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RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY JOS. ROBINSON, 
 BALTIMORE. 
 
 CHRISTIAN OFFICES, for the use of Families and Indivi- 
 duals, compiled from the LITURGY of the PROTES- 
 TANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH, and from the Devo- 
 tional Writings of various Authors ; together with Selec- 
 tions and Passages of Scripture and a Calendar pointing 
 out a suitable portion of Scripture, for the Family Wor- 
 ship in every Day of the Year. Second Edition, revised 
 and materially improved. By WILLIAM EDWARD 
 WYATT, D. D., Rector of St. Paul's Parish, Raltimore. 
 
 A PRACTICAL VIEW of the PREVAILING RELIGIOUS 
 SYSTEM of PROFESSED CHRISTIANS, in the 
 higher and middle classes in this country, contrasted with 
 real Christianity. By WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, 
 Esq. — with an Introductory Essay, by the Rev. Daniel 
 Wilson, A.M. Vicar of Islington, (now Bishop of Calcutta.) 
 
 The MONUMENT: a small selection from the SERMONS 
 of the late Right Rev. JAMES KEMP, D. D., Rector of 
 St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore, and Bishop of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of Maryland, &c. 
 
HENSHAW'S 
 SHERIDAN. 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION; 
 
 ACCOMPANIED BY 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS AND CRITICISMS 
 
 ON THE BEADING OF 
 
 THE CHURCH SERVICE: 
 
 SELECTED FROM THE WORKS OF 
 
 THOMAS SHERIDAN, Esa. 
 
 WITH ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, 
 By J. P. K. HENSHAW, D. D. 
 
 Rector of St. Peter's Church, Baltimore. 
 
 BALTIMORE*. 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY JOS. ROBINSON, 
 
 No. 2, N. Calverl-street. 
 
. * v v. N x ^ "■ 
 
 ^"" 
 
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 ?*£* 
 
 <b 
 
 [Entered according" to the act of Congress, in the year eighteen 
 hundred and thirty-four, by J. P. K. Hestshaw, D. D., in the 
 Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, for the Dis- 
 
 trict of Maryland.] 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introductory Essay, • • 5 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 ! 
 
 I Chapter I. — Imperfect state of English Elocution and its 
 
 causes, 21 
 
 " II.— Articulation, ....30 
 
 " III.— Accent, 37 
 
 IV.— Emphasis, 53 
 
 " V. — Pitch and management of the voice, 66 
 
 « VI.— Tones, 76 
 
 " VII— Gesture, 95 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 INSTRUCTIONS AND CRITICISMS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 READING OF THE CHURCH SERVICE. 
 
 Sheridan's address to the Clergy, 109 
 
 Introductory Remarks, Ill 
 
 Chapter I.— The order for Daily Morning and Evening 
 
 Prayer, 115 
 
 " IL— The Litany, 157 
 
 " III. — Prayers and Thanksgivings upon several 
 
 . occasions, <■ 1 69 
 
 " IV — The order for the administration of the 
 
 Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, 173 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 It is deeply to be regretted that, notwithstanding 
 the many valuable works published in ancient and 
 modern times on elocution and the art of reading, this 
 branch of education is so generally neglected in our 
 seminaries of learning. Among the ancients, the art 
 of public speaking was cultivated with the utmost de- 
 gree of assiduity and skill; men of commanding ta- 
 lents and influence were the masters of it: and by 
 attending upon the instructions of the academy, and 
 the exercises of the forum, the youth of Greece and 
 Rome were trained up to use with wonderful effect, 
 their powers of reasoning, in the debates of the Senate, 
 and those of persuasion, in addresses to popular as- 
 semblies. 
 
 The orations of Cicero and Demosthenes, are con- 
 sidered even at this remote period, master-pieces and 
 models ; and we cannot read without astonishment of 
 the effect produced by the ancient orators, upon the 
 minds of their countrymen. Are we to suppose that 
 the public speakers of those days were endowed with 
 powers of intellect, or organs of utterance, which are 
 denied to those of the present period ? or, that the 
 men of this generation are less susceptible of the in- 
 fluence exerted by the beauties of style, or the pow- 
 ers of speech ? There can be no ground, I apprehend, 
 2 
 
vi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 for the adoption of such an opinion, and the difference 
 alluded to, may be accounted for, by the comparative- 
 ly small degree of attention, which is paid to elocution 
 in the prevailing system of modern education. 
 
 In most of our primary schools, owing to the want 
 ■ of proper elementary books, and the incompetency of ' 
 the teachers to supply the deficiency by oral instruc- 
 tions, children acquire false habits of intonation and 
 emphasis, which, like other bad habits of childhood, f. 
 are seldom corrected by the reflection and mature 
 judgment of riper years. 
 
 The art of speaking and reading well, holds a very 
 subordinate rank in the course of studies pursued in 
 colleges and universities, where our young men des- 
 tined for professional life receive their preparatory 
 training. The greater part of their time is employed 
 in reading the classics in their original languages, with l ' 
 which they are so imperfectly acquainted, that the 
 employment is a task, rather than a pleasure, — and in 
 acquiring a knowledge of the exact sciences; but, 
 with the exception of an occasional exercise in compo- 
 sition and declamation, no effort is made to qualify 
 them for the active, practical duties of the professions, 
 which many of them are intended to fill. 
 
 The question asked by the Bishop of Cloyne, in 
 relation to Great Britain, " whether half the learning 
 of the kingdom, was not lost for want of having a 
 proper delivery taught in our schools and colleges," 
 is no less applicable to the state of things in this 
 country. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. Vli 
 
 We need not, therefore, be surprised at the remark 
 | so often made by intelligent observers, of the small 
 j proportion of the Clergy who are either persuasive 
 speakers, or accomplished readers. For, by a strange 
 i fatuity, the same neglect of Elocution, which is found 
 in colleges, also pervades most of our Theological 
 I seminaries. And how can it be expected that men 
 s should be proficients in an art which they have never 
 i studied ? 
 
 Here and there, one of the sacred order, in spite of 
 I the disadvantages of education, discharges his im- 
 portant functions, as to the manner of delivering the 
 gospel message and conducting the devotions of the 
 Sanctuary, — with a high degree of eloquence ; — but he 
 is considered a kind of prodigy, who has risen to 
 eminence by the force of native genius, or of the most 
 industrious application. These seem to be the only 
 means by which the deficiencies of education above 
 referred to, can be remedied. And surely, every 
 minister of the Gospel, who considers the vast impor- 
 tance of impressive delivery and appropriate action 
 in securing attention to his discourses and efficiency 
 to his pulpit labours, will consider the study of Elo- 
 cution as having a fair claim upon a portion of his time 
 and energies. 
 
