the subject of the supremacy of conscience, the following
quotation from Dr. Chalmers is very much to our purpose:
"In every human heart there is a faculty-not, it may be,
having the actual power, but having the just and rightful
pretension to act as judge and master over the whole of human
conduct. Other propensities may have too much sway, but
the moral propensity-if I may so term it never can; for, to
have the presiding sway in all our concerns, is just that which
properly and legitimately belongs to it. A man under anger
may be too strongly prompted to deeds of retaliation, or under
sensuality may be too strongly prompted to indulgence, or
under avarice, be too closely addicted to the pursuit of wealth,
or even under friendship be too strongly inclined to partiality;
but he never can, under conscience, be too strongly inclined
to be as he ought, and to do as he ought. We may say of a
watch, that its main-spring is too powerful, but we would
never say that a regulator was too powerful."

"And neither do we urge the proposition that conscience has
in every instance the actual direction of human affairs, for this
were in the face of all experience. It is not that every man
obeys her dictates, but that every man feels that he ought to
obey them. These dictates are often, in life and practice,
disregarded; so that conscience is not the sovereign de facto.
Still there is a voice within the hearts of all which asserts that
conscience is the sovereign de jure: that to her belongs the
command rightfully, even though she do not possess it
actually."
"All that we affirm is, that if conscience
prevail over the other principles, then every man is led, by the
very make and mechanism of his eternal economy, to feel, that
it is as it ought to be; or if these others prevail over con-
science, that it is not as it ought to be."
"When
stating the supremacy of conscience, in the sense that we have
explained it, we but state what all men feel; and our only
argument in proof of the assertion is-our only argument can be,
an appeal to the experience of all men.'

"

These sentiments will find a response in every honest mind. However often we disobey the voice of this monitor, we always have the feeling of self-condemnation accompanying our disobedience.

AH. Like the letter A in the English word MARK. Pronounce this English word-MARK, aloud several times, with strict reference to the sound of the French letter A, until you are sure of having its correct sound.

The sound thus obtained, always belongs to the French letter A in the alphabet, that is, whenever the French alphabet is repeated, always give the first letter the sound of A in the English word MARK, that is, AH.

But the French A does not always and invariably have this sound whenever and wherever it is used in a French word. Its sound depends upon its position in a word and upon the accent under which it is placed, either by itself, as constituting a single word, or within a word of one or more syllables.

The letter A has, then, another sound which we illustrate by the sound of the letter A in the English word FAT.

Pronounce this English word-FAT, aloud several times with strict reference to the sound of the French letter A, until you

are sure of having its correct sound.

The French letter A has, therefore, two distinct sounds, viz. -Short sound in the English word FAT. Long sound in the English word MARK.

In these lessons, the English letter A will be used to illustrate the short sound of the French vowel A; and AH will be used to illustrate the long sound of the French vowel A.

A, has the short sound repesented by A in the English word FAT, when it is a word by itself, and generally when it begins or ends a French word. There are exceptions to this rule; but they will be readily noticed by the reader in the spelling by means of English letters, designed to illustrate the pronunciation of a given French word.

The above examples are introduced to illustrate the short sound of the French vowel A. In the first word (Abaca), be careful not to pronounce it Ay-bay-kay; but give each A in each syllable, the sound of A in the English word FAT. In the next word, do not say Ay-lahrm; remember to give the sound of A in the English word FAT. Trill the R in the last syllable of the word A-larm. It will be perceived the final E of this word (4-larme) is not sounded.

This vowel is sometimes under a Grave accent; thus, à, là, voilà; but its sound is not materially affected thereby.

31. â.

Under the Circumflex accent, this vowel has the long sound represented by A in the English word MARK, and is named AH. It has, besides, a little more than the sound just spoken of, for the sound must be prolonged, and in order to do this conveniently, the mouth must be opened a little wider than in uttering its short sound, represented by A in the English word FAT.

Be careful, however, not to pronounce  â, like the sound of the English word AWE, but give it the sound of AH prolonged, in the following examples, viz. :

French.

Âge
Âme

Bâche
Bâfre

Bât

LEE

Câpre
Grâce

Mâle
Mâsse

Pâle
Rabâchage

Name.

Bah
Kah-pr'
Grah-s
Mah-1
Mah-s
Pah-1
Ra-bah-shazh

35. E e.
Sound.

Male

Stake (in betting).
Pale.

Repetition.

If it can be illustrated by analogous English sounds, it seems quite reasonable to suppose that through this process, many more students would understand and acquire it, than if they were left merely to the doubtful policy of imitation. Let us

try.

Before the pupil attempts to pronounce the French words used for examples, let him observe most carefully the sound of the last syllable of the following words, when uttered as they usually are, in common conversation, viz.:-

Moth-er! Broth-er! Nev-er! Sis-ter! Wa-ter! Take any one of the above English words, viz. :- the first -Moth-er! Pronounce it naturally and aloud with a full voice several times, until the common sound of the last syllable in particular, is familiar to the ear. Take each of those words and thus practice, by pronouncing aloud carefully, but naturally; observing at the same time THE SOUND OF THE LAST SYLLABLE.

