habit thence acquired,* of doing this with facility, both when read ing silently and aloud, they would constitute a sufficient compen sation" for all the labour we can bestow upon the subject. But the pleasure derived to ourselves and others, from a clear communication of ideas and feelings; and the strong and durable impressions made thereby on the minds of the reader and the audience, are considerations, which give additional importance to the study of this necessary and useful art. The perfect attainment of it doubtless requires great attention and practice, joined to extraordinary natural powers: but as there are many degrees of excellence in the art," the student whose aims fall short of perfection will find himself amply rewarded for every exertion he may think proper to make. To give rules for the management of the voice in reading, by which the necessaryy pauses, emphasis," and tones, may be discov ered and put in practice, is not possible. After all the directions that can be offered on these points, much will remain to be taught by the living instructor: much will be attainable by no other means, than the force of example influencing the imitatives powers of the learner. Some rules and principles on these beads, will, however, be found useful, to prevent erroneous and vicious modes of utterance to give the young reader some taste of the subject; and to assist him in acquiring a just and accurate mode of de ivery. The observations which we have to make, for these purposes, may be comprisedЛ under the following heads: PROPER LOUDNESS OF VOICE; DISTINCTNESS; SLOWNESS; PROPRIETY OF PRONUNCIATION; EMPHASIS; TONES; PAUSES; and Mode of reading VERSE. THE first attention of every person who reads to others, doubt. • less, must be, to make himself be heard by all those to whom he reads. He must endeavour to fill with his voice the space occupied by the company. This power of voice, it may be thought, is wholly a natural talent. It is, in a good measure, the gift of nature; but it may receive considerable assistanced from art. Much depends, for this purpose, on the proper pitch and management of the voice. Every person has three pitches in his voice; the HIGY the MIDDLE, and the Low one. The high, is that which he uses inf calling aloud to some person at a distance. The low, is when he approaches to a whisper. The middle is, that which he employs in common conversation, and which he should generally use in reading to others. For it is a great mistake, to imagine that one must take the highest pitch of his voice, in order to be well heard in a large company. This is confoundings two things which are dif ferent, loudness, or strength of sound, with the key or note in which we speak. There is a variety of sound within the compass of each key. A speaker may therefore render his voice louder, with out altering the key: and we shall always be able to give most body, most persevering force of sound, to that pitch of voice, t which in conversation we are accustomed. Whereas by setting out on our highest pitch or key, we certainly allow ourselves les compass, and are likely to strain our voice before we have done We shall fatigue ourselves, and read with pain; and whenever a per sou speaks with pain to himself, he is always heard with pain b tris audience. Let us therefore give the voice full strength an swell of sound; but always pitch it on our ordinary speaking key It should be a constant rule never o utter a greater quantity d voice than we can afford without pain to ourselves, and without an extraordinary effort. As long as we keep within these bounds, th other organs of speech will be at liberty to discharge their severa offices with ease; and we shall always have our voice under com mand. But whenever we transgress these bounds, we give up the reins, and have no longer any management of it. It is a useful rul too, in order to be well heard, to cast our eye on some of the mo distant persons in the company, and to consider ourselves as read ing to them. We naturally and mechanically utter our words with such a degree of strength, as to make ourselves be heard by the per son whom we address, provided he is within the reach of our voice As this is the case in conversation, it will hold also in reading t others. But let us remember, that in reading, as well as in conver sation, it is possible to offend by speaking too loud. This extrem hurts the ear, by making the voice come upon it în rumbling, indi tinct masses. By the habit of reading, when young, in a loud and vehement manner, the voice becomes fixed in a strained and unnatural ke and is rendered incapable of that variety of elevation" and depre sion which constitutes the true harmony of utterance, and affor ase to the reader, and pleasure to the audience. This unnatura} pitch of the voice, and disagreeable monotony, are most observaale in persons who were taught to read in large rooms; who were accustomed to stand at too great a distance, when reading to their teachers; whose instructors were very imperfect in their hearing; or who were taught by persons, that considered loud expression as he chief requisite" in forming a good reader. These are circumances which demand the serious attention of every one to whom he education of youth is committed. Ar ric-u-la-ligni, SECTION II. Ar-tik-b-la-shin,je El-e-men-tar-y, El-è̟-mên'-târ-è, sim ple, uncompounded joint of bones, the act of formning words Con-trib-ute, kon-trib'-åte, to give to, bear a part Blur, sir, to pass Fightly, a slight dis-h f In-cum-bent, în-kům'-bênt, imposed as a duty Pri-ma-ry, pri'-ma-rè, original, chief Sus-pend, sis-pênd', to delay, interrupt, hang DISTINCTNESS. In the next place, to being well heard and clearly understood, istinctness of articulation" contributes more than mere loudness of ound: The