 The reading of the Scriptures and forms of prayer 
 and praise, constitutes a part of the public duties of 
 the ministry, not less important than the delivery of 
 sermons; and eminently good readers are not more 
 common than pulpit orators of a high grade. The de- 
 ficiencies in this respect which so commonly prevail, 
 
viii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 •re attributable to negligence of certain plain and fun- i 
 (lament al rules. For even, tbough it should be admit- |i 
 ted, that nature forms the orator, it cannot be denied II 
 that the hand of art has a principal agency in the $ 
 making of a good reader. 
 
 Some valuable lessons on accent, emphasis, intona- 
 tion, the pitch and management of the voice Sfc, will 
 be found in the selections contained in the following 
 pages from Sheridan's Art of Reading, and his Lee- I 
 tures on Elocution. Whatever may be thought of the j 
 correctness of his views on the accent of the English I 
 language, as distinguished from that of the Greek I 
 and Latin, which have been controverted by Walker 
 and others; — we shall find in these lessons, the re- f 
 suit of much patient thought and study, by one to 
 whom our mother tongue is deeply indebted, as the 
 father of English Elocution, who first attempted to 
 introduce a fixed system of pronunciation, and to es- 
 tablish the great principles by which propriety and 
 elegance in public reading and speaking, might be at- 
 tained. His errors may be corrected by reference to 
 the works of those who, with the advantage of his } 
 light, have followed him in the same field of investiga- 
 tion. The fundamental rules of the art, however, 
 will be found clearly stated and happily illustrated in p 
 the following extracts from his works. 
 
 The most important rule, perhaps, is that laid down 
 centuries ago by Quinctilian, and which is worthy of 
 attention in all languages and all climes. " Let every 
 syllable, of every word, especially the last, be proper- 
 ly, distinctly and clearly pronounced." * Distinctness 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. i x 
 
 | of articulation, correct emphasis, and a deep-felt in- 
 ! terest in the sentiments delivered, can hardly fail, 
 i where there is not some great defect in the organs of 
 speech, of making a good reader. And therefore the 
 i commonness of the deficiency in this respect among 
 the ministers of religion, is the less excusable. 
 
 It may be remarked as one of the very strange things 
 l in the strange history of human affairs, that the art of 
 Elocution should be most assiduously cultivated by a 
 profession, the only end of whose exhibitions is to 
 afford temporary gratification or idle amusement to 
 the public ; — while it is sadly neglected by one, whose 
 duties stand connected with eternity, and which has 
 for its high aim, the salvation of souls and the glory 
 of God. 
 
 It is said that Garrick on being asked by a divine, 
 why a greater effect was produced by tragedians in 
 representing fictitious characters on the stage, than by 
 ministers in delivering the most awful truths of reli- 
 gion from the pulpit ; gave the following pithy reply : 
 — " We utter fiction, as if it were truth: You utter 
 truth, as if it were fiction" 
 
 The Liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 has not only received the commendations of the pious 
 of every name, for the chastened fervour, the sublime 
 dignity, and evangelical purity of its devotional offi- 
 ces, — but has also been very generally applauded by 
 men of taste, for the simplicity of language, and beauty 
 of style in which those offices are clothed. When 
 properly performed, our daily service, will almost cer- 
 tainly impart to the souls of true worshippers, the most 
 2 # 
 
X INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 profound sentiments of contrition— enkindle within 
 them the ardent flame of love— and bring them, as it 
 were, into the very presence-chamber of the great ) 
 object of their adoration. 
 
 But alas ! how often does it utterly fail of producing 
 any hallowed effect, and even excite sentiments of f 
 distaste and aversion, from its being performed in a I 
 careless, heartless and inappropriate manner ! How 
 important is it for the interests of religion and the j 
 honour of the church, that the clergy should seek to \ 
 give additional interest and efficiency to this portion 
 of their labours ? To aid them in this laudable effort, \ 
 is the object of the little work now re-published, in 
 which the application of the rules of good reading is 
 exhibited, not only to the ear, but to the eye, by one 
 of the most accomplished masters of the art. 
 
 The frequent reading of the daily services of the 
 church accompanied with Sheridan's marks of empha- \ 
 ses and pauses, will do more, by the blessing of God, , 
 towards correcting the deficiencies and errors of the ij 
 clergy and qualifying them for an appropriate and , 
 edifying discharge of this part of their holy functions, 
 than the most careful and long continued study of the \ 
 
 rules of rhetoricians, without such an application or ex- 
 emplification of them, would ever be able to accomplish. \ 
 Let it not be inferred, however, from what has \. 
 been said, that the most undeviating adherence to the 
 laws of correct and rhetorical reading, will of itself 
 alone, render the performance of the Liturgy impres 
 sive and profitable. No ! we have heard it read ac 
 cording to those rules, when the only emotion excited, 
 
 :; 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. x i 
 
 was one of admiration of the voice and skill of the 
 performer. — It was considered merely as an exercise 
 of art, not of devotion. 
 
 After all, the great art in reading devotional ser- 
 vices, is, to avoid the appearance of art. It is to have 
 the soul so thoroughly absorbed by the holy sentiments 
 that are uttered, as to allow no room for a thought 
 about the manner of utterance. The clergyman in 
 the desk and at the altar, should, as far as possible, 
 forget every thing but this — " I am in the more imme- 
 diate presence of the heart-searching God, leading a 
 company of penitent sinners in supplication for mercy 
 at the throne of grace, — or, expressing the thanks of 
 the same sinners, for all the mercies they have receiv- 
 ed, and especially for the transcendant mercies of re- 
 demption, by Jesus Christ." 
 
 Such a conviction, vividly impressed upon the mind, 
 will constrain a man to pray the Liturgy, and not 
 merely to read it. And a heart " touched as with a 
 live coal from off the altar," and thoroughly imbued 
 with the sentiments that pervade the Prayer Book, 
 will be the best prompter as to the mode of uttering 
 them. It will naturally suggest, that earnestness of 
 manner, variety of intonation, and propriety of empha- 
 sis, which the nature of the various parts of the service 
 requires, and which will give to each of them their 
 highest effect. 
 
 It is the object of all the elaborate treatises on Elo- 
 cution to enforce the natural mode of speaking and 
 reading aloud; — and their authors profess nothing 
 more than to have embodied the dictates of nature in their 
 
x ii INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 artificial rules. But it may admit of a question whe- 
 ther this be not, to say the least, a very circuitous and , 
 unpromising mode of attaining the end ; and whether 
 any real benefit is derived from a study of those works, 
 further than as they tend to impress this general prin- 
 ciple more strongly upon the mind, and afford judi- 
 cious exemplifications of it ? 
 
