they fpeak; imagining, that speaking in a high key is the fame thing as fpeaking loud; and not obferving, that whether a speaker fhall be heard or not, depends more upon the diftinctness and force with which he utters his words, than upon the height at which he pitches his voice.

But it is an effential qualification of a good speaker, to be able to alter the height, as well as the strength and the tone of his voice, as occafion requires. Different species of fpeaking require different heights of voice. Nature instructs us to relate a story, to support 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 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 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 ufe, than in the key in which they speak. Reading and fpeaking, therefore, in which all the variations of expreffion in real life are copied, muft have continual variations in the height of the voice.

To acquire the power of changing the key on which you speak at pleasure, accustom yourfelf to pitch your voice in different keys, from the lowest to the highest notes you can command. Many of these would neither be proper nor agreeable in speaking; 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 speakers, or fuch as relate dialogues; obferving the height of voice which is proper to

B

each, and endeavouring to change them as nature directs.

In the fame compofition there may be frequent occafion to alter the height of the voice, in paffing from one part to another, without any change of perfon. Shakspeare's "All the world's a fage," &c. and his defcription of the Queen of the Fairies, afford examples of this. Indeed every fentence which is read or spoken, will admit of different elevations of the voice in different parts of it; and on this chiefly, perhaps entirely, depends the melody. of pronunciation.

RULE IV.

Pronounce your Words with Propriety and Elegance.

It is not easy to fix upon any standard, by which the propriety of pronunciation may be determined. Mere men of learning, in attempting to make the etymology of words the rule of pronunciation, 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 fo much of their provincial dialect, or commit fuch errors both in fpeaking and writing, as to exclude them from the honour of being the ftandard of accurate pronunciation. We fhould perhaps look for this ftandard 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 fuch models, and a free intercourfe 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 afpicate where it ought to be used,

and inferting it where there should be none; confounding and interchanging the v and w; pronouncing the dipthong ou like au or like oo, and the vowel i like oi or e; and cluttering many confonants together without regarding the vowels. These faults, and all others of the same nature, must be corrected in the pronunciation of a gentleman who is fuppofed to have feen too much of the world, to retain the peculiarities of the diftrict in which he was born.

RULE V.

Pronounce every Word confifting of more than one Syllable with its proper Accent.

THERE is a neceffity for this direction, because many speakers have affected an unusual and pedantic mode of accenting words, laying it down as a rule, that the accenting fhould be caft as far backwards as poffible; a rule which has no foundation in the construction of the English language, or in the laws of harmony. In accenting words, the general custom and a good ear are the best guides: only it may be observed that accent should be regulated, not by the arbitrary rules of quantity, but by the number and nature of the simple founds.

RULE VI.

In every Sentence diftinguish the more fignificant Words by a natural, forcible, and varied Emphafis.

EMPHASIS points out the precife meaning of a sentence, fhews in what manner one idea is connected with, and

rifes out of another, marks the feveral claufes of a fentence, gives to every part its proper found, 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 fentences appear intelligible and perfpicuous But for 35 this purpose it is neceffary, that the reader fhould be perfectly acquainted with the exact conftruction and full meaning of every fentence which he recites. Without this it is impoffible to give those inflections and variations to the voice, which nature requires : and it is for want of this previous fludy, more perhaps than from any other cause, that we so often hear persons read with an improper emphasis, or with no emphafis at all, that is with a ftupid monotony Much ftudy and pains are neceffary in acquiring the habit of 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 emphafis and good difcretion.

It is another office of emphasis to exprefs the oppofition between the several parts of a sentence, where the stile is pointed and antithetical. Pope's Effay on Man, and his Moral Effays, and the Proverbs of Soloman, will furnish many proper exercifes in this fpecies of fpeaking. In fome fentences the antithefis is double, and even treble; thefe must be expressed in reading, by a very diftinct emphasis on each part of the oppofition. The following inftances are of this kind:

Anger may glance into the breast of a wife man; but refts only in the bofom of fools.

An angry man who fuppreffes his paffion, thinks worse than he speaks: and an angry man that will chide, fpeaks worse than he thinks.

Better to reign in Hell, than ferve in Heaven.

He rais'd a mortal to the skies;

She brought an angel down.

Emphafis likewife ferves to exprefs fome particular meaning not immediately arifing from the words, but depending upon the intention of the speaker, or fome accidental circumftance. The following short sentence may have three different meanings, according to the different place of the emphasis: Do you intend to go to London this fummer?

In order to acquire a habit of speaking with a juft and forcible emphasis, nothing more is neceffary, than previously to ftudy, the conftruction, meaning, and spirit of every fentence, and to adhere as nearly as poffible 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, and feldom place the emphasis improperly. With refpect to artificial helps, fuch as diftinguishing words and claufes of fentences by particular characters or marks; I believe it will always be found, upon trial, that they mislead inftead of affift the reader, by not leaving him at full liberty to follow his own understanding and feelings.

The most common faults respecting emphafis are, laying fo ftrong 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 emphatica! ; and placing the greatest stress on conjunctive particles, and other words of fecondary importance. These faults are strongly characterised in Churchill's cenfure of Moffop:

With ftudied improprieties of speech

He foars beyond the hackney critic's reach.
To epithets allots emphatic ftate,

Whilft principals, ungrac'd like lacquies wait:
In ways first trodden by himself excels,

And ftands alone in indeclinables;