful, it will be proper for the person who attends to them, to read aloud, daily by himself; and as often as possible, under the correction of an instructor or friend. He should also frequently recite compositions from memory. This method has several advantages. It obliges the speaker to dwell upon the ideas which he is to express-enables him to discern their particular meaning and force, and gives him a previous knowledge of the several inflections, emphasis, and tones which the words require. By taking off his eye from the book, it in part relieves him from the influence of the school-boy habit of reading in a key and tone different from that of conversation; and it affords greater scope for expression,-in tone, looks, and gestures.

GRAMMARS.

The best work on the subject of Grammar, is unquestionably that by Mr. LINDLEY MURRAY, which with the Exercises and Key, will form a complete course of in. struction. Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, 8vo. is a useful companion to the above. Lowth's Grammar, and Grant's, are both excellent works, particularly the latter.

PART II.---WRITING.

THE antient order of writing was from right to left, and this method prevailed even among the Greeks. They used, afterwards, to write alternately from right to left, and from left to right; this continued to the time of Solon, the famous Athenian legislator. However, the motion from the left to the right, being found more natural and convenient, this method was adopted by all the European nations. Writing was first exhibited on pillars, and tables of stone; afterwards on lead, and on plates of the softer metals. When it became more extensively practised, in some countries, the leaves of plants, and the bark of trees were used; in others, tablets of wood covered with a thin coat of soft wax, on which the impression was made with a stylus, or pen of iron. After this, parchment, made of the hides of animals, was used. On parchment were written books and records, and every kind of composition considered worthy of preservation.. The waxen tablets were employed in business, in letter writing, and on all occasions, which did not admit of expeuse, or require to be preserved for any length of time. The purpose of the writing being accomplished, it was effaced, by rubbing the wax; thus, were the tables rendered perfectly serviceable for any new communication. The writing on parchment, was exceedingly expensive; and precluded from the use of books all but the opulent.

There is no part of literature acquired with less difficulty than the art of writing. Few people, be their capacities ever so mean, are incapable of learning this. We shall therefore, give some few rules, that the inexperienced person may qualify himself in this useful art.

First it is necessary to be provided with good pens, ink, and paper; also a flat ruler for exactness; and a round one for dispatch; with a plummet or pencil to rule lines.

Directions for holding the pen.

The pen must be held somewhat sloping, with the thumb and the two fingers next to it; the ball of the middle finger must be placed straight, just against the upper part of the cut or cradle, to keep the pen steady; the fore finger lying straight on the middle finger; and the thumb must be fixed a little higher than the end of the fore-finger bending in the joint; and the Pen so placed as to be held easily without griping it. The elbow must be drawn towards the body, but not too close. You must support your hand by leaning on the Table-edge, resting it half way between your wrist and elbow, not suffering the ball or fleshy