the necessary re-adjustment of the organs. Hence, in such cases, we seldom hear more than one of the sounds which, as the preceding examples show, must often lead to a misapprehension of the meaning intended.†

VOWEL SOUNDS.

The compass and power of the voice may be greatly extended and increased by exercising it in giving a slow, distinct, and prolonged pronunciation to the vowel sounds, particularly the open vowels. The pupils should, therefore, be well exercised in the repetition of such sounds. Examples, such as the following, are well suited for the purpose. They are taken from the language of military command, or are orders addressed to persons supposed to be at some distance from the speaker. The words in italic contain the vowel sounds, which the pupils should accustom themselves to swell and prolong to the utmost pitch of their voice.

1. Then take defiance, death, and mortal war. 2. Haste !-to his ear the glad report convey. 3. Stretch to the race!-Away! "Away!

4. Let what I will be fate.

5. The cry was "Tidings from the host."

6. To arms!-To arms! A thousand voices cried. 7. Speed forth the signal, Norman ! Speed!

8. Wo to the traitor! Wo!

9. Arouse there! Ho!-take spear and sword; Attack the murderers of your lord!

10. Awake! Arise! or be for ever fallen.

11. Rise! Rise!-Ye Citizens, your gates defend;

Behold the foe at hand.

12. Hence! home, you idle creatures!-get you home.

You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!

13. Revenge! Revenge! Timotheus cried.

14. Charge, Chester! Charge! On, Stanley! On!

15. Soldiers! stand firm, exclaimed the British Chief. 16. The combat deepens: On, ye brave!

Who rush to glory or the grave.

* In such cases the sense forbids a pause between the words.

A man of indistinct utterance reads this sentence:-"The magistrates ought to prove a declaration so publicly made." When I perceive that his habit is to strike only the accented syllable clearly, sliding over others, I do not know whether it is meant, that they ought to prove the declaration, or to approve it, or reprove it, for in either case he would speak only the syllable prove. Nor do I know whether the magistrates ought to do it, or the magistrates sought to do it.Dr. Porter.

17. Angels! and ministers of grace! defend us.

18. Wo, wo, wo, to the inhabitants of the earth!

19. Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee.

20. And he cried and said, Father Abraham! Have mercy upon me.

By such exercises as the preceding it is obvious that the articulation of young persons may be greatly improved, and, in fact, rendered perfect, if not organically defective. But in teaching children to form a habit of clear and correct articulation, great care should be taken to prevent them from falling into a measured and pedantic manner of speaking or reading, which an over distinctness in pronunciation would naturally and insensibly lead to. To avoid this (which would be the opposite, and scarcely a less fault) they should be accustomed to give every syllable in a word, and every word in a sentence, the degree of distinctness and force which each of them is naturally entitled to, and no more.* To effect this, the pupil should be instructed in, and made quite familiar with, the nature of ACCENT and EMPHASIS.-See page 32.

*

To give every syllable in a word, and every word in a sentence, an equal degree of distinctness and force would be obviously and absurdly wrong. It would, also, be equally wrong to give a syllable or a word more or less distinctness or force than it ought to have. Any approach to such a habit of pronunciation, either in speaking or reading, savours of pedantry and affectation. And yet how often do we hear even educated persons committing such errors. For example, "You are the man of all the world whom I rejoice to behold." In this sentence the unaccented syllables and unimportant words are pronounced with too much distinctness or force. Such a mode of pronunciation might be called the Sir-Forcible-Feeble style.

On this subject Sheridan observes:-"There are few who either read aloud or speak in public, that do not transgress this law of accent, by dwelling equally upon different syllables in the same word; such as, for-túne, ná-túre, con'-jec-túre, en'-croach'-ment', &c. But this is not uttering words but syllables, which, with us, are always tied together by an accent; as fortune, náture, conjecture, encroachment, &c. Any habit of this sort gives an unnatural, constrained air to speech, and should therefore be carefully avoided. 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. In some it rises from a mistaken notion that words are rendered more distinct to a large assembly by dwelling longer upon the syllables which compose them; and in others, that it adds to the pomp and solemnity of public declamation, in which they think every thing ought to be different from private discourse."

SHORT DIRECTIONS FOR YOUNG READERS.

1. When you read, hold up your head and stand still, with your face towards the person who hears you.

2. Take great care to pronounce every word, and every syllable articulately, that is, fully and distinctly. In order to do this, you must open your mouth freely, and speak deliberately.

3. Let your voice be neither too high nor too low, but in that natural pitch which the subject and the occasion require. 4. Take your time, and mind your stops;† and be sure to make no stops where the sense admits of none.