Now, by what combination of letters would you represent that sound? By UR, as in the first syllable of the English word Mur-mur? Or, by UH!? Manifestly the latter. Below are a few French words, which you will now proceed to pro nounce aloud, giving to the vowel E in each example, the last syllable of the word NEV-ER! Pronounce each of the following French words quickly and abruptly, as if an exclamation mark were placed over each one of them, viz. :

Before proceeding to the illustration of the sound and use of E mute or unaccented, let us commend the following Ce like suh! extract to the careful perusal of the pupil. Speaking of the unaccented E, it is said,-"Several of our best orthoepists express themselves thus on that subject:-'The proper De like duh! utterance of the unaccented E characterises, in part, the pronunciation of the gentleman, as a vicious one marks the low-bred and ignorant. The unaccented E is sometimes pronounced and sometimes not; and in that consists a great difficulty for foreigners, who, always pronouncing it full, are long before they are able to follow a French conversation, and thence are inclined to believe that the French speak much faster than any other people. The truth is, that the French, taking them in general, do not speak faster than other people; but, in conversation and in familiar reading, they drop the unaccented E as often as they can do it, and Le like thus go quicker through a sentence than does a foreigner, who gives the full sound of U in TUB to every unaccented E he meets with. Thus the word Contenance, and the phrase je n'ai

Je like zhuh!

luh !

pas reçu tout le vêtement, will be pronounced by a foreigner and Me like muh;
a Frenchman native of Gascony,-Con-te-nan-ce-je né pa re-çu
tou le vê-te-men; whereas a well-bred Frenchman will pro-
nounce-cont-nans,—jné pa rsu toul vêt-men, sounding in the
first word two syllables only, where the others would sound
four; and in the sentence, sounding six syllables, where the Ne like nuh!
others would sound ten.'

The French custom of clipping or shortening words as much as possible, in ordinary reading and common conversation, is well illustrated in the following sentence, viz. :

"Quand vous serez le même, vous me trouverez le même.” This sentence contains thirteen syllables in prose, viz. :— Quand-vous-se-rez-le-même-vous-me-trou-ve-rez-le-même. In poetry, même would have two syllables. However, in familiar reading and conversation, it is pronounced in eight syllables only, viz. :- Quand-vou-srel-même-voum-trouv-rel-même. The suppression of this E is precisely the reason why foreigners imagine that the French speak so very quickly.

UH! Like the sound of the letter U in the English word
NUT; or, like the sound of the last syllable ER in the words
OVER and WATER, when spoken quickly.

The E mute or unaccented," is a mere emission of the voice without any distinct sound. It either succeeds a consonant, by the articulation of which it becomes sensible, or comes after a vowel, of which it may be considered the prolongation." It is confessedly difficult to illustrate the sound of this vowel by the aid of English letters; yet it is worthy an honest attempt. True, it may be acquired from a teacher, by sheer imitation; but alas, all learners are not good imitators!

That is, a combination of the letter S, with the usual sound of the last syllable of the English word MотH-ER!

That is, a combination of the letter D, with the usual sound of the last syllable of the same word MOTH-ER!

That is, a combination of the letters ZH, with the same sound mentioned in the first example; or, like the sound of the last syllable of the word PLEASURE! as usually pronounced, but without the sound of the Y, which is sometimes heard; i.e., peas-ure! and not pleasLyure!

That is, a combination of the letter L, with the same sound mentioned in the first example.

That is, a combination of the letter M, with the same sound mentioned in the first example; or like the sound of MU in the first syllable of the English word MUTTER,

That is, a combination of the letter N, with the sound mentioned in the first example; or, like the sound of NU in the English word NUT. Pronounce NU in the word NUT, and you have the correct pronunciation of the French word NE. That is, exactly like the pronunciation of Se like suh! CE as given in the first example.

Te like tuh!

Que like kuh!

That is, exactly like the sound of the last syllable of the English word WATER!

That is, like the sound of the last syllable of the English word BAKER, pronounced rather carelessly

Take, if you please, another illustration, viz.:-the sound of U in the English word NUT, as explained above, in illustrating the sound of the French word NE. This will give the correct sound of E mute or unaccented.

The sound of E mute or unaccented, resembles the sound of the letter E of the word THE, which is heard in pronouncing quickly these two words, viz.:-THE MAN, Apply the sound of this E thus pronounced, to the E in the following words, viz. :-CE, DE, JE, ME, NE, SE, TE, QUE, etc.

Or lastly, the sound of E mute or unaccented, is based upon the sound of English A pronounced naturally. Let the organs within the mouth maintain as nearly as possible the same position, whilst the lips are protruded as if to pout or whistle. Then, whilst the mouth is in this position, endeavour to pronounce English A again; this, in a majority of cases, will give the correct sound of E mute or unaccented, Practise

*The case of an imaginary root of a negative quantity may be considered radical quantities, are connected with them by the signs +