voice, indicating affirmation, interrogation, admiration, surprise, indignation, complaint, or any other intention or affection of the mind, are modes of emphasis, or pointing out; operating either by accent, or quantity, or both; and therefore very important to harmony.

From this general idea of emphasis, it will readily appear of how much consequence it is to readers and speakers not to be mistaken in it. The necessity of distinguishing the emphatical words from the rest, has made writers on this subject extremely solicitous to give such rules for placing the emphasis, as may, in some measure, facilitate this difficult part of elocution, but few have gone further than to tell us, that we must place the emphasis on that word in reading which we would make emphatical in speaking; and though the importance of emphasis is insisted on with the ut-. most force and elegance of language, no assistance is given us to determine, which is the emphatic word, where several appear equally emphatical, which is frequently the case, nor have we any rule to distinguish between those words which have a greater and those which have a less degree of stress; the sense of the author is the whole direction we are referred to, and consequently all is left to the taste and understanding of the reader.

The principal circumstance that distinguishes.emphatical words from others, seems to be a meaning which points out, or distinguishes something as distinct or opposite to some other thing. When this opposition is expressed in words, it forms an antithesis, the opposite parts of which are always emphatical. Thus in the following couplet from Pope:

'Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill
Appear in writing, or in judging ill.

The words writing and judging are opposed to each other, and are, therefore, the emphatical words; where we may likewise observe, that the disjunctive conjunction, or, by which the antithesis is connected, means one of the things exclusively of the other. The

same may be observed in another couplet from the same author, where one branch of the antithesis is not expressed but understood :

Get wealth and place, if possible, with grace:
If not, by any means, get wealth and place.

Here it appears evidently, that the words any means, which are the most emphatical, are directly opposed to the means understood by the word grace, and, the last line is perfectly equivalent to this: If not by these means, by any other means, get wealth and place. Hence, to convey their right meaning, the words any means, are evidently to be pronounced louder and fuller than the others.

In these instances the opposition suggested by the emphatical word, is evident at first sight: in other cases, perhaps, the antithesis is not quite so obvious : but, if an emphasis can be laid on any word, we may be assured that word is in antithesis with some meaning agreeable to the general sense of the passage.

To illustrate this, if we pronounce a line of Marcus in Cato, where, expressing his indignation at the behavior of Caesar, he says,

I'm tortur'd e'en to madness, when I think
Of the proud victor,

we shall find the greatest stress fall naturally on that word, which seems opposed to some common or general meaning: for the young hero does not say, in the common and unemphatic sense of the word think, that he is tortured even to madness when he thinks of Caesar; but in the strong and emphatic sense of this word, which implies, not only when I hear or discourse of him, but even when I think of him, I am tortured even to madness. As the word think, therefore, rises above the common level of signification, it is pronounced above the common level of sound; and as this signification is opposed to a signification less forcible, the word may properly be said to be emphatical.

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This more than ordinary meaning, or a meaning opposed to some other meaning, seems to be the principal source of emphasis; for if, as in the last instance, we find the words will bear this opposition to their common signification, we may be sure they are emphatical.

The proper use of emphasis in reading is to be acquired by a due degree of attention and practice. Every one who understands what he reads, cannot fail of finding out every emphatic word; and his business then is to mark it properly; not by stress only, as in the accented syllable, but by change of note suited to the matter which constitutes the essence of emphasis. If it be asked how the proper note is always to be ascertained, my answer is, that he must not only understand, but feel the sentiments of the author; as all internal feeling must be expressed by notes, which is the language of emotions; not words, the language of ideas. And if he enter into the spirit of his author's sentiments, as well as into the meaning of his words, he will not fail to deliver the words in properly varied notes, unless the natural inflexions of his voice be vitiated or distorted by provincial tones or foreign accent; for there are few people, who speak English with these, who have not the most accurate use of emphasis and tone when they utter their sentiments in common discourse; and the reason that they have not the same use of them in reading aloud the sentiments of others, is owing to the very defective and erroneous method, in which the art of reading is generally taught; whereby all the various, natural, expressive tones of speech, and consequently from their intimate connexion, much of the force and correct influence of emphasis, is suppressed and a few monotonous, unmeaning tones are substituted in their place.

There is certainly no one principle in the art of reading, in which more frequent mistakes are committed than in this important one of emphasis, both with regard to stress and tone. The chief reason of this general abuse of emphasis, seems to be, that persons so frequently read sentences which they do not

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understand; and as it is impossible to lay the emphasis rightly without perfectly comprehending the meaning of what is read, they get a habit, either of reading in a monotonous tone, or, if they attempt to distinguish one word from the rest, as the emphasis falls at random, the sense is usually perverted, or changed into nonsense. Emphasis, therefore, though essentially necessary to give energy to language, must ever be considered as subject to the precision of grammatical truth; for if a correct observance of the laws of orthography and syntax do not accompany the readers orthoepy and emphasis, his oratory will be but " as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The object of language is to communicate information to the mind or improvement to the understanding, which are certainly of more importance than merely impressing or pleasing the ear with the force of sound by emphasis; for though that may be necessary to awaken attention and thereby to enforce sentiment, it would be better that such attention should remain asleep, than be awakened by those means which mislead the judgment and serve to communicate error.

Reading should be considered as nothing more than speaking at sight by the assistance of letters; in the same manner as singing at sight is performed in music by the assistance of notes. And as it is certain that nature if left to herself, directs every one in the right use of emphasis, when they utter their own immediate sentiments, they should have the same unerring rule to guide them after they have been written down, whether they are their own or the sentiments of others contained in books. The best method of correcting this false emphasis is, frequently to read aloud some passages from books written in an easy, familiar style, and particularly that of dialogue; and at the end of every sentence, let the reader ask himself this question: How should I utter this, were I speaking it as my own immediate sentiment? In that case, on what words should I lay the emphasis, and with what change of notes in the voice ? Though at first sight he may find that his former habit will counteract his endeavors in this new way, yet by perseverance he cannot fail of success; particularly if he will get each sentence by heart, for some time, and revolve it in his mind, with that view, without looking at the book.Nor should he be discouraged by frequent disappointments in the first attempts, but repeat the same sentence till he is correct.

PAUSES.

The proper use of pauses in reading and speaking is essential to give precision and expression to the sentiment. They are equally necessary to the hearer and to the speaker. To the speaker, that he may take breath, without which he cannot proceed far in delivery, and that he may, by these temporary rests, relieve the organs of speech, which otherwise would be soon fatigued by uninterrupted action to the hearer, that the ear also may be relieved from the fatigue which it would otherwise endure from a continuity of sound, and that the understanding may have sufficient time to mark the distinction of sentences, and their several members.

The pauses necessary to be observed in reading, are of two kinds: first, those which mark the divisions of the sense, and are therefore called grammatical or sentential pauses, such as the comma, the semi-colon, the colon, and the period. To these are to be added the note of interrogation, the note of exclamation, and the parenthesis. These three being expressed not so much by the length of time to be observed in pausing, as by the tone of voice.

Secondly. Emphatical pauses, which are made when something is said of peculiar moment, on which we wish to fix the hearer's attention. These some-. times coincide with the sentential stops; but more frequently occur where they are not expressed.

Pauses in discourse, answer the same ends that shades do in pictures; by the proper use of which, the objects stand out distinctly to the eye; and without which were the colors to run into one another, it would be difficult to discriminate the several fig