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love of solid learning, and among certain classes of people, condemned to neglect, not only the Bible, but the most excellent of all human writings. In the attempt to furnish the mind with good principles, through the medium of amusing tales, men seem to forget that truth in such a form is presented to the mind without a divine sanction,-the only authority that can effectually restrain the passions, and subject the will to the influence of truth and correct principles. This general disposition to substitute the slight and fleeting influence of human examples and opinions, for the controlling authority of divine commands, is among the most gloomy presages of the present times. Without a great change of public taste, in this respect, the progress of depravity will be as rapid, as the ultimate loss of morals, of religion, and of civil liberty, is certain. God has provided but one way, by which nations can secure their rights and privileges, and render permanent the public peace and happiness: this is, by obedience to his laws. Without this, a nation may be great in population, great in wealth, and great in military strength; but it must be corrupt in morals, degraded in character, and distracted with factions. This is the order of God's moral government, as firm as his throne, and unchangeable as his purpose; and nations, disregarding this order, are doomed to incessant internal evils, and ultimately to ruin. NEW HAVEN, May, 1835.

CONTENTS.

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RULES

FOR

READING AND SPEAKING.

RULE I.

Let your articulation be clear and distinct.

A good articulation consists in giving every letter and syllable its proper pronunciation of sound.

Let each syllable, and the letters which compose it, be pronounced with a clear voice, without whining, drawling, lisping, stammering, mumbling in the throat, or speaking through the nose. Avoid equally a dull, drawling habit, and too much rapidity of pronunciation: for each of these faults destroys a distinct articulation.

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Observe the Stops, and mark the proper Pauses; but make no pause where the sense requires none.

The characters we use as stops are extremely arbitrary, and do not always mark a suspension of the voice. On the contrary, they are often employed to separate the several members of a period, and show the grammatical construction. Nor when they are designed to mark pauses, do they always. determine the length of those pauses, for this depends much on the sense and the nature of the subject. A semicolon, for example, requires a longer pause in a grave discourse, than in lively and spirited declamation. However, as children are incapable of nice distinctions, it may be best to adopt, at first, some general rule with respect to the pauses, and teach them to pay the same attention to these characters, as they do to the words. They should be cautioned, likewise, against pausing in the midst of a member of a sentence, where the sense requires the words to be closely connected in pronunciation.*

RULE III.

Pay the strictest attention to Accent, Emphasis, and Cadence. Let the accented syllables be pronounced with a proper stress of voice; the unaccented, with little stress of voice, but distinctly.

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The important words of a sentence, which I call naturally emphatical, have a claim to a considerable force of voice; but particles, such as of, to, as, and, &c., require no force of utterance, unless they happen to be emphatical, which is rarely the case. No person can read or speak well, unless he understands what he reads; and the sense will always determine what words are emphatical. It is a matter of the highest consequence, therefore, that a speaker should clearly comprehend the meaning of what he delivers, that he may know where to lay the emphasis. This may be illustrated by a single example. This short question, will you ride to town to-day? is capable of four different meanings, and consequently of four different answers, according to the placing of the emphasis. If the emphasis is laid on you, the question is, whether you will ride to town, or another person. If the emphasis is laid on ride, the question is, whether you will ride, or go on foot. If the emphasis is laid on town, the question is, whether you will ride to town, or to another place. If the emphasis is laid on to-day, the question is, whether you will ride to-day, or some other day. Thus the true meaning of a phrase often depends on the emphasis; and it is absolutely necessary, that it should be laid on the proper words.

Cadence is a falling of the voice, in pronouncing the closing syllable of a period. This ought not to be uniform, but different at the close of different sentences.*

But in interrogative sentences, the sense often requires the closing word or syllable to be pronounced with an elevated voice. This, however, is only when the last word is emphatical; as in this question, "Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a kiss?" Here the subject of inquiry is, whether the common token of love and benevolence is prostituted to the purpose of treachery: the force of the question depends on the last word, which is therefore pronounced with an elevation of voice. But in this question, "Where is boasting, then ?" The emphatical word is boasting, which of course requires an elevation of voice.

The most natural pitch of voice, is, that in which we speak in common conversation. Whenever the voice is raised above this key, pronunciation is difficult and fatiguing. There is a

* We may observe, that good speakers always pronounce upon a certain key; for although they modulate the voice, according to the various ideas they express, yet they retain the same pitch of voice. Accent and emphasis require no elevation of the voice, but a more forcible expression on the same key. Cadence respects the last syllable only of the sentence, which syllable is actually pronounced with a lower tone of voice; but, when words of several syllables close a period, all the syllables but the last are pronounced on, the same key as the rest of the sentence.

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