 The remarks of the Rt. Rev. Dr. Whately, the pre- 
 sent Archbishop of Dublin, on this point, are so ex- [ 
 cellent, that I cannot deny myself the pleasure of 
 laying them before the reader. " If a person could 
 learn to read and speak as it were, by note, with the 
 same fluency and accuracy as are attainable in the 
 case of singing, still, the desired object of a perfectly 
 natural, as well as correct Elocution, would never be 
 in this way attained. The reader's attention being 
 fixed on his own voice, (which in singing, and there 
 only, is allowed and expected,) the inevitable conse- 
 quence would be, that he would betray more or less 
 his studied and artificial delivery ; and would in the 
 same degree, manifest an offensive affectation. It 
 should be observed, however, (he remarks in a note,) 
 that, in the reading of the Liturgy especially, so many 
 gross faults are become quite familiar to many, from 
 what they are accustomed to hear, if not from their 
 own practice, as to render it peculiarly difficult to 
 unlearn, or even detect them ; and as an aid towards 
 the exposure of such faults, there may be great advan- 
 tage in studying Sheridan's observations and directions 
 respecting the delivery of it : The generality of his 
 remarks respecting the way in which each passage of 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. x iJi 
 
 the Liturgy should be read, are correct; though the 
 'mode recommended for the attainment of the proposed 
 end, is totally different from what is suggested in the 
 i present treatise."* 
 
 " The practical rule, then, to be adopted in con- 
 Iformity with the principles here maintained, is, not 
 | only to pay no studied attention to the voice, but studi- 
 jously to withdraw the thoughts from it, and to dwell as 
 ! intently as possible on the sense; trusting to nature 
 !to suggest spontaneously the proper emphases and 
 j tones. He who not only understands fully what he is 
 ; reading, but is earnestly occupying his mind with the 
 matter of it, will be likely to read as if he understood 
 it, and thus to make others understand it ;f and in like 
 manner, with a view to the impressiveness of the de- 
 livery, he who not only feels it, but is exclusively 
 ! absorbed by that feeling, will be likely to read as if 
 ; he felt it, and to communicate the impression to his 
 
 * Whately has here, I think., done injustice to Sheridan — 
 whose general principles on the subject are precisely like his 
 own. — The examples he gives, are designed, merely, as an 
 illustration of those principles, and an auxiliary in the applica- 
 tion of them ; he marks only the pauses and emphases which 
 would naturally be made by a reader, who entered into the 
 spirit of the sentiments delivered. 
 
 t Who, for instance, that was really thinking of a resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, would ever tell any one that our Lord 
 " rose again from the dead ;" (which is so common a mode of 
 i reading this article of the creed,) as if he had done so more 
 than once? It is to be observed, however, that it is not 
 enough for a reader to have his mind fixed on the subject* 
 
Xiv INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 hearers. But this cannot be the case if he is occupied' 
 with the thought of what their opinion will be of his ] 
 reading-, and how his voice ought to be regulated ; — 
 if, in short, he is thinking of himself, and of course, in - 
 the same degree, abstracting his attention from that 
 which ought to occupy it exclusively. * 
 
 It is not indeed, desirable, that in reading the Bible 
 for example, or any thing which is not intended to 
 appear as his own composition, he should deliver,! 1 
 what are, avowedly another's sentiments, in the same i 
 style, as if they were such as arose in his own mind ; 
 but it is desirable that he should deliver them as if he 
 were reporting another's sentiments, which were both 
 fully understood, and felt in all their force by the re- 
 porter ; and the only way to do this effectually, — with 
 such modulations of voice, &c. as are suitable to each 
 word and passage, — is to fix his mind earnestly on the 
 meaning, and leave nature and habit to suggest the 
 utterance."* 
 
 But in leading the devotions of a congregation in the 
 use of the Liturgy, supplications, intercessions, thanks- 
 givings., &c. though not of our own composition, should 
 
 without regard to the occasion &c. It is possible to read a 
 prayer well, with the tone and manner of a man who is not \ 
 praying, i. e. addressing the Deity, but addressing the audience, 
 and reciting a form of words for their instruction : and such 
 is generally the case with those who are commended as "fine 
 readers" of the Liturgy. Extemporaneous prayers are gene- 
 rally delivered, with spirit indeed, but, (after the few first : 
 sentences,) not as prayers, but as exhortations to the congre- 
 gation . 
 
 * Whately's Rhetoric. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XV 
 
 be delivered as (what in truth they ought to be,) 
 the genuine sentiments of our own minds at the mo- 
 ment of utterance ; and we should, therefore, approach 
 as nearly as may be, to the extemporaneous style of 
 delivery. It is indeed, impossible to produce the full 
 effect of that style, while the audience are aware, 
 that the words we utter are before us : but we may 
 approach indefinitely near to such an effect ; and in 
 proportion as we succeed in this object, the impres- 
 sion produced will be the greater. 
 
 The advantages of this natural manner, (i. e. the 
 manner which one naturally falls into who is really 
 speaking in earnest, and with a mind exclusively intent 
 upon what he has to say,) may be estimated from this 
 consideration, that there are few who do not speak so 
 as to give effect to what they are saying; and that it 
 is easy for hearers to keep up their attention, — indeed 
 difficult for them to withdraw it, — when addressed by 
 one who is really speaking in a natural and earnest 
 manner.* 
 
 To aid the Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the devotional performance of its admirable 
 Liturgy, is the principal aim of this little work, but 
 
 * It would serve to correct many errors if the reader would 
 ask himself before delivering a sentence, how should I read 
 this, were I speaking it as my own immediate sentiments ? 
 Sheridan says, in one of his Lectures, " I have often tried an 
 experiment to shew the great difference between these two 
 modes of utterance, the natural and the artificial ; which was, 
 that when I found a person of vivacity delivering his senti- 
 ments with energy, and of course with all that variety of tones 
 
Xvi INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 the general "Lessons on Elocution" will be found 
 equally useful to all who are required to read or speak 
 in public. 
 
 In the reading of the church service, Mr. Sheri- 
 dan's marks of accent and emphasis, and also his 
 criticisms upon the most common errors and mistakes 
 in performing it, have been generally followed when 
 the contrary is not indicated; those criticisms of 
 Whately which were deemed just, have been incorpo- 
 rated ; and such alterations have been made, as were 
 necessary to adapt a work originally intended for the 
 Liturgy of the Church of England, to that of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. 
 
 The want of some such work has been universally 
 felt and acknowledged by our clergy and candidates 
 for orders — and this is now offered to them as the 
 best extant, so far as known to the present editor. 
 
 Here the officiating minister, is not only furnished 
 with important general directions in the discharge of 
 this part of his holy functions ; but, whenever he is 
 doubtful as to the emphatic word or words in any sen- 
 tence of the daily service, or Litany, or communion 
 
 which nature furnishes,, I have taken occasion to put something 
 into his hand to read, as relative to the topics of conversation ; 
 and it was surprising to see what an immediate change there 
 was in his delivery, from the moment he began to read. A 
 different pitch of voice took place of his natural one, and a 
 tedious uniformity of cadence succeeded to a spirited variety ; 
 in so much that a blind man could hardly conceive the person 
 who read, to be the same who had just been speaking." 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XV H 
 
 office, he may have his embarrassment removed by a 
 single glance of the eye. 
 