5. Pronounce the final syllables of words, and the closing words of sentences distinctly and audibly.

6. Let the tones of your voice in reading be the same as if you were speaking.

7. Slide your voice over the particles and less important words; such as, a, the, but, if, or, as, by, in, to, of, &c.; and give the other words the degree of force which their relative importance in the sentence demands.-See page 36.

8. As a general rule, begin your sentences with a comparatively low tone of voice; towards the middle the voice should gradually rise, and from that it should gradually fall till the sentence is completed. To this rule, however, there are several exceptions. In fact, it depends, in every case, on the sense and construction of the sentence.-See page 51.

9. At the commencement of a new paragraph or section you should lower your voice and make some change in your

tone.

10. Above all, UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU READ, AND READ IT AS IF YOU UNDERSTOOD IT.

* "I tell you truly and sincerely that I shall judge of your parts by your speaking gracefully or ungracefully. If you have parts, you will never be at rest till you have brought yourself to a habit of speaking gracefully; for I aver that is in your power. Take care to open your teeth when you speak; to articulate every word distinctly; and beg of any friend you speak to, to remind and stop you, if ever you fall into a rapid and unintelligible mutter."-Lord Chesterfield.

A brief description of the STOPS, with short rules for their insertion in every case, will be found in the writer's "English Grammar."

The gradual fall of the voice towards the end of a sentence is called CADENCE; and as there is no part of a sentence of more importance than the close of it, great care should be taken to pronounce it distinctly and audibly.

ACCENT AND EMPHASIS.

As a knowledge of ACCENT and EMPHASIS is essential to GOOD READING, the pupils should be made acquainted with the nature of each, and the distinction between them; for they are frequently confounded. Accent refers to syllables, and means that peculiar stress or force which, in pronouncing a word of two or more syllables, we lay upon a certain one of the syllables as distinguished from the rest. Emphasis refers to words, and means that peculiar stress or force which, in uttering a sentence, we lay upon one or more of the words as distinguished from the others. Every word of two or more syllables has, in pronunciation, an accent upon one of the syllables; and some of the longer or more difficult words have, in addition to the principal accent, a SECONDARY, or weaker one. And in every sentence, and clause of a sentence, there is one or more words which require to be pronounced with a greater degree of force than the other words. Without knowing and marking the accented syllables in words, we cannot give them their proper pronunciation; nor can we bring out the full meaning of a sentence, unless we know and mark the emphatic words. The accented syllables of words we learn by imitating the pronunciation of correct speakers; and by referring, in cases of doubt, to a dictionary in which they are given. The emphatic words in a sentence we can only learn by knowing their relative importance in it, and the precise meaning which the writer of it intended each of them to convey. In fact, if we know the meaning and drift of the sentence, we shall have no difficulty in discovering the emphatic words. In all such cases they are naturally and spontaneously suggested to us, just as they are to persons uttering or speaking their own sentiments. For even the most illiterate persons are sure, when uttering their own sentiments, to lay the proper emphases on their words; though they may, and very often do, give them

em

the wrong accents. If a labouring man, for example, were to say, "It is a spade, and not a shovel that I want," he would be sure to pronounce the words "spade" and "shovel" with a greater degree of force than the other words; because he wishes to draw the particular attention of the person whom he addresses to the ideas or things which they represent. Had he merely said, “It is a spade I want," he would nevertheless have pronounced the word "spade" emphatically, because he wished it to be particularly understood that it was a spade, and not any other implement, such as a shovel, that he wanted. Should he say, "Is the spade broken ?" he would pronounce the word "broken" phatically; because his object is to obtain precise information on that point. But if he should say, "Is it the spade that is broken?" he will lay the emphasis on the word "spade," and not upon "broken," because, understanding that there is some implement broken, he wishes to be informed whether it is the spade. Again, should he say, "Is it my spade that is broken?" he will lay the emphasis on the word "my;" because he desires to know whether the spade that is broken is his or not. Should he ask, "Who broke the spade?" he will lay the emphasis on the word "who;" because, being already aware that the spade is broken, his object in making the inquiry is, to learn the name of the person who broke it. And, lastly, should he "How say, was the spade broken?" he will make "how" the emphatic word; because, in this case, he wishes to be informed of the manner or way in which the accident occurred.

It is obvious from what has been said, that if we understand the meaning of what we read, in the same degree as a person understands the thoughts which he utters, we shall, like him, naturally and spontaneously lay the emphases on the proper words. It is equally obvious, that if we do not understand the meaning of what we read, we shall either have to pronounce all the