In mother Church to breed a variance,
By coupling Orthodox with Arians?

Yet, were he Heathen, Turk, or Jew,
What is there in it strange, or new?
For, let us hear the weak pretence,
His brethren find to take offence;
Of whom there are but four at most,
Who know there is an HOLY GHOST:
The reft, who boast they have conferr'd it,
Like Paul's Ephefians, never hear'd it;
And, when they gave it, well 'tis known,
They gave what never was their own.

Rundle a Bishop! well he may;
He's ftill a Chriftian more than they.

We know the fubject of their quarrels ;
The man has learning, fenfe, and morals.

23. The fable of the Bitches-ridiculing the attempt to repeal the Teft Act.

24. Birth-day Verfes on Mr. Ford-very pretty.

25. Dean Smedley's Petition to the Duke of Grafton.

26. His Grace's Anfwer. By Dr. Swift.

27. Dean Swift at Sir Arthur Atchefon's, in the North of Ireland. Thefe are the fame verses, beginning

The Dean would viût Market-Hill

which have often been printed; but whether in any former edition of the Mifcellanies, we remember not. We have heard great complaints of the liberties taken by the Dean in Sir Arthur's family ;-which are faid to have produced very difagreeable confequences between that Gentleman and his Lady: but the Dean would have his humour.

28. The STORM; Minerva's Petition. A most severe fatire on Bishop H-t.

The volume concludes with a copious Index to all the Works; which is, indeed, not the least valuable part of the prefent publication. There is one article in it which will not fail to prove acceptable to every Reader; and of which the Editor fpeaks in the following terms.

"We have added, in the laft volume, an Index to all the Works; wherein we have ranged the Bons Mots scattered throughout them under the article SWIFTIANA, by which

their brightness is collected, as it were, into a fecur, and they are placed in fuch open day, that they are fecured, for the future, from the petty larceny of meaner Wits."

This character would have been more juft, however, had the Speculum been much larger, fo as to have collected al the rays of wit fcattered thro' the Dean's inimitable Writings; for we conceive, that only a small part of them are here brought to view.

Conclufion of the Account of Mr. Sheridan's Lectures. See Review for September, page 208.

H

AVING given an account of Mr. Sheridan's introductory Difcourfe, and first Lecture, we now proceed to the fecond, which treats of Articulation and Pronunciation.

A good Articulation confifts, we are told, in giving every letter in a fyllable its due proportion of found, according to the most approved cuftom of pronouncing it; and in making fuch a diftinction between the fyllables of which words are compofed, that the ear fhall, without difficulty, acknowlege their number; and perceive at once to which fyllable each letter belongs. Where thefe points are not obferved, the Articulation is proportionably defective.

Of the many inftances which offer of a vitiated Articulation, "there is not one in a thousand," Mr. Sheridan obferves, which proceeds from any natural defect or impediment. "Of this point he had many proofs," he fays, in the school where he received his firft rudiments of learning; and where the Mafter made Pronunciation a chief object of his attention;" in which he "never knew a fingle inftance of his failing to cure fuch boys as came to him with any defect of that kind; tho' there were numbers who lifped or ftuttered to a great degree, on their firft entrance into the fchool; or who were utterly unable to pronounce fome letters, and others very indiftinctly."

What he deems the firft and moft effential point in Articulation, is, Diftinétnefs; and, therefore, we are told, its oppofite is the greatest fault. Indiftinctnefs, to a certain degree, renders the Speaker unintelligible; or demands a more than ordinary attention, which is always painful to the Hearer.

The

The chief fource of indiftin&tnefs, is too great precipitancy of speech; and this takes its rife in England, chiefly from a bad method of teaching to read. "As the principal object of the Mafter is, to make his Scholars perfectly acquainted with written words, fo as to acknowlege them at fight, and give them a ready utterance; the boy, who at firft is flow in knowing the words, is flow in uttering them; but as he advances in knowlege, he mends his pace; and not being taught the true beauty and propriety of reading, he thinks all excellence lies in the quickness and rapidity with which he is able to do it.-This habit of reading is often transferred into their difcourfe; and is but too frequently confirmed at the Latin fchools, where the Mafters, in general, having no points in view, but to make their Scholars repeat their lefons by heart, or conftrue them in fuch a way as to fhew they understand them, care not how haftily these exercifes are done; or, rather, indeed, are obliged to urge them to à fpeedy manner of doing them, otherwife it would be impoffible to get through the number of boys they have to teach."