 That the Lord may pour upon his brethren and 
 himself a large measure of the " spirit of grace and 
 supplication" — and so imbue their hearts with all the 
 sentiments of pure devotion which pervade our litur- 
 gical offices, that in the use of them they may " offer 
 up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus 
 Christ," is the sincere prayer of 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
PART FIRST. 
 
 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IMPERFECT STATE OF ENGLISH ELOCUTION 
 AND ITS CAUSES. 
 
 That Divine Service in general is not performed 
 with that solemnity, distinctness and propriety which 
 the nature of such service demands; nor discourses 
 delivered from the pulpit with such powers of persua- 
 sion, or forcible Elocution, as alone can make them 
 produce their intended effects, is generally admitted. 
 
 In short, that good public reading or speaking, is 
 rarely found in a country where reading and speaking 
 in public are more generally used than in any other 
 in the world ; where the doing them well is a matter 
 of the utmost importance to the state and to society ; 
 and where promotion or honour to individuals, is sure 
 to attend even a moderate share of merit in those points, 
 is a truth which cannot be denied ; it is manifested in 
 our legislatures and churches, on the bench and at 
 the bar. 
 
 If any stranger in China, observing the uncommon 
 smallness of feet in all the women ; or, in some savage 
 countries, the uncouth shape of the head in whole na- 
 tions of Barbarians, some formed into a conical figure 
 3# 
 
!32 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 like that of a sugar-loaf, others flattened at the top and 
 rendered square ; should not be acquainted with the 
 causes of these extraordinary appearances, he would 
 be apt to conclude that they were defects and blem- 
 ishes of nature. But when he should be told, that the 
 feet of the former were bound in the tightest manner 
 with bandages from childhood, on purpose to prevent 
 their growth ; and the skulls of the latter, from the 
 hour of the infant's birth, whilst yet they were unclos- 
 ed, and yielded to impression, were industriously 
 moulded into those forms, from a mistaken idea of 
 beauty ; how would he wonder at the folly of nations, 
 that could persevere in such absurd customs? 
 
 Yet much more to be wondered at, would the con- 
 duct of a civilized people be, who should persevere in 
 a custom far more fatal ; that of binding up and con- 
 tracting from early childhood, and moulding into un- 
 natural forms, the faculties of speech, which are 
 amongst the most noble, useful, and ornamental, that 
 are possessed by man ; by which he is in a more espe- 
 cial manner distinguished from brutes; and without 
 the perfect use of which, he cannot, in many cases, 
 as he ought, discharge his duty to his neighbour, his 
 country, or his God. 
 
 Such has been the course in regard to the art of de- 
 livery, among ourselves and our forefathers. Our 
 deficiency in it, must he ascribed to a method of 
 teaching it, erroneous and defective to the last degree. 
 
 For a long time after letters had been introduced 
 into Britain, the art of reading was known only to a 
 few. Those were days of ignorance and rudeness; 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 23 
 
 and to be able to read at all was thought little less than 
 miraculous. Such times were not proper for cultivat- 
 ing that art, or bringing it to perfection. After the re- 
 vival of the dead languages among us, which suddenly- 
 enlightened the minds of men, and diffused general 
 knowledge, one would imagine that great attention 
 would have been paid to an art, which was cultivated 
 with so much care by those ancients, to whom we 
 were indebted for all our light ; and that it would have 
 made an equal progress amoug us, with the rest which 
 we had borrowed from them. But it was this very cir- 
 cumstance, the revival of the dead languages, which 
 put a stop to all improvement in the art of reading ; 
 and which has continued it in the same low state from 
 that time to this. From that period, the minds of men 
 took a wrong bias. Their whole attention was em- 
 ployed in the cultivation of the artificial, to the ne- 
 glect of the natural language. Letters, not sounds ; 
 writing, not speech, became the general care. To 
 make boys understand what they read ; to explain the 
 meaning of the Greek and Roman authors; and to 
 write their exercises according to the laws of gram- 
 mar or prosody in a dead language, were the chief 
 objects of instruction. While that of delivery was so 
 wholly neglected, that the best scholars often could 
 not make themselves understood in repeating their own 
 exercises; or disgraced beautiful composition by an 
 ungracious delivery. Those who taught the first rudi- 
 ments of reading, thought their task finished when 
 their pupils could read fluently, and observe their 
 stops. This employment requiring no great talents, 
 
24 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 usually fell to the lot of old women, or men of mean 
 capacities; who could teach no other mode of utter- 
 ance than what they possessed themselves ; and conse- 
 quently were not likely to communicate any thing of 
 propriety or grace to their scholars. If they brought j 
 with them any bad habits, such as stammering, mum- 
 bling, an indistinct articulation, a constrained, unnatural 
 tone of voice, brought on from imitation of some other; 
 or if they were unable to pronounce certain letters, 
 these poor creatures, utterly unskilled in the causes of 
 these defects, sheltered their ignorance under the ge- 
 neral charge of their being natural impediments, and ' 
 sent them to the Latin school, with all their imper- • 
 fections on their heads. The master of that school, as ; 
 little skilled in these matters as the other, neither \ 
 knew how, nor thought it part of his province to at- 
 tempt a cure; and thus the disorder generally passed } 
 irremediable through life. Such was the state of this i 
 art on the first propagation of literature, and such it 
 notoriously remains to this day. 
 
 When we reflect on the general benefit that would } 
 accrue from bringing this art to perfection; that it 
 would be useful to many professions ; necessary to the 
 most numerous and respectable order established among 
 us ; ornamental to all individuals, whether male or fe- 
 male; and that the state of public elocution must in a 
 great measure be affected by it, it would be apt to 
 astonish one to think that there has been so little pro- 
 gress made in it. 
 
