ON. -t confuetudo legendi CIC. yed to convince be able to fpeak ment. With odern orators, ently obvious. Confequence, uld be done ery public the differnd unna• do not the innot to ed and e and ac - of vill on. a n e 4 fcribed; that all artificial rules are useless; and that good fenfe, and a cultivated tafte, are the only requifites to form a good public fpeaker. But it is true in the art of speaking, as well as in the art of living, that general precepts are of little ufe till they are unfolded, and applied to particular cafes. To difcover and correct those tones, and habits of speaking, which are grofs deviations from nature, and as far as they prevail muft deftroy all propriety and grace of utterance; and to acquire a habit of reading, or fpeaking, upon every occafion, in a manner fuited to the nature of the fubject, and the kind of discourse or writing to be delivered, whether it be narrative, didactic, argumentative, oratorical, colloquial, defcriptive, or pathetic; muft be the refult of much attention and labour. And there can be no reason to doubt, that, in paffing through that course of exercise which is neceffary in order to attain this end, much affiftance may be derived from inftruction. What are rules or leffons for acquiring this or any other art, but the observations of others, collected into a narrow compafs, and digefted in a natural order, for the direction of the unexperienced and unpractifed learner? And what is there in the art of speaking, which should render it incapable of receiving aid from precepts ? PRESUMING, then, that the acquifition of the art of fpeaking, like all other practical arts, may be facilitated by rules, I fhall lay before my readers, in a plain didactic form, fuch Rules refpecting Elocution, as appear beft adapted to form a correct and graceful speaker. RULE I. "Let your Articulation be diftinct and deliberate. A a 5 corre& correct thofe faults in articulation, which, though often afcribed to fome defect in the organs of fpeech, are generally the confequence of inattention or bad example. SOME perfons find it difficult to articulate the letter 1; others, the fimple founds expreffed by r, s, th, f. But the instance of defective articulation which is most common, and therefore requires particular notice, is the omiffion of the afpirate h. Through feveral counties in England, this defect almost univerfally prevails, and fometimes occafions ludicrous, and even ferious mistakes.. This is an omiffion, which materially affects the energy of pronunciation; the expreffion of emotion and paffions often depending, in a great measure, upon the vehemence with which the afpirate is uttered. The bis fometimes, perverfely enough, omitted where it ought to be founded, and founded where it ought to be omitted; the effect of which will, be eafily perceived in the following examples; He had learned the whole art of angling by heart: heat the foup.-Thefe and other fimilar faults may be corrected, by daily reading fentences fo contrived, as frequently to repeat the founds which are incorrectly attered; and efpecially, by remarking them whenever they occur in conversation. OTHER defects in articulation regard the complex founds, and confift in a confufed and cluttering pronunciation of words. The most effectual methods of conquering this habit are, to read aloud paffages chofen for the purpose; fuch, for inftance, as abound with long and unufual words, or in which many fhort fyllables come < together; and to read, at certain ftated times, much flower than the fenfe and juft fpeaking would require. Almost all perfons, who have not studied the art of speaking, have a habit of uttering their words fo, rapidly, that this latter exercife ought generally to be made ufe of for a confiderable time at firft: for where there is an uni formly formly rapid utterance, it is abfolutely impoffible that there fhould be ftrong emphafis, natural tones, or any juft elocution. AIM at nothing higher, till you can read diftinctly and deliberately. LEARN to speak flow, all other graces RULE II. Let your Pronunciation be bold and forcible. AN infipid flatness or languor is almost an univerfal fault in reading. Even public fpeakers often fuffer their words to drop from their lips with fuch a faint and feeble utterance, that they appear neither to understand or feel what they fay themselves, nor to have any defire that it fhould be understood or felt by their audience. This is a fundamental fault: a fpeaker without energy is a lifeless tatue. In order to acquire a forcible manner of pronouncing your words, inure 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 words which require an emphatical pronunciation; read aloud in the open air, and with all the exertion you can command; preferve your body in an erect attitude while you are speaking; let all the confonant founds be expreffed with a full impulse or percuffion of the breath, and a forcible action of the organs employed in forming them; and let all the vowel founds have a full and bold utterance. Continue these exercises with perseverance, till you have acquired ftrength and energy of speech. BUT in obferving this rule, beware of running into the extreme of vociferation. This fault is chiefly found among thole, who in contempt and despite of all rule and pro pricty, are determined to command the attention of the valgar. Thefe are the speakers, who, in Shakespear's phrafe, offend the judicious bearer to the foul, by tearing a paffion to rags, to very tatters, to split the ears of the groundlings." Cicero compares fach speakers to cripples who get on horfe-back because they cannot walk : they bellow, becaufe they cannot fpeak. RULE III. Acquire a compass and variety in the height of your voice. THE HE monotony fo much complained of in public fpeakers, is chiefly owing to the neglect of this rule. They commonly content themfelves with one certain key, which they employ on all occafions, and upon every fubject: or if they attempt variety, it is only in proportion to the number of their hearers, and the extent of the place in which they speak; imagining, that speaking in a high key is the fame thing as fpeaking loud; and not obferving, that whether a fpeaker fhall be heard or not, depends more upon the diftin&tnefs and force with which he utters his words, than upon the height of the key in which he speaks. WITHIN a certain compass of notes, above or below which articulation would be difficult, propriety of fpeaking requires variety in the height, as well as in the strength and tone of the voice. Different kinds of speaking require different heights of voice. Nature inftructs us to relate a ftory, to fupport an argument, to command a fervant, to utter exclamations of anger or rage, and to pour forth lamentations and forrows, not only with different tones,' but with different elevations of voice. Men, at different ages of life, and in different fituations, fpeak in very different keys. The vagrant, when he begs; the foldier, when he gives the word of command; the watchman, when he announces the hour of the night; the fovereign, when when he iffues his edict; the fenator, when he harangues; the lover, when he whispers his tender tale, do not differ more in the tones which they use, than in the key in which they speak. Reading and fpeaking, therefore, in which all the variations of expreffion in real life are copied, must have continual variations in the height of the voice. To acquire the power of changing the key on which you speak at pleasure, accuftom yourself to pitch your voice in different keys, from the lowest to the highest notes on which you can articulate diftinétly. Many of thefe would neither be proper nor agreeable in fpeaking; but the exercise will give you fuch a command of voice, as is fcarcely to be acquired by any other method. Having repeated this experiment till you can fpeak with ease at feveral heights of the voice; read, as exercifes on this rule, fuch compofitions as have a variety of fpeakers, or fuch as relate dialogues; obferving the height of voice which is proper to each, and endeavouring to change them as nature directs. IN the fame compofition there may be frequent occa fion to alter the height of the voice, in paffing from one part to another, without any change of perfon. This is the cafe, for example, in Shakespeare's "All the world's a ftage," &c. and in his description of the Queen of the Fairies*. RULE IV. Pronounce your words with propriety and elegance. Ir is not easy to fix upon any standard, by which the propriety of pronunciation may be determined. A rigorous adherence to etymology, or to analogy, would often produce a pedantic pronunciation of words, which in a polite circle would appear perfectly ridiculous. The See Book vii, Chap. 18 and 23, of this work. fashionable |