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seem to be speaking out of a cock-boat; others, again, are so unwieldy and uncouth in their motions, that you would think them to be sacks of tow painted to look like men. I have seen some who jumped on the platform and capered nearly in measure: men that exhibited the fuller's dance, and, as the old poet says, expressed their wit with their feet. But who in a short compass is able to enumerate all the faults of gesture, and all the absurdities of bad delivery?"

The care bestowed by the ancients on youth, was to form them for eloquence in all its branches. But as they committed their discourses to memory before their delivery of them, and as they enjoyed none of the advantages we possess from the invention of the art of printing, they seldem or ever required to read anything in public; whereas, in modern times, the practice amongst us of public reading is equally common with that of public speaking. Now, the object of reading is threefold, viz., to acquire knowledge, to assist the memory to treasure up that knowledge, and to impart it to others. The first two are attained by silent reading, the third requires reading aloud. The Greeks and Romans made use of the art of writing only to answer the first two purposes, and as they recited all their orations, poems, &c., from memory, they had no need of carrying the art of writing any further than to serve these two ends. Our written language, like theirs, contains no visible marks of

what is necessary to a just delivery, and, moreover, we all copy from them. We read their historians, their poets, their orators, their philosophers; we comment upon them, we commit them to memory, we write expressly in imitation of their most beautiful passages. Now, "a just delivery," according to Mr. Sheridan, "consists in a distinct articulation of words, pronounced in proper tones, suitably varied to the sense, and the emotions of the mind; with due observation of accent, of emphasis in its several gradations, of rests or pauses of the voice in proper places, and well measured degrees of time; and the whole accompanied with expressive looks, and significant gesture. Of all these ingredients, not one of which can be spared from a good delivery, there are but two that are at all regarded in the art of writing, and these are articulate sounds, marked by letters, and stops or pauses of the voice, which latter are by no means fitted to the natural rests and pauses of discourse, and, as they are managed, have proved the chief cause of some of our greatest imperfections in reading. But with respect to the other articles of tones, accent, emphasis, and gesture, there are no visible marks to serve as guides in these. And as these latter must be allowed to be the sources of everything which is pleasureable or forcible in delivery, and to contain in them all the powers of strongly impressing the mind, captivating the fancy, rousing the passions, and delighting the ear; it must also be

allowed, that the most essential articles to a good delivery have been wholly left out of the graphic art.”

Every one will allow that it is not so easy to read a piece of written composition so well at first sight as on a second trial; nor can one be said to read on a second, or even a third attempt, with that propriety and force which he would give to sentiments that were his own. Only can he do so when he has mastered the sentiments of others as to give them as his own. Nor is it to be supposed that a person can so far take in the full import of the words by a rapid glance of the eye, as to be enabled to give to them that execution which would answer his conceptions, or make use of the same terms he would give to them in discourse. Hence it may be true to say, that no kind of reading can ever bee me speaking, just in the same way that no walkg can ever become running.

With regard to Reading, one of the first things necessary, is to correct all defects in articulation. Care should be taken, however, to distinguish between natural defects (i.e., defects in the speaking organs) and defects arising from want of instruction, or from imitation of the defects of others. The defects called natural, I consider to be, too small a mouth, a tongue too large for the mouth, too narrow an opening of the larynx, debility of lung, &c. The other defects alluded to are stuttering (sometimes natural), stammering, lisp, closing the teeth while speaking, inability to articulate certain letters,

such as r, th, ng, some of the labials, and all the vowels. There are other defects which are called national, provincial, and peculiar. These, too, must be surmounted. Let not, then, natural defects be confounded with those that are not so; for many persons, falsely imagining that their defects are natural, abandon all hope of improvement, and confirm themselves in their bad habits; so that, the defects which, in youth, were not natural, become so strong that they cannot be overcome without very great labour and perseverance.

Correct pronunciation, or orthoepy, according to Dr. Johnson, is, when every letter has its proper sound, and every syllable its proper accent. "The best general rule for pronunciation," he says, "is to consider those of the most elegant speakers, who deviate least from the written words. Of English, as of all living tongues, there is a double pronunciation, one cursory and colloquial, the other regular and solemn. The cursory pronunciation is always vague and uncertain, being made different in different mouths by negligence, unskilfulness, and affectation. The solemn pronunciation, though by no means immutable and permanent, is always less remote from the orthography, and less liable to capricious innovation."

The words of disputed pronunciation in the English language, at the present day, amount to a considerable number, and it is difficult to determine the exact pronunciation of many words, owing to

the variety of changes which usage or custom brings into vogue.

The tendency of the English language is to throw the accent as far back as possible. Indeed, there is a sort of repugnance to an ultimate accent (unless on a verb), as we may see in the common pronunciation of the word consols, which has the accent on the first syllable, though, on the Stock Exchange, it is pronounced with the accent on the last, consóls.

As a sufficient number of rules cannot be laid down to suit the style of every sentence, our chief object must be to endeavour, as much as possible, to see clearly and readily the sense of the whole sentence, by hurriedly glancing before us as we go on. By this means we shall discover those clauses that bear an intimate relation to one another, and be enabled to introduce the pauses accordingly. Persons who keep their attention fixed upon each word, or even upon each line as they proceed, run the risk of either omitting many pauses which the sense requires, or of misplacing them. A good reader, on the contrary, is enabled to take a comprehensive glance of three or four lines in advance of what he is reading, which is, indeed, a very considerable advantage to him, for, having once perceived the grammatical structure of the sentence, he makes the author's ideas his own, and the proper pauses follow, of their own accord; of course, presuming, that the rules for pause are

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