 When we consider too that the world has always 
 been clamorous in their complaints upon this head, hav- 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 25 
 
 ing too generally occasion to regret the low state of 
 this art, in their attendance on the most important duty, 
 that of public worship ; and that there are multitudes 
 whose interest and inclination it would be to improve 
 themselves in it, had they the means in their power, 
 and could they obtain regular instruction ; it would sur- 
 prise one at first that no one has as yet devised such 
 a method, which would certainly be attended with 
 great emoluments to him. And indeed the prospect 
 was so inviting, that many have been the attempts 
 which have been made in that way from time to time; 
 but they all failed from the same cause ; which was, 
 that they who attempted it were men skilled in letters, 
 but not in sounds ; and they were blind enough to ima- 
 gine that the knowledge of the one necessarily includ- 
 ed that of the other. Whereas the very reverse is 
 true ; as it would be impossible to treat justly of sounds, 
 until the man of letters shall have first divested himself 
 of all the prejudices and errors which he had imbibed 
 with regard to that article, from the time of his first 
 learning the alphabet ; for in that lies the source of all 
 our mistakes. They took the alphabet as they found 
 it, and thought it perfect ; whereas this alphabet, on 
 the revival of the learned languages, was borrowed 
 from the Roman, though it by no means squared with 
 our tongue. As a proof of which it is certain that we 
 have twenty-eight simple sounds in our tongue, and have 
 in reality but twenty characters to mark them, though 
 more letters appear in the alphabet. This reduced men 
 in the beginning to a thousand clumsy contrivances, in 
 those unenlightened days, to make such an alphabet 
 
26 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 answer the end at all ; but it was done at such an ex- 
 pence as to make the learning to read and spell pro- 
 perly a tedious and difficult task, which required the 
 labour of many years to accomplish. These contri- 
 vances of theirs in spelling, to make a defective alpha- 
 bet answer the end of representing words, have so 
 confounded our ideas with regard to the powers of 
 several letters, applied to a variety of different uses, 
 that all the systems hitherto produced upon that point 
 have been a perfect chaos. Nothing can be a stron- 
 ger proof of the gross errors into which literary men 
 fell, in their several grammars and treatises upon this 
 subject, than that the best of them have mistaken 
 diphthongs for simple sounds, and simple sounds for 
 diphthongs ; compound consonants for single, and sin- 
 gle for compound. Nay, what is still more extraor- 
 dinary, that they have even mistaken vowels for con- 
 sonants. What superstructure built on such funda- 
 mental errors could stand ? 
 
 The first necessary step towards establishing rules 
 for this art upon any solid foundation, is, as in all others, 
 to ascertain the number, and explain the nature of its 
 first simple elements ; for any error there, must carry 
 an incorrigible taint throughout. 
 
 It will be granted that in repeating the alphabet of 
 any tongue, every simple sound contained in that 
 tongue ought to be heard in it ; that being the very na- 
 ture and end of forming an alphabet : and in order that 
 the written language should correspond to the spoken, 
 each simple sound should have its peculiar mark, for 
 which it should invariably stand. I have shewn that 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 27 
 
 by adopting an alphabet no way suited to our tongue, 
 neither of these is, nor can be the case. The conse- 
 quence of which has been, that all attempts towards 
 establishing a theory of our sounds, have hitherto end- 
 ed in confusion and error ; and the practical part of 
 reading and spelling our words has been so loaded with 
 difficulties, that it requires the labour of years to over- 
 come it. For want of a just theory, no method has 
 hitherto been found out for teaching justness of utter- 
 ance, and propriety of pronunciation; and mankind are 
 left on this occasion wholly to the guidance of chance, 
 catching up that general mode of utterance which pre- 
 vails in the places of their nativity ; and singularities 
 of pronunciation and tones from their parents, masters, 
 companions, or domestics. 
 
 Without knowing the nature and properties of the 
 simple elements or letters, it will be impossible after- 
 wards to discern their peculiar beauty and force when 
 united in words; and the expression and harmony aris- 
 ing from the combination of those words in sentences, 
 or their arrangement in verse. In short, all true criti- 
 cal skill in the sound of language, must have its founda- 
 tion here. This was a favourite study amongst the an- 
 cients, and men of the greatest abilities, and dignity in 
 the state, applied themselves to it with ardour. Mes- 
 sala among the Romans got an immortal name, for 
 writing an express treatise on a single letter : and the 
 honours of Greece were decreed at the Olympic games 
 to Apollodorus, for having made some new discoveries 
 in that way. Quinctilian, in recommending a close at- 
 tention to the study of the simple elements, has this 
 
28 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 remarkable passage ; c Not, says he, that there is any 
 great difficulty in dividing the letters into vowels and 
 consonants ; and subdividing the latter into mutes and 
 semivowels; but because whoever will enter into the 
 inmost recesses of this, I may call it, sacred edifice, 
 will find many things not only proper to sharpen the 
 ingenuity of children, but able to exercise the most 
 profound erudition, and deepest science.' Such were 
 the sentiments of the great ancients upon this important 
 article, and those sentiments were carried into execu- 
 tion. The consequence of which was, that all the 
 powers of elocution, and all the elegancies of composi- 
 tion both in poetry and prose, were carried to a degree I 
 of perfection, unknown in any other age or country in 
 the world. While we are so little acquainted with 
 fundamentals, that all we are taught with regard to the 
 elements of speech, is a distinction of the letters into 
 consonants and vowels ; and another distinction of the 
 former into mutes and liquids. And even in this dis- 
 tinction, a mistake has been committed in describing 
 the nature of liquids, which are said to have obtained 
 that name from their fine flow and smoothness to the 
 ear: whereas one of them, r, is the roughest letter in 
 speech; and m was considered as a disagreeable sound, 
 and called the bellowing letter by the ancients, from 
 its resemblance to the lowing of oxen, and on that ac- 
 count was frequently struck out by an elision in the 
 measure of Roman poetry. But the true reason of the 
 name of liquids arose from their property of uniting 
 readily with other consonants, and flowing as it were 
 into their sounds. 
 
 
LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 29 
 
 All the powers of sound must remain in a state of 
 confusion, or impenetrable darkness, while the custom 
 continues of applying ourselves wholly to the study of 
 the written language, and neglecting that of speech. 
 When the art of reading with propriety shall have 
 been established and produced its effects, a new field 
 will be opened to our writers, unknown to their prede- 
 cessors, for composition both in poetry and prose, 
 which will display in a new light the vast compass of 
 our language in point of harmony and expression, from 
 the same cause which produced similar effects at 
 Rome in the writers of the Ciceronian or Augustan age. 
 For it was at that period that the Romans first applied 
 themselves to the cultivation of the living language, hav- 
 ing before, like us, employed themselves wholly about 
 the written. How is it possible, indeed, that the compass 
 and harmony whereof an instrument is susceptible, 
 can be perceived, if the keys are either touched at 
 random, or ouly a few simple airs played upon it learn- 
 ed by ear. 
 
30 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ARTICULATION. 
 
 A good articulation, consists, in giving every letter 
 in a syllable, its due portion of sound, according to 
 the most approved custom of pronouncing it; and in 
 making such a distinction, between the syllables, of 
 which words are composed, that the ear shall without 
 difficulty acknowledge their number ; and perceive at 
 once, to which syllable each letter belongs. Where 
 these points are not observed, the articulation is pro- 
 portionally defective. 
 
