fashionable world has, in this refpect, too much caprice and affectation to be implicitly followed. If there be any true ftandard of pronunciation, it must be fought for among those who unite the accuracy of learning with the elegance of polite converfation. An attention to fuch models, and a free intercourfe with the world, afford the beft guard against the peculiarities and vulgarifims of provincial dialects.

THE faults in pronunciation, which belong to this clafs, are too numerous to be completely fpecified. Except the omiffion of the afpirate already mentioned, one of the most common is, the interchange of the founds belonging to the letters and w. One who had contracted this habit, would find fome difficulty in pronouncing thefe words; I like white wine vinegar with veal very well. Other provincial improprieties of pronunciation are, the changing of ow into er, or of aw into or, as in fellow, window, the law of the land; that of cu or ow into oo, as in houfe, town; i into oi, as in my; e into a, as in fincere, tea, ands into z, as in Somerfet. Thefe faults, and all others of the fame nature, must be avoided 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 fyllable with its proper ACCENT.

As when any ftringed mufical inftrument receives a fmart percuffion, its vibrations at firft produce a loud and full found, which gradually becomes foft and faint, although the note, during the whole vibration, remains the fame; fo any articulate found may be uttered with different degrees of ftrength, proportioned to the degree of exertion with which it is spoken. In all words confifting

of

of more fyllables than one, we give fome one fyllable a more forcible utterance than the rest. This variety of found, which is called Accent, ferves to diftinguish from each other the words of which a féntence is compofed : without it, the ear would perceive nothing but an unmeaning fucceffion of detached fyllables. Accent may be applied either to long or to fhort fyllables, but does not, as fome writers have fuppofed, change their nature; for Accent implies not an extenfion of time, but an increase of force. In the words, pity, enemy, the firft fyllabis, though accented, are ftill fhort. Syllables may be long, which are not accented; as appears in the words empire, exile. Accent affects every part of the fyllable, by giving additional force to the utterance of the whole complex found, but does not lengthen or change the vowel found, In the words habit, fpecimen, proper, as they are pronounced by Englishmen, the first fyllable, though accented, is not long. Some words, confifting of several fyllables, admit of two accents, one more forcible than the other, but both fufficiently diftinguishable from the unaccented parts of the word; as in the words monumental, manifeftation, naturak

zation.

IN accenting words, care fhould be taken to avoid all affected deviations from common ufage. There is the greater occafion for this precaution, as a rule has been arbitrarily introduced upon this fubject, which has no foundation either in the ftructure of the English language, or in the principles of harmony; that in words confifting of more than two fyllables, the Accent fhould be thrown as far backward as poffible. This rule has occafioned much pedantic and irregular pronunciation; and has, perhaps, introduced all the uncertainty which attends the accenting of feveral English words.

RULE

RULE VI.

In every fentence, diftinguish the more fignificant words by a natural, forcible, and varied EMPHASIS

THERE are in every fentence certain words, which have a greater fhare in conveying the fpeaker's meaning than the reft; and are, on this account, diftinguished by the forcible manner in which they are uttered. Thus in the fentence,

Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of day-light in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual ferenity;

the principal ftrefs is laid upon certain fubftantives, adjediyes, and verbs; and the rest of the fentence is fpoken with an inferior degree of exertion. This ftrefs, or emphafis, ferves to unite words, and form them into fentences. By giving the feveral parts of a sentence its proper utterance, it difcovers their mutual dependence, and conveys their full import to the mind of the hearer. It is in the power of Emphasis to make long and complex fentences appear intelligible and perfpicuous. But for this purpofe 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 ftudy, more perhaps than from any other cause, that we so often hear perfons read with an improper emphasis, or with no emphasis at all; that is, with a stupid monotony. Much study and pains are neceffary in acquiring the habit of juft and forcible pronunciation; and it can only be the effect of clofe attention and long practice,

* Book iii.. Chap. z.

to.

to be able, with a mere glance of the eye, to read any piece with good emphasis and good difcretion.

Ir is another office of emphafis to exprefs the oppofition between the feveral parts of a sentence, where the ideas are contrafted or compared; as in the following fentences:

When our vices leave us, we fancy that we leave them.

A count'nance more in Sorrow, than in Anger.

A custom more honour'd in the Breach, than the Obfervance.

IN fome fentences the antithefis is double, and even treble: this must be expreffed in reading, by a correfponding combination of emphases. 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.

To err is human; to forgive, divine.

An angry man who suppresses his paffion, thinks worse than he fpeaks; 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 fkies;

She drew an angel down.

WHEN any term, or phrase, is used to exprefs fome particular meaning, not obviously arifing from the words, it fhould be marked by a strong emphafis; as,

TO BE, contents his natural defire.

Sir Balaam now, he lives like other folks.

Then you will pafs into Africa: WILL pafs, did I fay?

In expreffing any maxim, or doctrine, which contains much meaning in a few words, the weight of the fentiment

fhould

fhould be accompanied with a correfpondent energy of pronunciation. For example:

One truth is clear; Whatever is, is right.

The principal words, which ferve to mark the divifions of a difcourfe, fhould be diftinguifhed in the fame manner.

EMPHASIS may alfo ferve to intimate fome allufion, to exprefs furprife, or to convey an oblique hint. For example:

While expletives their feeble aid do join.

He faid; then full before their fight

Produc'd the beaft, and lo!-'twas WHITE,

And Brutus is' an HONOURABLE man.

LASTLY, Emphafis is of ufe in determining the fenfe of doubtful expreffions. The following fhoit fentence. admits of three different meanings, according to the place of the emphafis:

Do you intend to go to London this fummer?

FOR want of attending to the proper emphafis, the fol. lowing paffage of fcripture is often misunderstood:

If therefore the light that is IN thee be darkne S, how great is

THAT darknefs!

IN order to acquire a habit of fpeaking with a juft and forcible emphafis, nothing more is neceffary, than previoufly to study the conftruction, meaning, and spirit of every fentence, and to adhere as nearly as poffible to the manner in which we diftinguish one word from another in converfation; for in familiar difcourfe we fcarcely ever fail to exprefs ourselves emphatically, or place the emphafis improperly. With refpect to artificial helps, fuch as diftinguishing words or claufes of fentences by particular characters or marks; I believe it will be found, upon trial, that, except where they may be neceffary as a guide to the fenfe, not leaving the reader at full liberty to follow his

own