To cure any imperfections in fpeech, arifing originally from too quick an utterance, the most effectual method will be, Mr. Sheridan fays, to fet apart an hour every morning to be employed in the practice of reading aloud, in a very flow manner. This fhould be done in the hearing of a friend, or some person whofe office it should be, to remind the Reader, if at any time he should perceive him mending his pace, and falling into his habit of a quick utterance. Let him found all his fyllables full, and have that point only in view, without reference to the fense of the words; for if he is attentive to that, he will unwarily fall into his old habit: on which account, that he may not be under any temptation of that fort, Mr. Sheridan would have him, for fome time, read the words of a Vocabulary, in the alphabetical order. In this way, he will foon find out, what letters and fyllables he is apt to found too faintly, and flur over. Let him make a lift of those words; and be fure to pronounce them over diftinctly, every morning, before he proceeds to others. Let him. accuftom himfelf alfo, when alone, to fpeak his thoughts aloud, in the fame flow manner, and with the fame view. Otherwife, tho' he may get a habit of reading more flowly, he will fall into his ufual manner in difcourfe: and this habit of fpeaking aloud, when alone, will not only bring him to a

more

more diftinc utterance, but produce a facility of expreffion, in which filent Thinkers are generally defective.

Mr. Sheridan tells us, there is one cause of indistinct Articulation, which is almoft univerfal, and which arifes from the very genius of our tongue; fo that unless great care be taken, it is fcarcely poffible, but that every one fhould be affected by it, in fome degree. Every word compofed of more fyllables than one in our language, has one fyllable accented, and peculiarly diftinguifhed from the reft; either by a smart percuffion of the voice, or by dwelling longer upon it. If this accented fyllable be properly diftinguifhed, the word wi!l often be fufficiently known, even tho' the others are founded very confufedly. This produces a negligence with regard to the Articulation of the other fyllables; which, tho' it may not render the fenfe obfcure, yet destroys all measure and proportion, and confequently all harmony in delivery. This fault is fo general, that our Author ftrongly recommends at first, the practice of pronouncing the unaccented fyllables more fully, and dwelling longer upon them than is neceffary [our Author's words] as the only means of bringing thofe whofe utterance is too rapid, to a due medium.

The next article which our Author treats of is, Pronunciation. He obferves, that the difficulties with refpect to thofe who endeavour to cure themfelves of a provincial or vicious Pronunciation, are chiefly three: 1ft, the want of knowing exactly where the fault lies; 2dly, want of method in removing it, and of due application; 3dly, want of confcioufnefs of their defects in this point. The way of furmounting thefe difficulties he endeavours to point out; and then goes on to treat of Accent: which is the fubject of his third Lecture.

And here he fets out with fome juft obfervations on the meaning and ufe of Accent amongst the antients, that fuch as have early imbibed confufed notions of the term in the ancient languages, may banifh them from their minds, and only be prepared to confider what the ufe of it is amongst us. The term, amongst the antients, fays he, fignified certain inflections of the voice, or notes annexed to certain fyllables, in fuch proportions as probably contributed to make their fpeech mufical. Of thefe they had chiefly three in general ufe, which were denominated Accents; and the term used in the plural number-The term with us has no reference to inflexions of the voice, or mufical notes, but only

peculiar

peculiar manner of distinguishing one fyllable of a word from the reft, denominated by us Accent; and the term for that reafon ufed by us in the fingular number.

This diftinction is made by us in two ways; either by dwelling longer upon one fyllable than the reft, or by giving it a fmarter percuffion of the voice in utterance. So that Accent with us, is not referred to tune, but to time; to quantity, not quality; to the more equable or precipitate motion of the voice, not to the variation of notes or inflexions. Thefe have nothing to do with words separately taken, and are only made ufe of to enforce or adorn them, when they are ranged in fentences.

"It is by the Accent chiefly, continues Mr. Sheridan, that the quantity of our fyllables is regulated; but not according to the mistaken rule laid down by all who have written on the fubject, that the Accent always makes the fyllable long; than which there cannot be any thing more false. For the two ways of diftinguifhing fyllables by Accent, as mentioned before, are directly oppofite, and produce quite contrary effects; the one, by dwelling on the fyllable, neceffarily makes it long; the other, by the fmart percuffion of the voice, as neceflarily makes it fhort. Thus, the first fyllables in glory, father, holy, are long; whilst those in battle, habit, borrow, are fhort. The quantity depends upon the feat of the Accent, whether it be on the vowel or confonant; if on the vowel, the fyllable is neceffarily long; as it makes the vowel long: if on the confonant, it may be either long or short, according to the nature of the confonant, or the time taken up in dwelling upon it. If the confonant be in its nature a fhort one, the fyllable is neceffarily fhort. If it be a long one, that is, one whofe found is capable of being lengthened, it may be long or fhort at the will of the Speaker.

"By a fhort confonant I mean, one whofe found cannot be continued after a vowel, fuch as c or k p t, as ac, ap, at

whilft that of long confonants can, as el em en er ev, &c. If we change the feat of the Accent in the inftances before mentioned, we fhould change their quantity; were we inftead of glo-ry to fay glor-y-inftead of father, father— inftead of holy, hol'y-the firft fyllables would become short

-as on the other hand, were we to dwell on the vowels instead of the confonants in the laft inftances they would change from fhort to long-fhould we, for inftance, inftead of bat'tle

fay