 A good articulation is to the ear, in speaking, what 
 a fair and regular hand is to the eye, in writing ; and 
 exactness in sounding the words rightly, corresponds 
 to propriety in spelling ; in both cases, the understand- 
 ing can comprehend what is offered to it, with ease 
 and quickness, and without being obliged to have re- 
 course to painful attention. Fairness and exactness of 
 hand is not thought a necessary qualification of a gen- 
 tleman; and is expected only from writing-masters 
 and clerks. Nor is it a disgrace to him, even to write | 
 such a hand, as is scarcely legible. The more irregu- 
 lar the hand is, the more time and pains indeed it will 
 cost the reader, to make out the words ; but then he 
 may do this at his leisure, as the marks are permanent. 
 With regard to articulation, in which the marks of the 
 words vanish as they are spoken, this is not the case ; 
 
ARTICULATION. 31 
 
 and therefore it should be so distinct, that the hearer, 
 may with ease, go along with the speaker, at the same 
 pace. For if he should stop, to set anything right, 
 that is amiss in the speaker, whilst his attention is em- 
 ployed on that point, he loses irrecoverably, all that 
 is said during that time. It is therefore in itself, a 
 matter much more essentially necessary, that a speak- 
 er should have a clear and distinct articulation, than 
 that a writer should be master of a good hand. 
 
 But it is a disgrace to a gentleman, to be guilty of 
 false spelling, either by omitting, changing, or adding 
 letters contrary to custom ; and yet it shall be no dis- 
 grace to omit letters, or even syllables in speaking, 
 and to huddle his words so together, as to render them 
 utterly unintelligible. Yet surely, exactness in the lat- 
 ter, is a point of much more importance than in the 
 former article, in whatever light we view it. The 
 writing of a gentleman is submitted but to one reader 
 at a time ; who may examine it at his leisure, supply 
 any defects of orthography, and decypher the meaning, 
 though the characters be ever so irregular. But the 
 words of one who speaks in public, whether delivered, 
 or read from notes, may be, at one and the same time, 
 addressed to many hundred hearers; who must lose 
 the benefit or purposed end of the discourse, in pro- 
 portion as it is indistinctly pronounced. 
 
 The reason of the unequal judgment passed tyy man- 
 kind in this case is, that written language is taught by 
 rule, and it is thought a shame for any one, to trans- 
 gress the known rules of an art, in which he has been 
 instructed. But spoken language is not regularly 
 
32 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 taught, but is left to chance, imitation, and early ha- 
 bit : and therefore, like all other things left to chance, 
 or unsettled principles, is liable to innumerable ir- 
 regularities and defects. And in this case, mankind 
 reciprocally claim, and allow indulgence to each other. 
 That this is the true reason, will be evident from this 
 consideration, that amongst the Greek and Romans, 
 where speaking was regularly taught, the smallest error 
 committed in pronouncing, was equally disgraceful in 
 men, as false spelling is with us. 
 
 Hence it comes to pass that faults in articulation, 
 early contracted, are suffered to gain strength by habit, 
 and to grow so inveterate by time, as to be incurable ; 
 partly through want of attention to the point in early 
 years ; and partly through want of skilful persons to re- 
 medy the evil after it has been suffered to take root. 
 
 I dare boldly affirm, that of the multitude of instances 
 which offer, of a vitiated articulation, there is not one 
 in a thousand, which proceeds from any natural defect 
 or impediment. Of this point I had many proofs, in 
 the school where I received my first rudiments of learn- 
 ing; and where the master made pronunciation a chief 
 object of his attention ; in which I never knew, a single 
 instance, of his failing to cure, such boys as came to 
 him with any defects of that kind; though there were 
 numbers, who lisped or stuttered to a great degree, on 
 their first entrance into the school; or who were 
 utterly unable to pronounce some letters, and others 
 very indistinctly. 
 
 The first, and most essential point in articulation, is 
 distinctness, and therefore, its opposite is the greatest 
 
ARTICULATION. 33 
 
 fault. Indistinctness, to a certain degree, renders the 
 speaker unintelligible; or demands a more than ordi- 
 nary attention, which is always painful to the hearer. 
 The chief source of indistinctness, is too great preci- 
 pitancy of speech. 
 
 In all accounts of Demosthenes, we are informed, 
 that to cure some impediments in his speech, he used 
 to exercise himself in declaiming with pebble-stones in 
 his mouth. What those impediments were, or how so 
 uncommon a method, should contribute to their remo- 
 val, is left to conjecture; nor can I find that there has 
 been any attempt made, to explain this point. But the 
 difficulty will immediately be solved, if we suppose, 
 that the imperfection which he wanted to remedy, was, 
 an indistinct articulation ; that owed its origin to a too 
 great precipitancy of utterance : for the pebble-stones 
 in that case, properly placed in the mouth, would im- 
 pede the usual velocity in the action of the tongue, and 
 bring it in time to a due degree of slowness: besides, 
 they would be a constant memorandum to himself, to 
 avoid any rapidity of utterance, which otherwise, from 
 custom, without some memento of that kind, he would 
 be apt to fall into. 
 
 The example of this prince of orators, affords the 
 highest encouragement, to all men who labour under 
 imperfections of speech, to endeavour their cure; as 
 by diligence, and using proper means, they have rea- 
 son to expect success. For perhaps there was not any 
 one of his age, who laboured under so many defects in 
 that way, even after he had advanced several years in 
 
 manhood ; and yet he not only got the better of all 
 
 4* 
 
34 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 those, but arrived at such a pitch of exactness, delica- 
 cy, and power of delivery, as soon threw all competi- 
 tors at a distance ; though elocution had arrived at such 
 perfection in his days, that it might justly be called the 
 age of orators. And all this, as we are informed, was 
 chiefly accomplished by his own labour and assiduity. 
 This of all others is the most encouraging circumstance 
 in these times, when a man can have little assistance 
 from others, and must chiefly rely upon himself, and 
 his own endeavours, to apply closely to the cure of 
 any ill habits of delivery, and not to despair of success. 
 To cure any imperfections in speech, arising origi- 
 nally from too quick an utterance, the most effectual 
 method, will be, to lay aside an hour every morning, 
 to be employed in the practice of reading aloud, in a 
 manner much slower than is necessary. This should 
 be done in the hearing of a friend, or some person 
 whose 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 sound all his syllables full, and have that point 
 only in view, without reference to the sense 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 sort, I would have 
 him, for some time, read the words of a vocabulary, in 
 the alphabetical order. In this way, he will soon find 
 out, what letters and syllables, he is apt to sound too 
 faintly, and slur over. Let him make a list of those 
 words ; and be sure to pronounce them over distinctly, 
 every morning, before he proceeds to others. Let 
 
ARTICULATION. 35 
 
 him accustom himself also, when alone, to speak his 
 thoughts aloud, in the same slow manner, and with the 
 same view. Otherwise, though he may get a habit of 
 reading more slowly, he will fall into his usual manner, 
 in discourse : and this habit of speaking aloud, when 
 alone, will not only bring him to a more distinct utter- 
 ance, but produce a facility of expression, in which 
 silent thinkers, are generally defective. 
 
