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It will be very difagreeable to the Hearers, if they be Perfons of good Tafte: who will always look upon it to be the Effect either of Ignorance or Affectation.

Befides, an overstrained Voice is very inconvenient to the Speaker, as well as difguftful to judicious Hearers. It exhaufts his Spirits to no Purpose. And takes from him the proper Management and Modulation of his Voice according to the Senfe of his Subject. And, what is worst of all, it naturally leads him into a Tone.

Every Man's Voice indeed fhould fill the Place where he fpeaks; but if it exceed its natural Key, it will be neither fweet, nor foft, nor agreeable, because he will not be able to give every Word its proper and diftinguifhing Sound.

2. Another Fault in Pronunciation is, when the Voice is too low.

This is not fo inconvenient to the Speaker, but is as difagreeable to the Hearer, as the other Extreme. It is always offenfive to an Audience to obferve any thing in the Reader or Speaker that looks like Indolence or Inattention. The Hearer will never be affected whilft he fees the Speaker indifferent,

The Art of governing the Voice confifts a good deal in dexterously avoiding thefe two Extremes: At leaff, this ought to be firft minded. And for a general Rule to direct you herein, I know of none better than this, viz. carefully to preServe the Key of your Voice; and at the fame time, to adapt the Elevation and Strength of it to the Condition and Number of the Perfons you speak to, and the Nature of the Place you Speak in. It would be altogether as ridiculous in a General who is haranguing an Army to speak in a low and languid Voice, as in a Perfon who reads a Chapter in a Family to fpeak in a loud and eager one.

3. Another Fault in Pronunciation is, a thick, hafty, cluttering Voice.

When a Perfon mumbles, or (as we fay) clips or fwallows his Words, that is, leaves out fome Syllables in the long Words, and never pronounces fome of the fhort ones at all; but hurries on without any Care to be heard diftinctly, or to give his Words their full Sound, or his Hearers the full Senfe of them.

This is often owing to a Defect in the Organs of Speech, or a too great Flutter of the animal Spirits; but oftener to a bad Habit uncorrected.

Demofthenes, the greatest Orator Greece ever produced, had, it is faid, nevertheleís three natural Impediments in Pronun

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ciation; all which he conquered by invincible Labour and Perfeverance. One was a Weakness of Voice; which he cured by frequently declaiming on the Sea-Shore, amidst the Noife of the Waves. Another was a Shortness of Breath; which he mended by repeating his Orations as he walked up a Hill. And the other was the Fault I am fpeaking of; a thick mumbling Way of fpeaking; which he broke himself of by declaiming with Pebbles in his Mouth.

4. Another Fault in Pronunciation is, when Perfons speak too quick.

This Manner of reading may do well enough when we are examining Leases, perufing Indentures, or reciting Acts of Parliament, where there is always a great Superfluity of Words; or in reading a News-Paper, where there is but little Matter that deferves our Attention; but is very improper in reading Books of Devotion and Inftruction, and efpecially the facred Scriptures, where the Solemnity of the Subject, or the Weight of the Senfe, demands a particular Regard.

The great Difadvantage which attends this Manner of Pronunciation is, that the Hearer lofes the Benefit of more than half the good Things he hears, and would fain remember, but cannot. And a Speaker fhould always have a Regard to the Memory as well as the Understanding of his Hearers.

5. It is alfo a Fault to speak too flow.

Some are apt to read in a heavy, droning, fleepy Way; and through mere Careleffnes make Paufes at improper Places. This is very difagreeable. But to hemm, hauk, fneeze, yawn, or cough, between the Periods, is more fo.

A too flow Elocution is moft faulty in reading Trifles that do not require Attention. It then becomes tedious. A Perfon that is addicted to this flow Way of speaking, fhould always take care to reward his Hearer's Patience with important Sentiments, and compenfate the Want of Words by a Weight of Thought.

But a too flow Elocution is a Fault very rarely to be found, unless in aged People, and those who naturally fpeak fo in common Converfation. And in thefe, if the Pronunciation be in all other Refpects juft, decent, and proper; and efpecially if the Subject be weighty or intricate, it is very excufable. 6. An irregular or uneven Voice, is a great Fault in reading.

That is, when the Voice rifes and falls by Fits and Starts, or when it is elevated or depreffed unnaturally or unfeafonably,

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ably, without Regard to Senfe or Stops; or always beginning a Sentence with a high Voice, and concluding it with a low one, or vice verfa; or always beginning and concluding it with the fame Key. Oppofite to this is

7. A flat, dull, uniform, Tone of Voice, without Emphafis or Cadence, or any Regard to the Senfe or Subject of what is read.

This is a Habit, which Children, who have been used to read their Leffons by way of Tafk, are very apt to fall into, and retain as they grow up. Such a Monotony as Attorneys Clerks read in when they examine an engroffed Deed. This is a great Infelicity when it becomes habitual; because it deprives the Hearer of the greatest Part of the Benefit or Advantage he might receive by a close Attention to the weighty and interesting Parts of the Subject, which fhould always be diftinguished or pointed out by the Pronunciation. For a just Pronunciation is a good Commentary: And therefore no Perfon ought to read a Chapter or a Pfalm in Public, before he hath carefully read it over to himself once or twice in private. But

Laftly, the greatest and most common Fault of all, is reading with a Tone.

