ation, often pronounce words in a manner. which brings upon them the charge of affectation and pedantry. Mere men of the world, notwithstanding all their politeness, often retain so much of their provincial dialect, or commit such errors both in speaking and writing, as to exclude them from the honour of being the standard of accurate pronunciation.. We should perhaps look for this standard only among those who unite these two characters, and with the correctness and precision of true learning combine the. ease and elegance of genteel life. An attention to such models, and a free intercourse with the polite. world, are the best guards against the peculiarities and vulgarisms of provincial dialects. Those which respect the pronunciation of words are innumerable. Some of the principal of them are; omitting the as pirate b where it ought to be used, and inserting it where there should be none: confounding and interchanging the v and w; pronouncing the diphthong ou like au or like oo, and the vowel i like oi or e and cluttering many consonants together without regarding the vowels 1 hese faults, and all others of the same nature, must be corrected in the pronunci. ation of a gentleman, who is supposed to have seen too much of the world to retain the peculiarities of the district in which he was born.

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RULE V.

Pronounce every word consisting of more than one syllable with its proper ACCENT.

THERE is a necessity for this direction, because many speakers have affected an unusual pedantic mode of accenting words, laying it down as a rulé, that the accent should be cast as far backwards as possible; a rule which has no foundation in the construction of the English language, or in the laws of barmony. In accenting words, the general custom and a good ear are the best guides: only it may be, observed

observed that accent should be regulated, not by any arbitrary rules of quantity, or by the false idea that there are only two lengths in syllables, and that two short syllables are always equal to one long, but by the number and nature of the simple sounds.

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RULE VI.

In every sentence, distinguish the more significant words by a natural, forcible, and varied EMPHASIS.

EMPHASIS points out the precise meaning of a sentence, shews in what manner one idea is connect. ed with, and rises out of another, marks the seve ral clauses of a sentence. gives to every part its proper sound, and thus conveys to the mind of the reader the full import of the whole. It is in the power of emphasis to make long and complex sentences appear intelligible and perspicuous. But for this purpose it is necessary, that the reader should be perfectly acquainted with the exact construction and full meaning of every sentence which he recites. Without this it is impossible to give those inflections and variations to the voice, which nature requires; and it is for want of this previous study, more per. haps than from any other cause, that we so often hear persons read with an improper emphasis, or with no emphasis at all, that is with a stupid monotony. Much study and pains are necessary in acquiring the habit of a just and forcible pronunciation : and it can only be the effect of close attention and long practice, to be able with a mere glance of the eye, to read any piece with good emphasis and good discretion.

It is another part of Emphasis to express the op. position between the several parts of a sentence where the style is pointed and antithetical. Pope's Essay on Man, and his Moral Essays, and the Pro

verbs of Solomon, will furnish many proper exercises in this species of speaking. In some sentences the antithesis is double, and even treble; these must be expressed in reading, by a very distinct emphasis on each part of the opposition. The following instances are of this kind:

ANGER may glance into the breast of a wise man; but rests Only in the bosom of fools.

An angry man who suppresses his passion, thinks worse than he speaks; and an angry man that will chide, speaks worse than he thinks.

BETTER to reign in hell, than serve in heaven,

He rais'd a mortal to the skies,
SHE brought an angel down.

EMPHASIS likewise serves to express some particular meaning not immediately arising from the words, but depending upon the intention of the speaker, or some incidental circumstance. The ful lowing short sentence may have three different mean❤ in saccording to the different place of the Empha sis: Do you intend to go to London this summer ?

In order to acquire a habit of speaking with a just and forcible emphasis, nothing more is necessary than previously to study the construction, meaning, and spirit of every sentence, and to adhere as nearly as possible to the manner in which we distinguish one word from another in conversation; for in familiar discourse we scarcely ever fail to express ourselves emphatically, or place the emphasis improperly. With respect to artificial helps, such as distinguishing words or clauses of sentences by particular characters or marks; I believe it will always be found, upon trial, that they mislead instead of assisting the rea der, by not leaving him at full liberty to follow his own understanding and feelings.

THE

THE most common faults respecting the emphasis are laying so strong an emphasis on one word as to leave no power of giving a particular force to other words, which, though not equally, are in a certain degree emphatical; and placing the greatest stress on conjunctive particles, and other words of secondary importance. These faults are strongly characterised in Churchill's censure of Mossop.

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With studied improprieties of speech

lie soars beyond the hackney critic's reach.
To epithets allots emphatic state.

Whilst principals, ungrac'd, like lackies wait
In ways first trodden by himself excels,
And stands alone in indeclinabies;
Conjunction, preposition, adverb, join
To stamp new vigour on the nervous line.

In monosy liables his thunders rolt,

HE, SHE, IT, AND, WE, YE, THEY, fright the soul.

EMPHASIS is often destroyed by an injudicious atten pt to read melodiously. Agreeable inflections and tasy variations of the voice, as rar as they arise from or are consistent with just speaking, are worthy of at. tention. But to substitute one unmeaning tone, in the room of all the properties and graces of good elocution, and then to applaud this manner, under the appellation of musical speaking, implies a perversion of judgment, which can admit of no defence. If public speaking must be musical, let the words be set to music in recitative, that these melodious speakers may no longer lie open to the sarcasm: Do you read or sing? if you sing, you sing' very ill Seriously, it is much to be wondered at, that this kind of reading, which has so little merit considered as music, and none at all considered as speaking, should be so stiously practised by many peakers, and so much admired by so many hearers. Can a method of reading which is so entirely diffe rent from the usual manner of conversation, be na. tural and right? Is it possible that all the varie.

ties

ties of sentiment which a public speaker has occasion to introduce, should be properly expressed by one melodious tone and cadence, employed alike on all occasions and for all purposes?

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RULE VII.

Acquire a just variety of Pause and Cadence.

CNE of the worst faults a speaker can have, is to make no other pauses than what he finds barely ne cessary for breathing. I know of nothing that such a speaker can so properly be compared to, as an alarum bell, which, when once set a-going, clatters on till the weight that moves it is run down. Without pauses, the sense must always appear confused and. obscure, and often be misunderstood; and the spirit and energy of the piece must be wholly lost.

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 mark. ing all the pauses which ought to be made in speaking. A mechanical attention to these resting places has perhaps been one chief cause of monotony, by leading the reader to a uniform cadence at every full period. The use of points is to assist the reader in discerning the grammatical construction, not to direct his pronunciation. In reading, it may often be proper to make a pause where the printer has made none. Nay, it is very allowable for the sake of pointing out the sense more strongly, preparing the audience for what is to follow, or enabling the speaker to alter the tone or height of the voice, sometimes to make a very considerable pause, where the grammatical construction requires none at all. In doing this, however, it is necessary that in the word immediately preceding the pause, the voice be kept up in such a manner as to intimate to the

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