 There is one cause of indistinct articulation, which 
 is almost universal, and which arises from the very 
 genius of our tongue ; so that unless great care be ta- 
 ken, it is scarcely possible, but that every one should 
 be affected by it, in some degree. Every word, com- 
 posed of more syllables than one, in our language, has 
 one syllable accented, and peculiarly distinguished 
 from the rest ; either by a smart percussion of the voice, 
 or by dwelling longer upon it. If this accented sylla- 
 ble be properly distinguished, the word will often be 
 sufficiently known, even though the others are sounded 
 very confusedly. This produces a negligence, with 
 regard to the articulation of the other syllables; which 
 though it may not render the sense obscure, yet destroys 
 all measure and proportion, and consequently all har- 
 mony in delivery. This fault is so general, that I 
 would strongly recommend at first, the practice of pro- 
 nouncing the unaccented syllables more fully, and 
 dwelling longer upon them, than is necessary, as the 
 only means, of bringing those, whose utterance is too 
 rapid, to a due medium. It is true there are some, 
 who through the misfortune of bad instruction, or preva- 
 lence of early bad example, have a tedious drawling 
 
36 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 utterance, dwelling almost equally on all syllables, (of 
 which I shall speak more under the head of accent); 
 but as this is neither consonant to the genius of the 
 tongue, nor the customary manner of speech in this 
 country, there is no great danger of erring on that side. 
 
ACCENT. 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ACCENT. 
 
 Without entering into a more particular considera- 
 tion of letters and syllables, which are the component 
 parts of words ; (a prolix discussion of that branch of 
 the subject being unnecessary in a work like this :) I 
 shall now proceed to the consideration of that article 
 which constitutes the very essence of words. 
 
 As words may be formed of various numbers of syl- 
 lables, from one up to eight or nine, it was necessary 
 that there should be some peculiar mark to distinguish 
 words from mere syllables, otherwise speech would be 
 nothing but a continued succession of syllables, without 
 conveying ideas : for, as words are the marks of ideas, 
 any confusion in. the marks, must cause the same in 
 the ideas for which they stand. It was, therefore, 
 necessary, that the mind should at once perceive, what 
 number of syllables belong to each word, in utterance. 
 This might be done by a perceptible pause at the end 
 of each word in speaking, in the same manner as we 
 make a certain distance between them in writing and 
 printing. But this would make discourse disgustingly 
 tedious; and though it might render words distinct, 
 would make the meaning of sentences confused. They 
 might also be sufficiently distinguished by a certain 
 elevation, or depression of the voice upon one syllable 
 
, 
 
 38 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 of each word, which was the practice of some nations, 
 as shall presently be explained. But the English 
 tongue has, for this purpose, adopted a mark of the , 
 easiest and simplest kind, which is called accent. By 
 accent is meant, a certain stress of the voice, upon a 
 particular letter of a syllable, which distinguishes it 
 from the rest, and, at the same time, distinguishes the b 
 syllable itself to which it belongs, from the others 
 which compose the word. Thus, in the word hab'it, [ 
 the accent upon the b distinguishes that letter from the ( 
 others, and the first syllable from the last. Add more 
 syllables to it, and it will still do the same ; as, hab'it- 
 able. In the word, repute, the u is the distinguished 
 letter, and the syllable which contains it, the distin- 
 guished syllable. But if we add more syllables to it, 
 as in the word, refutable, the seat of the accent is 
 changed to the first syllable, and p becomes the dis- 
 tinguished letter. Every word in our language, of 
 more syllables than one, has one of the syllables dis- ,. 
 tinguished from the rest in this manner, and every 
 monosyllable has a letter. Thus in the word hat', the , 
 t is accented, in hate, the vowel a. In cub', the 6, in . 
 cube the u. Hence every word in the language, which 
 may properly be called so, has an accent ; for the par- 
 ticles, such as a, the, to, in, &c. which are unaccented, 
 can scarce be called words, which seems to be implied 
 in the name given to them, and they are the fitter to 
 discharge their office by this difference made between 
 them. So that as articulation is the essence of sylla- 
 bles, accent is the essence of words; which, without 
 it, would be nothing more than a mere succession of 
 
ACCENT. 39 
 
 syllables. Thus simple as the state of the English 
 accent is, no article of speech has occasioned more 
 perplexity in those who have treated of it, merely by 
 confounding it with the accents. of the ancients, which 
 were quite different things. There is no subject of 
 antiquity which has more puzzled the literary world, 
 than that of the Greek accents ; the marks of which 
 have come down to us with their books, but the use 
 of them is utterly unknown. This gave rise to a con- 
 troversy, which was carried on for a great length of 
 time, by some of the most learned men, in different 
 parts of Europe ; but it ended, as most controversies 
 do, when people are not masters of their subject, with- 
 out producing any thing satisfactory to the world upon 
 that head. It was lately revived by a very learned 
 gentleman in England, with no better success; for 
 whoever will take the pains of reading Dr. Foster's 
 Book upon Accents, though he may see in it great 
 marks of erudition, and deep-reading, will find himself 
 as much in the dark, as he was before. These several 
 controvertists have proved their opponents to be wrong, 
 but none have been able to establish what is right. And 
 this arose from the same cause, which I have had occa- 
 sion to mention before, that these men of letters were 
 treating of a subject which regarded sounds, in which 
 they were unskilled. Let me now try, without equal 
 pretensions to literary merit, whether the greater atten- 
 tion which I have given to sounds, will not enable me 
 to clear away all the difficulties, in which this intricate 
 subject has been hitherto involved. 
 
40 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 I have said, that the chief reason of the confusion 
 which has appeared in the writings of all who have 
 treated on that subject, is, that they did not see the 
 difference between the use of the ancient and modern 
 accent. Together with the term, they have also adopt- 
 ed their definition; whereas in reality they are two 
 things utterly distinct. The ancient accents, consist- ' 
 ed in the elevation, or depression of the voice : the 
 English accent, in the mere stress of the voice, with- f* 
 out any change of note. Among the Greeks, all syl- 
 lables were pronounced either in a high, low, or mid- 
 dle note ; or else in a union of the high and low by ' 
 means of the intermediate. The middle note, which 
 was exactly at an equal distance between the high and 
 the low, was that in which the unaccented syllables 
 were pronounced. But every word had one letter, if :[ 
 a monosyllable, or one syllable, if it consisted of more 
 than one, distinguished from the rest ; either by a note f 
 of the voice perceptibly higher than the middle note, 
 which was called the acute accent ; or by a note per- \ 
 ceptibly and in equal proportion lower than the middle 
 one, which was called the grave accent; or by a union ; ' 
 of the acute and grave on one syllable, which was f 
 done by the voice passing from the acute, through the - 
 middle note, in continuity down to the grave, which 
 was called the circumflex. 
 