No Habit is more easy to be contracted than this, or more hard to be conquered. This unnatural Tone in reading and fpeaking is very various; but whatever it be, it is always difguftful to Perfons of Delicacy and Judgment.

Some have a womanifh fqueaking Tone; which Perfons whofe Voices are thrill and weak, and over-ftrained, are very apt to fall into.

Some have a finging or canting Note; and others affume a high, fwelling, theatrical Tone; who being ambitious of the Fame of fine Orators, lay too much Emphasis on every Sentence, and thereby tranfgrefs the Rules of true Oratory.

Some affect an awful and ftriking Tone, attended with folemn Grimace, as if they would move you with every Word, whether the Weight of the Subject bear them out or This is what Perfons of a gloomy or melancholy Caft of Mind are most apt to give into.

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Some have a fet, uniform Tone of Voice; which I have already taken notice of. And others, an odd, whimsical, whining Tone, peculiar to themselves, and not to be defcribed; only that it is laying the Emphasis on Words which do not require or deferve it.

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These are the moft common Faults of a bad Pronunciation. Our next Enquiry is

II. How to avoid them.

To this End the few following Rules may be of Service. 1. If you would not read in too loud or too low a Voice, confider whether your Voice be naturally too low or too loud; and correct it accordingly in your ordinary Conversation: by which means you will be better able to correct it in reading. If it be too low, converse with those that are deaf; if too loud, with those whofe Voices are low. Begin your Periods with an even moderate Voice, that you may have the Command of it, to raise or fall it as the Subject requires.

2. To cure a thick confufed cluttering Voice, accuftom yourfelf, both in Converfation and Reading, to pronounce every Word diftinct and clear. Obferve with what Deliberation some converse and read, and how full a Sound they give to every Word; and imitate them. Do not affect to contract your Words, (as fome do) or run two into one. This may do very well in Conversation, or in reading familiar Dialogues, but is not fo decent in grave and folemn Subjects; efpecially in reading the facred Scriptures.

It appears from Demofthenes's Cafe, that this Fault of Pronunciation cannot be cured without much Difficulty, nor will you find his Remedy effectual without Pains and Perfeverance.

3. To break a Habit of reading too faft, attend diligently to the Sense, Weight, and Propriety of every Sentence you read, and of every emphatical Word in it. This will not only be an Advantage to yourself, but a double one to your Hearers; for it will at once give them Time to do the fame, and excite their Attention when they fee yours is fixed. A folemn Paufe after a weighty Thought is very beautiful and ftriking. A well-timed Stop gives as much Grace to Speech as it does to Mufic.-Imagine that you are reading to Perfons of flow and unready Conceptions; and measure not your Hearer's Apprehenfion by your own. If you do, you may poffibly out-run it. And as in reading you are not at liberty to repeat your Words and Sentences, that fhould engage you to be very deliberate in pronouncing them, that their Senfe may not be loft. The Eafe and Advantage that will arife both to the Reader and Hearer, by a free, full, and deliberate Pronunciation, is hardly to be imagined.

I need lay down no Rules to avoid a too flow Pronunciation; that being a Fault which few are guilty of.

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4. To cure an uneven, defultory Voice, take care that you do not begin your Periods either in too high or too low a Key; for that will neceffarily lead you to an unnatural and improper Variation of it. Have a careful Regard to the Nature- and Quantity of your Points, and the Length of your Periods; and keep your Mind intent on the Senfe, Subject, and Spirit of your Author.

The fame Directions are neceffary to avoid a Monotony in Pronunciation, or a dull, fet, uniform Tone of Voice. For if your Mind be but attentive to the Senfe of your Subject, you will naturally manage and modulate your Voice according to the Nature and Importance of it.

Laftly, To avoid all Kinds of unnatural and difagreable Tones, the only Rule is, to endeavour to speak with the fame Eafe and Freedom as you would do on the fame Subject in private Conversation. You hear no body converfe in a Tone; unless they have the Brogue of fome other Country, or have got into a Habit (as fome have) of altering the natural Key of their Voice when they are talking of fome ferious Subject in Religion. But I can fee no Reafon in the World, that when in common Conversation we speak in a natural Voice with proper Accent and Emphasis, yet as foon as we begin to read, or talk of Religion, or fpeak in Public, we should immediately affume a stiff, aukward, unnatural Tone. If we are indeed deeply affected with the Subject we read or talk of, the Voice will naturally vary according to the Paffion excited; but if we vary it unnaturally, only to feem affected, or with a Design to affect others, it then becomes a Tone, and is offenfive.

In reading then attend to your Subject, and deliver it just in fuch a Manner as you would do if you were talking of it. This is the great, general, and most important Rule of all; which, if carefully obferved, will correct not only this, but almoft all the other Faults of a bad Pronunciation; and give you an eafy, decent, graceful Delivery, agreeable to all the Rules of a right Elocution. For however apt we are to tranfgrefs them in reading, we follow them naturally and eafily enough in Converfation. And Children will tell a Story with all the natural Graces and Beauties of Pronunciation, however aukwardly they may read the fame out of a Book. *

Secondly,

Let the Tone and Sound of your Voice in reading be the fame as it is in fpeaking; and do not affect to change that natural a d

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