more important words, yet they require a clear and distinct articulation; for without this, not only the beauty and harmony of the language, but even its meaning, are either greatly obscured or wholly destroyed. Who can peruse, with satisfaction, a letter written in villainous, unreadable characters, or a book with many of its pages torn out and others mutilated, or a newspaper with its columns mackled, monked, and friared? And yet, far more disagreeable is it to one to listen to a speaker or a reader who, by rising and falling, and quavering, and trilling, and mincing, and puffing and swelling, and slurring and suppressing sounds, presents you his own or his author's sentiments in so mangled and mutilated a condition that one is puzzled to understand one half of that which he utters. RULE III. The practice of hissing, lisping, whispering, mincing, slurring, or drawling, protracting, abridging, mumbling, or mouthing the sounds of letters or syllables, derogates materially from an elegant and an accurate enunciation. Although this rule is of too general a character to be easily illustrated in all its details, yet it may not be improper to 'mention a few points in which it is often violated. Our best orthoepists have indicated, in their directions for pronouncing the vowels a, e, ei, ai, and ay, in such words as fare, rare, where, there, their, air, chair, prayer, compare, declare, insnare, and the like, that the same sound should be given to them as to long a in fate, late; but this direction is unquestionably wrong, and has betrayed some into an affected pronunciation of such words-a pronunciation which must be disgusting to every one of correct taste in elocution.* Whether such erroneous directions are the offspring of inattention on the part of orthoepists, or whether they have arisen out of the difficulties which trammel them in representing to the eye, merely by the This same affected sound of a, e, ei, &c. the author was once persuaded to adopt; but he did not, at that time, investigate the subject. He is now, however, convinced that Walker's directions on this point, are erroneous: and he will, therefore, as soon as practicable, correct Note 2, on the 204th page of his "English Grammar in Lectures.” use of arbitrary characters, all the nice shades of difference in the sounds given to letters, is, to the student, a matter of little moment; but of vast importance is it to him who would become an accomplished reader or speaker, not to be led astray by the false directions of authors. There is nothing that can expose a man's reputation for accuracy and elegance in delivery to greater hazards, than affectation in his pronunciation. Affectation in women, is sickening: in men, insufferable: therefore, all kinds of affectation should be avoided. Whose conception of natural sounds is so obtuse as not to perceive a marked difference in the sound commonly given to a in fate, and to the more open one of a in fare, e in there, ei in their, ai in chair, ay in prayer, a in compare, and so forth? If it is a fact, then, that this difference of sound is ordinarily made, the point is easily settled: for the sounds "commonly given" to letters in particular situations, (I mean, of course, sounds given, not only by the common people, but also by the educated,) are the correct ones. Primarily, a particular, graphick character, called in our language, a letter, is no more the legitimate representative of a particular sound, than is a pebble, or a blossom, or a silk thread. How is it, then, that letters become the representatives of particular sounds? Only by the general consent of those who adopt and employ them, just as particular sounds and combinations of sounds, called words, become the representatives of certain ideas. Hence we see, that the general practice of those who employ certain letters, to represent particular, vocal sounds, is the only standard of accuracy in the use of those letters for such purposes, and, also, that the same authority is paramount in the use of words: and hence we perceive, too, that it is beyond the province of the orthoepist to dictate in regard to the sounds that may, or may not, be given to particular letters, as well as to the grammarian, in regard to the use of words. No; the authority of each is bound down by the superiour authority of general usage: and from this last authority, there is no appeal. It is true, the province of each allows him to ascertain what good usage is, and to inculcate principles according to it and the analogies and idioms of the language as far as sanctioned by good usage; and, moreover, to point out bad usages, that is, such as are not adopted by a great majority of the most intelligent and the most learned; but farther than this, he cannot, legally, go. In pronouncing the words, jail, pail, sail, pray, lay, say, we give to the vowels ai and ay precisely the sound of long a in fate; but an attentive observer will readily