PART I INTRODUCTION.* E LOCUTION is a Branch of Oratory, the Power and Importance of which is greater than is generally thought; infomuch that Eloquence takes its Name from it. The great Defign and End of a good Pronunciation is, to make the Ideas feem to come from the Heart; and then they will not fail to excite the Attention and Affections of thofe who hear us. The Defign of this Effay is to fhew First, What a bad Pronunciation is, and how to avoid it. Secondly, What a good Pronunciation is, and how to attain it. I. Now the several Faults of Pronunciation are these following. 1. When the Voice is too loud. This is very difagreeable to the Hearer, and very inconvenient to the Speaker. This contains the Subftance of a late excellent Effay on Elocution, publish'd fince the first Edition of the PRECEPTOR, by the Reverend Mr. Mafon of Chefbunt in Hertfordshire; which I have been perfuaded by feveral eminent Schoo!masters, to prefix by way of Introduction to the Leffons on Reading and Speaking. It will be very disagreeable to the Hearers, if they be Perfons of good Tafte: who will always look upon it to be the Effect either of Ignorance or Affectation. Befides, an overftrained Voice is very inconvenient to the Speaker, as well as difguftful to judicious Hearers. It exhaufts his Spirits to no Purpose. And takes from him the proper Management and Modulation of his Voice according to the Senfe of his Subject. And, what is worst of all, it naturally leads him into a Tone. Every Man's Voice indeed fhould fill the Place where he fpeaks; but if it exceed its natural Key, it will be neither fweet, nor foft, nor agreeable, because he will not be able to give every Word its proper and diftinguishing Sound. 2. Another Fault in Pronunciation is, when the Voice is too low. This is not fo inconvenient to the Speaker, but is as difagreeable to the Hearer, as the other Extreme. It is always offenfive to an Audience to obferve any thing in the Reader or Speaker that looks like Indolence or Inattention. The Hearer will never be affected whilft he fees the Speaker indifferent. The Art of governing the Voice confifts a good deal in dexterously avoiding thefe two Extremes: At least, this ought to be firft minded. And for a general Rule to direct you herein, I know of none better than this, viz. carefully to preServe the Key of your Voice; and at the fame time, to adapt the Elevation and Strength of it to the Condition and Number of the Perfons you speak to, and the Nature of the Place Speak in. It would be altogether as ridiculous in a General who is haranguing an Army to Ipeak in a low and languid Voice, as in a Person who reads a Chapter in a Family to fpeak in a loud and eager one. you 3. Another Fault in Pronunciation is, a thick, hafty, chattering Voice. When a Perfon mumbles, or (as we fay) clips or swallows his Words, that is, leaves out fome Syllables in the long Words, and never pronounces fome of the fhort ones at all; but hurries on without any Care to be heard diftinctly, or to give his Words their full Sound, or his Hearers the full Senfe of them. This is often owing to a Defect in the Organs of Speech, or a too great Flutter of the animal Spirits; but oftener to a bad Habit uncorrected. Demofthenes, the greateft Orator Greece ever produced, had, it is faid, nevertheless three natural Impediments in Pronun ciation; ciation; all which he conquered by invincible Labour and Perseverance. One was a Weakness of Voice; which he cured by frequently declaiming on the Sea-Shore, amidst the Noife of the Waves. Another was a Shortness of Breath ; which he mended by repeating his Orations as he walked up a Hill. And the other was the Fault I am fpeaking of; a thick mumbling Way of fpeaking; which he broke himfelf of by declaiming with Pebbles in his Mouth. 4. Another Fault in Pronuncation is, when Persons speak too quick. This Manner of reading may do well enough when we are examining Leafes, perufing Indentures, or reciting Acts of Parliament, where there is always a great Superfluity of Words; or in reading a News-Paper, where there is but little Matter that deferves our Attention; but it is very improper in reading Books of Devotion and Inftruction, and efpecially the facred Scriptures, where the Solemnity of the Subject, or the Weight of the Senfe, demands a particular Regard. The great Difadvantage which attends this Manner of Pronunciation is, that the Hearer lofes the Benefit of more than half the good Things he hears, and would fain remember, but cannot. And a Speaker fhould always have a Regard to the Memory as well as the Understanding of his Hearers. 5. It is alfo a Fault to speak too flow. Some are apt to read in a heavy, droning, fleepy Way; and through mere Careleffnefs make Pauses at improper Places. This is very difagreeable. But to hemm, hauk, fneeze, yawn, or cough, between the Periods, is more fo. A too flow Elocution is moft faulty in reading Trifles that do not require Attention. It then becomes tedious. A Perfon that is addicted to this flow Way of speaking, should always take care to reward his Hearer's Patience with important Sentiments, and compenfate the Want of Words by a Weight of Thought. But a too flow Elocution is a Fault very rarely to be found, unless in aged People, and thofe who naturally speak fo in common Converfation. And in thefe, if the Pronunciation be in all other Refpects juft, decent, and proper; and efpecially if the Subject be weighty or intricate, it is very excufable. 6. An irregular or uneven Voice, is a great Fault in reading. That is, when the Voice rifes and falls by Fits and Starts, or when it is elevated or depreffed unnaturally or unfeason B 3 ably, |