in reciting alfo on the stage, where the fame performers, who in the unimpaffioned and declamatory paffages of their characters, were generally wrong in laying the emphafis; whenever they entered into the more animated parts, and the paffion which they represented took full poffeffion of them, were always right in that article.

If the use of the fimple emphafis, which has fo plain, general, and certain a rule to point it out, be yet so mistaken, what shall we fay to that of the complex kind; which is infinitely more comprehensive, intricate, and difficult; and yet is utterly without either rules, or examples to point out its true ufe? Tho' this is one of the most important branches of delivery, fince the power of animating and affecting the hearers, depends much upon it. As words are marks of ideas, fo are tones of energies and affections of the mind; and as we can not make known our ideas to others, without a fufficient number of words, to mark, not only their difference in grofs from each other, but also the nicer diftinctions of degrees in the fame idea, together with their various relations; so can not we manifeft, or communicate to others the several feelings of the mind, in conceiving and uttering its ideas, and the various proportions of those feelings, without a fuitable number, and equally regular and nice distinction of tones. But here art has entirely deserted us, and left us to guide ourselves as well as we can. And indeed all her exertions seem to have been confined within the bounds of written language, where she has the faithful eye to guide her by fure and fixed marks; nor has fhe, hitherto amongst us, dared to make any excurfions, into the more extenfive, and nobler provinces, of spoken language, the ways thro' which are to be found only by the information of the uncertain ear; which if not well instructed, and early cultivated, must ever prove a false guide. Hence it comes to pass,

that words, as marks of our ideas, are tolerably well regulated, and

reduced to order; whilft tones, the marks of our feelings, are left wholly to chance. The natural confequence of which has been that many discourses, good in themselves, are pronounced without affecting the hearers; and that in a nation abounding in good writers, a good speaker is a prodigy. But of this I shall have occasion to speak more at large under the head of Tones. At prefent I fhall content myself with closing this head, by laying down the only rule, which appears to me to be of any confiderable benefit in practice, towards making the best use that can be as things are now circumftanced, of the complex emphasis. And that is directly the fame rule before laid down with regard to the fimple emphafis; that every one should content himself with the use of those tones only that he is habituated to in fpeech, and to give none other to emphasis, but what he would do to the fame words in difcourfe. Thus whatever he utters will be done with ease, and appear natural; whereas if he endeavours at any tones, to which he is not accustomed, either from fancy, or imitation of others, it will be done with difficulty, and carry with it evident marks of affectation and art, which are ever disgusting to the hearer, and never fail to defeat the end of the speaker.

LECTURE

LECTURE V.

Of PAUSES or STOP S.

HE next head of which I am to treat, is that of Pauses, or

T Stops.

STOPS or pauses, are a total ceffation of found during a perceptible, and in numerous compofitions, a measurable space of time. The use of these is equally neceffary to the speaker, and to the hearer. To the speaker, that he may take breath, without which he can not proceed far in delivery; and that he may relieve the organs of speech, by these temporary refts, which otherwise would be soon tired by continued and uninterrupted action: To the hearer, that the ear also may be relieved from the fatigue, which it would otherwise endure from a continuity of found; and that the understanding may have fufficient time to mark the diftinction of fentences, and their several members. These pauses being thus neceffary and useful, become ornamental alfo in verfe, when reduced to exact proportions of time, in the fame way as in mufic.

BUT as in common discourse, and in most compofitions in profe, there is no neceffity to obferve fuch nice proportion of paufes, they have befides their duration, marks of a furer kind annexed to them, to point out their nature; and these are, certain notes of the voice, which declare of what kind the paufes are, at the inftant they are * made;

L 2

made; and inform the mind what it is to expect from them; whe-" ther the fenfe is ftill to be continued in the fame fentence; whether the fucceeding one is to be the last member of the fentence; whether more are to enfue; or whether the fentence be closed, and a new one is to begin.

THE great utility of this practice will appear, when we confider how necessary it is that the hearer should be able to accompany the speaker in all that he utters, so as fully to comprehend his meaning; and therefore he should be fpared the trouble of attending to any thing else, but his meaning. Now if pauses had no other mark of distinction, but the time of their duration, it is evident that not only the speaker, must always be exceedingly nice, in observing the exacteft proportion of time, with regard to the different pauses, (a thing scarce practicable in irregular discourse) but the hearer alfo, must employ his whole attention, during those pauses, in measuring their exact duration, without which he must mistake their nature; a thing equally impracticable, or which if attempted, must by this distraction of the attention, do great injury to the principal point in view, a full conception of the meaning. Whereas, when the nature or kind of pause, is declared at its beginning, by the fure mark of a note or tone of the voice, it matters not afterwards to the hearer, whether the speaker observes any due proportion of time or not; for he is at that inftant prepared to accompany him, whenever he pleases to set out; whether it be fuddenly, or whether he chuses to delay longer than is neceffary. For he knows by the tone what the pause should be, whether the speaker obferves the due proportion of time or not.

It is true in poetical compofitions, the fkilful ear will not be fatisfied, without a due obfervation of the proportion of pauses, as well as founds; but it is because in that case, it has a right to be pleased itself,

itself, at the same time that it is the inftrument of conveying the meaning to the understanding, and its difguft arifes from the disappointment. But the interests of the understanding receive no farther prejudice, the notes or tones still proving fure guides to the fenfe, than what may arife from want of attention, occafioned by fuch disgust of the ear.

BUT in all speeches and harangues that are more loose, and free from the fetters of measure, this circumftance has given the speaker fuch a power over the pauses, as, judiciously used, may contribute much to the main point in view, that of strongly inculcating his meaning. For by this means, he may always proportion his pauses to the importance of the sense, and not merely to the grammatical ftructure of words in fentences, making like pauses to all of like ftructure, without diftinction. For instance, if there be any propofition or fentiment which he would enforce more strongly than the reft, he may either precede it by a longer pause than usual, which will rouze attention, and give it the more weight when it is delivered; or he may make a longer pause after it is closed, which will give time for the mind to ruminate upon it, and let it fink deeper into it by fuch reflection; or according to the importance of the point, he may do both. He He may go ftill farther, and make a pause before some very emphatical word, where neither the fenfe nor common ufage would admit of any; but this liberty is to be used with great caution. For as such pauses excite uncommon attention, and of course raife expectation, if the importance of the matter be not fully answerable to such expectation, it will occafion disappointment and disgust. This liberty therefore is to be seldom taken, and never but where fomething extraordinary and new is offered to the mind, which is likely to be attended with an agreeable furprise. For paufes of this fort put the mind into a state of suspense, which is ever attended

5