quantity of sound necessary to fill even a large space, smaller than is commonly imagined; and with distinct articulaon, a person with a weak voice will make it reach farther, than he strongest voice can reach without it. To this, therefore, every eader ought to pay great attention. He must give every sound hich he utters, its due proportion; and make every syllable, and ven every letter in the word which he pronounces, be heard disinctly; without slurring whispering, or suppressing any of the roper sounds. An accurate Knowledge of the simple, elementarye sounds of the anguage, and a facility in expressing them, are so necessary to disnctness of expression, that if the learner's attainments are, in this espect, imperfect, (and many there are in this situation) it will be cumbent on his teacher, to carry him back to these primarys arculations; and to suspend his progress, till he become perfectly master of them. It will be in vain to press him forward, with the ope of forming a good reader, if he cannot completely articulate verv elementary sound of the language. SECTION III. Pre-cip-i-tan-cy, prẻ-sip'-pé-tán sé,fl Rec-om mend, rêk-höm-mènd', to rahness, haste praise to another Ob-vi-ous, bb'-vè-ts, open, evidente Pro-nun-ci-a-tion, pro-non-she I ip-id, In-spd, without spirit shin, mode of utterance DUE DEGREE OF SLOWNESS. In order to express ourselves distinctly, moderation is requisite with regard to the speed of pronouncing. Precipitancy of speech confounds all articulation, and all meaning. It is scarcely necessary to observe, that there may be also an extreme on the opposite side. It is obvious that a lifeless, drawling manner of reading, which allows the minds of the hearers to be always outrunning the speaker, must render every such performance insipids and fatiguing. But the extreme of reading too fast is much more common, and requires the more to be guarded against, because, when it has grown into a habit, few errors are more difficult to be corrected. To pronounce with a proper degree of slowness, and with full and clear articulation is necessary to be studied by all, who wish to become good readers; and it cannot be too much recommended to them. Such a pronunciations gives weight and dignity to the subject. It is a great assistance to the voice, by the pauses and rests which it allows the reader more easily to make; and it enables the reader to swell all his sounds, both with more force and more har mony. AFTER the fundamental attentions to the pitch and manage ment of the voice, to distinct articulation, and to a proper degree of slowness of speech, what the young reader must, in the next place, study, is propriety of pronunciation; or giving to every word which he utters, that sound which the best usage of language ap propriates to it: in opposition to broad, vulgar, or provinciale pr nunciation. This is requisite both for reading intelligibly, and fo reading with correctness and ease. Instructions concerning thi article may be best given by the living teacher. But there is c observation, which it may not be improper here to make. English language, every word which consists of more syllabies tha one, has one accented syllable. The accents rest sometimes on th vowel, sometimes on the consonant. The genius of the language r quires the voice to mark titat syllable by a stronger percussion, and to In the morę slightly over the rest. Now, after we have learned the prope seats of these accents, it is an important rule, to give every word jus the same accent in reading, as in common discourse. Many per sous err in this respect. When they read to others, and with solemuity, they pronounce the syllables in a different manner from what they do at other times. They dwell upon them and prot:act them; they multiply accents on the same word; from a mistaken notion, that it gives gravity and importance to their subject, and adds to the energy of their delivery. Whereas this is one of the greatest faults that can be committed in pronunciation: it makes what is called a pompous or mouthing manner; and gives an artificial, affected air, to leading, which detracts greatly both from its agreeableness and its impression. Sheridan and Walker have published Dictionaries, for ascertaining the true and best pronunciation of the words of our language. By attentively consulting them, particularly "Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary," the young reader will be much assisted, in his endeavours to attain a correct pronunciation of the words belonging to the English language. SECTION IV. a Ara big-u-ous, âm-big'-ú-âs, doubt-jp Re-strain, re-strane,to repress,hinder ful, having two meanings b Per-vert, per-vêrt', to distort, cor rupt e Pre-sup-pose, prẻ-sůp-pòze', to sup pose as previous e Muse, müze, power of poetry, telu g Con-s-quence, kon' sè-kwense, that Ar-bi-tra-ry, år'-be-trá-ré, despotick, Ca-price, ka-prèèse', freak, whim De-sire, dè-zire', to wish to obtain, Mex-i-can, mêks'-è-kån, of or be- Com-pre-hen-sive, kôm-pré-hẻn'-siv, Eks-pós-tshu-la' shin, debate, remonstrance Mu-ta-ble, mu'-tå-bl, subject to change A-pol-o-gy,à-pôl ́-¿-jé,defence,excusely De-mon-stra-ble, dè-món'-strá-bl, cer j Cen-eure, sen'-shure, blame, reproach, Ex-ag-ge-rate, êgz-âdje'-è-råte, toz tain, that which may be proved be yond a doubt Plau-si bil-i-ty, piȧw-zé-bil’-¿-tè, spa ciousness Se-lect, sè-lêkt', to choose from, a Prob-a-bil-i-ty, prób-å-bil'-è-tè, like nicely chosen n Scru-ple, skråô'-pl, to doubt, a doub Di-ver-si-ty, dė-vér'-sé-tè, difference, lihood In-dis-crim-i-nate-ly, In-dis-krim'-ėnate-lè, without distinction Re-cur, rè-kår, to have recourse to, to return I-tal-ick, l-tal'-ik, relating to Italy EMPHASIS. By emphasis is meant a stronger and fuller sound of voice, hich we distinguish some word or words, on which we desi B |