tion, people are apt to contract a habit of hissing before they utter the sound of s, at the beginning of syllables, as well as of continuing it at the end. Expression does not reside in the mere letters which comprise the words; it depends on the due force given to them in utterance. No letter so harsh, which may not be softened; so strong, which may not be weakened; and vice versa. The long may be shortened, and the short lengthened. And all this depends upon the management of the voice. Whenever the power of the consonants is particularly suited to the expression, their sound should be enforced; when otherwise, softened."SHERIDAN'S Art of Reading.

"All persons who pronounce English words properly, of course lay the accent right, as that is part of pronunciation; and never fail to do so in conversation. But many, when they come to read or speak in public, transgress the rules of accent. This arises from a mistaken notion in some, that words are rendered more distinct to a large assembly by dwelling longer upon the syllables which comprise them; and in others, that it adds to the pomp and solemnity of public declamation, in which they think everything ought to be different from private discourse. This has been chiefly the vice of the stage, and has principally given rise to the distinction of what is commonly called theatrical declamation in opposition to that of the natural kind; into an imitation of which many public speakers have been betrayed, and their manner called on that account theatrical. Upon examination, it would appear, that it arises chiefly from their dwelling upon syllables that are unaccented, through a notion that it makes the words move

more slow, stately, and uniform than the quicker and more spirited accents will allow. This was a fault which Shakspere complained of in his time, and which has not been thoroughly amended since, though there have been some late efforts towards it, and some progress made in it. The passage alluded to in Shakspere, is in the advice given to the players by Hamlet; where, in laying down rules for a just delivery, he says, "Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I had as lief the towncrier had spoke my lines.' By 'trippingly on the tongue,' he means the bounding from accent to accent; tripping along from word to word, without resting on syllables by the way; and by mouthing is meant, dwelling on syllables that have no accent, and ought therefore to be uttered as quickly as is consistent with distinct articulation; or prolonging the sounds of the accented syllables beyond their due proportion of time." SHERIDAN'S Elocu

tion.

To correct or prevent faulty articulation, praetise the following

EXERCISE VI.-Pronounce a few monosyllables, each three times upon your middle pitch, carefully watching the articulation. Choose the most difficult words, such as strong, acts, edge, wretch, thrust, &c. Select fresh words each day from your ordinary reading book.

EXERCISE VII.-Pronounce each syllable of a polysyllabic word, in your middle pitch, three times; then pronounce the whole word, with a pause between each syllable, three time; then the whole word, with the syllables connected. Thus-vi, vi,

vi — 0, 0, 0―lent, lent, lent-vi-o-lent, vi-o-lent, vi-o-lent-violent, violent, violent.

EXERCISE VIII.—Take the following difficult combinations of words, and pronounce each word in your middle pitch three times; then the words with a pause between them three times; then three times continuously, as in Ex. VII.

Lost sheep-Must not.
Most men-That time.
Thus saith-Most strange.
Was said-Still kept.

Acts such-Things pressed.

Rough rush-Nor rage-Prob'st my wound.
Mixed government—Next reefed the top-sails.
Begg'd pardon-Wagg'st thy tongue.

Hedg'd in-Think'st thou.

Thou fall'st a blessed martyr-Thou form'dst

me.

Liv'st did I say?—Mulcts the offender.
Attempts little, effects little-Sing'd tops.
Barb'st the dart-Fix'd stars.

Most straitest sect-Feed on thoughts.

He can maintain either-He can maintain
neither.

His crime moved me-
-His cry moved me.
Wastes and deserts-Waste sand deserts.
He could pay nobody-He could pain nobody.
That lasts till night—That last still night.
Such an ocean-Such a notion.

It is a false idea, especially prevalent among the clergy and classical scholars, that a different accentuation to that used in ordinary conversation, and an over-distinctness of articulation, as the

pronouncing e-vil for e-vl, dev-il for dev-vl, knoledge for knol-ledge, &c., should be adopted in solemn speech and Scripture reading, in order to impart impressiveness. True impressiveness depends upon the tone, and not upon the mere pronunciation. To be truly impressive, you must be natural, expressive, and in earnest.

Avoid the theatrical affectation of pronouncing kind, key-ind. Speak it in a manly English manner, as spelled.

The article a is slurred by most persons, being mispronounced like an indistinct ur: a book is mispronounced ur book. The article a should always be pronounced distinctly, like a in repeating the alphabet fast, as a, b, c, &c. When emphatic, it should be pronounced like a in repeating the alphabet slowly, as a,b,c, &c.

Avoid a too broad or too slender pronunciation of the vowel a, in such words as command, glass, pass, &c. Some persons vulgarly pronounce the a in such words, as if written ar, and others mince it so as to rhyme with stand. The same observation applies to the vowel o, which many persons pronounce as if written aw, as caw-fe, instead of cof-fe, while others mince it into cuf-fe. Equally avoid the extremes of vulgarity and affectation.

CHAPTER V.

EMPHASIS.

"EMPHASIS is the distinctive expression of thought or feeling by means of the voice. This is the etymological signification of the word as derived from emphaino to exhibit vividly or distinctly. Emphasis is purely relative; and, hence, is determined as to its degree by the connection. Emphasis is in speech what colouring is in painting. It admits of all possible degrees; and must, to indicate a particular degree of distinction, be more or less intense according to the ground-work of the discourse."-DAY's Elocution.

"Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe, &c.
Sing heavenly muse," &c.

Supposing, in reference to the above wellknown lines, that originally other beings besides men had disobeyed the commands of the Almighty, and that the circumstance was well known to us, there would fall an emphasis upon the word man's in the first line, and hence it would read thus:

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit, &c. But if it were a notorious truth, that mankind had transgressed in a peculiar manner more than once, the emphasis would fall on first, and the line be read

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit, &c.

Again, admitting death (as was really the case) to