perceive, that the sound of these vowels is different, and becomes more open, and less prolonged, in air, chair, stair, prayer, and the like, when these words are pronounced in a natural manner. If this is a true statement of the case, this different sound commonly given to a in fare, ai in air, and so forth, is the correct one, and the attempt to give the long sound of a, as in fate, to ay in prayer, to a in fare, rare, compare, to e in there, to ai in air, and the like, is affected and erroneous. There is, also, a more distressing affectation displayed by many who, in the pronunciation of perfect, person, mercy, interpret, determine, and the like, attempt to give the accented e the sound of e in imperative. It is difficult to describe the affected sound alluded to; but that it is not the same as e in met, as Walker has directed that it should be, and that it ought not to be the same as e in imperative, (which Walker has not directed that it should be,) and that it is a shocking outrage on good taste and common sense, are facts equally apparent. The sound of e, when properly exploded, in such words, approaches so near to that of short u, as to defy the acuteness of an ordinary ear to distinguish the difference between them. But there is another affectation in exploding the diphthongal sounds of y in sky, i in kind, ui in guide, ua in guard, and the like, which is far more common than the last one referred to, and but little less nauseating. Under a false view of elegance, many pronounce these words as if written ske-i, ke-ind, ge-ide, ge-ard. This is abominable, and a total perversion of the sounds intended to be described and recommended by Mr. Walker. The diphthongal sounds of y, i, ui, and ua, in such words, are not represented by ei and ea when separately pronounced, but when united and blended, as it were, into one sound. Hence, the common people, who know nothing of the diphthongal character of these sounds, nor of Walker's directions concerning them, generally pronounce such words correctly, and as Mr. Walker intended they should be pronounced. The y in my, is pronounced like long i when emphatical, by being contrasted with some other possessive pronoun; but when not emphatical, it should take the sound of short e, as in met. To give i in wind, its long sound, as in mind, and ou in pour, its legitimate sound, as in our, appears, in prose, a little affected, because they are generally pronounced wind and pore; but when these words rhyme with others, at the end of a line in poetry, it is strictly in accordance with good taste, to give i its long, and ou its diphthongal, sound. "For, as in bodies, thus in souls, we find "What wants in blood and spirits, swelled with wind.” "And in soft silence shed the kindly shower." Under a false conceit of cleverness and elegance, some are in the habit of giving the vowel a, in the words glass, pass, mass, brass, flant, &c. demand, command, and the like, a very broad sound, somewhere between that of a in hat (its proper sound in the first class of these words) and o in note. Another disagreeable perversion often occurs in pronouncing the termination ed as a separate syllable in those verbs in which it ought to be contracted; such as walk-ed, talk-ed, lov-ed, smil-ed, and the like; but, in the participial adjective, where the ed should be sounded, it is frequently contracted: thus, “A learn-ed man;" "The bless-ed Redeemer;" are often pronounced, "A learn'd man;" "The bless'd Redeemer." But a more important caution is to be given in regard to the pronunciation of the unaccented vowels e and a in such terminations as ment, nent, dent, lent, cent-ence, nence, denceant, nant, vant, man-lar, lance, and so forth. Although these vowels should have their distinct natural sounds in such words as commandment, ardent, innocent, influence, confidence, infant, covenant, servant, gentleman, secular, vigilance, and the like, yet the slightest stress laid upon them, or the least effort to explode their sounds in a very distinct manner in this situation, will cause the pronunciation of these terminating syllables to appear affected. Care should, therefore, be taken to pronounce them in a perfectly easy and natural manner. EXERCISES. From thy throne in the sky, thou look'st, and laugh'st at the storm, and guid'st the bolt of Jove. Kind friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up to any sudden flood of mutiny and rage. Bias used to say, that it was in vain to expect an entire exemption from misfortunes by guarding against them; and that that man was unfortunate indeed who had not the fortitude to bear up against those which had befallen him. A tart temper never mellows with age; and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener by constant use. The hidden ocean showed itself anew, And barren wastes still stole upon the view. And hopeless eyes, which o'er the deep alone There was no light in heaven but a few stars, |