and those they say, theffe and thoffe; instead of azure, ofier, they say afhur ofher. Thus there are no less than feven of our confonants, which the Welsh never pronounce at all. Now if the difference in the manner of formation between these feven confonants, and their feven correfpondent ones, were pointed out to them in the way before described, they might in a short time be taught the perfect use of them. The people of Somersetshire pronounce the femivowels in a way directly opposite to the Welsh. For whereas the Welsh change the vocal into the aspirate, the people of Somersetshire change the aspirate into the vocal. For father they fay vather; for Somersetshire, Zomerzetzhire; for thin, thin. But to enumerate all the advantages that would result from teaching the alphabet in this way, would take up more time than could be allowed in a courfe of this nature. nature. To fhew the importance of it, it will be only neceffary to say, that without knowing the nature and properties of the fimple elements or letters, it will be impoffible afterwards to difcern their peculiar beauty and force when united in words; and the expreffion and harmony arifing from the combination of those words in fentences, or their arrangement in verse. In fhort, all true critical skill in the found of language, must have its foundation here. This was a favourite study amongst the ancients, and men of the greatest abilities, and dignity in the state, applied themselves to it with ardour. Meffala amongst the Romans got an immortal name, for writing an express treatife on a fingle letter: and the honours of Greece were decreed at the Olympic games to Apollodorus, for having made fome new difcoveries in that way. way! Quinctilian, in recommending a close attention to the ftudy of the fimple elements, has this remarkable paffage; Not, fays he, that there is any great dif ficulty in dividing the letters into vowels ⚫ and confonants; and fubdividing the lat • ter into mutes and femivowels; but be caufe whoever will enter into the inmost receffes of this, I may call it, facred edi fice, will find many things not only proper to sharpen the ingenuity of children, but able to exercise the most profound ' erudition, and deepest fcience.' Such were the fentiments of the great ancients upon this important article, and those fentiments were carried into execution. The confequence of which was, that all the powers of elocution, and all the elegancies of compofition both in poetry and profe, were carried to a degree of perfection, unknown in any other age or country in the world. Whilst we are so little acquainted with fundamentals, that all we are taught with regard to the elements of speech, is a distinction of the letters into confonants and vowels; and another distinction of the former into mutes and liquids. And even in this distinction, a mistake has been committed in describing the nature of liquids, which are faid to have obtained that name from their fine flow and smoothness to the ear: whereas one of them r is the roughest letter in fpeech; and m was confidered as a difagreeable found, and called the bellowing letter by the ancients, from its refemblance to the lowing of oxen, and on that account was frequently ftruck out by an elifion in the measure of Roman poetry. But the true reason of the name of liquids arose from their property of uniting readily |