 Now in pronouncing English words, it is true that 
 one syllable is always distinguished from the rest, but 
 it is not by any perceptible elevation or depression of : 
 the voice, any high or low note that it is done, but 
 merely by dwelling longer upon it, or giving it a more 
 
ACCENT. 41 
 
 forcible stroke. When the stress or accent is on the 
 vowel, we dwell longer on that syllable than the rest. 
 As, in the words, glory, father, holy. When it is on 
 the consonant, the voice, passing rapidly over the vow- 
 el, gives a smarter stroke to the consonant, which dis- 
 tinguishes that syllable from others ; as, in the words, 
 bat'tle, hab'it, bor'row. Thus we see, that the whole 
 difference between the ancients and us, lies in this; 
 that they distinguished one syllable from the rest by a 
 change of note upon it ; and we distinguish it equally 
 well, without any change of note, by stress only. To 
 illustrate this, let us suppose the same movements beat 
 upon the drum, and sounded by the trumpet. Take, 
 for instance, a succession of words, where the accent 
 is on every second syllable, which forms an Iambic 
 movement ; the only way by which a drum (as it is 
 incapable of any change of notes) can mark that move- 
 ment, is by striking a soft note first, followed by one 
 more forcible, and so on in succession. Let the same 
 movement be sounded by the trumpet, in an alterna- 
 tion of high and low notes, and it will give a distinct 
 idea of the difference between the English accent, and 
 those of the ancients.* 
 
 * Mr. Walker in his tf observations on the Latin and Greek 
 accent" thus controverts the opinion of our author. " Mr. 
 Sheridan, with his usual decision tells us that accent is only a 
 greater force upon one syllable than another, without any 
 relation to the elevation or depression of the voice : while al- 
 most every other writer on the subject makes the elevation or 
 depression of the voice inseparable from accent. When 
 words are pronounced in a monotone as the bellman repeats 
 
42 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 The difficulty of conceiving the use of the ancient 
 accents, arises from our never having heard any peo- 
 ple speak, who had taken the pains to reduce their 
 
 his verses, the crier pronounces his advertisements, or the 
 clerk of a church gives out the psalm, we hear an ictus or ac- 
 centual force upon the several accented syllables which distin- 
 guishes them from the others, but no more variety of tone 
 than if we were to beat the syllables upon a drum, which may 
 be louder or softer, but cannot be higher or lower ; this is pro- 
 nouncing according to Mr. Sheridan's definition of accent : 
 and this pronunciation certainly comes under the definition of 
 singing ; it is singing ill indeed, as Julius Caesar said of a bad 
 reader, but still it is singing, and therefore essentially different 
 from speaking ; for in speaking, the voice is continually sliding 
 upwards or downwards ; and in singing it is leaping, as it were 
 from a lower to a higher, or from a higher to a lower note : 
 the only two possible ways of varying the human voice with 
 respect to elevation or depression." But Mr. W. admits, that 
 " that excellent scholar, Mr. Forster," and that "most inge- 
 nious, learned and candid inquirer 1 ' Mr. Nares, were of the 
 same opinion with Mr. Sheridan. 
 
 It is left for the reader to judge whether Walker has, in this 
 instance, done justice to Sheridan. It should be borne in 
 mind, that our author makes an important distinction between 
 accent and emphasis. The former, he considers as ee the link 
 which ties syllables together and forms them into words." 
 " The essence of a syllable consists in articulation only; — but 
 the essence of a word, consists in accent as well as articula- 
 tion. This will be made clear by an example. If I pronounce 
 the word ar-ti-cu-la-tion, in that manner without distinguish- 
 ing any syllable from the rest, it is no longer a word, but a 
 succession of syllables ; but when I pronounce it articulation, 
 laying an accent on the syllable la, that it is which constitutes 
 a word, by uniting the preceding syllables and the subsequent 
 
ACCENT. 43 
 
 common mode of utterance, like singing, to a musical 
 proportion : for, surely there is nothing in the nature of 
 things, to prevent our modifying the various notes of 
 the speaking voice, by a due proportion, any more 
 than those of the singing voice. We know for certain, 
 that the Greeks and Romans did modulate their sever- 
 
 one to itself. Emphasis unites words together and forms them 
 into sentences, or members of sentences. Accent is the mark 
 which distinguishes words from each other as simple types of 
 our ideas, without reference to their agreement or disagree- 
 ment : emphasis is the mark which points out the several 
 degrees of relationship, and the rank which they hold in the 
 mind. Accent addresses itself to the ear only; emphasis 
 through the ear to the understanding. Were there no accents, 
 words would be resolved into their original syllables ; were 
 there no emphasis, sentences would be resolved into their 
 original words ; and in this case, the hearer must be at the 
 pains himself, first of making out the words, and afterwards 
 their meaning." 
 
 The inflexions of voice and variety of tones which are ne- 
 cessary to graceful and effective delivery, may be more ap- 
 propriately classed among the properties of emphasis than 
 those of accent.— For it must be manifest I think, to every 
 one who seriously reflects on the subject, that they are 
 dependent upon sentiments uttered, or emotions of the mind } 
 rather than upon the quantity or quality of syllables and 
 words. 
 
 That Mr. S. does not advocate that monotonous sing-song 
 style of Elocution which Mr. Walker would represent to be 
 the necessary consequence of his doctrine upon the accent, 
 will be manifest to the reader when we come to present some 
 extracts from his Lectures on the pitch and management of 
 the voice, tones, &c. — Ed. 
 
44 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 al languages in that way, and carried the point to per- l< 
 fection ; though in this we do not find they were ever f 
 followed by any other people* 
 
 If it be asked how it was possible that these nice 
 proportions could be observed in common discourse 
 by a whole people ; it may be answered that this was k 
 a matter not left to chance. When the practice of 
 the best orators of Greece, had established the pro- - 
 portion of these accents, observation on the pleasing 
 effects which such proportion produced on the ear, k 
 gave rise to the rules of art ; and the children of all 
 the better class of people, were regularly taught these [ ' 
 proportions, at the same time that they learned to read, 
 by the same masters who taught the art of singing, 
 and playing upon musical instruments : for the use of 
 a false accent, would have been an unpardonable fault, 
 in any one who attempted to speak in public. This 
 uniformity in the higher class, was easily transferred, " 
 
 * Mr. Sheridan refers to the Scotch as using freely the acute, 
 grave and circumflex, though not in the same regular and j ( 
 musical cadences which distinguished those accents among the 
 ancient Greeks. As one consequence of this peculiarity of the 
 Scotch pronunciation, the term canting, or chanting, has been 
 extensively applied to their style of public Elocution, and es- 
 pecially in the pulpit. So universal and popular was this 
 chanting style in the days of Whitefield, that when that emi- 
 nent minister of Jesus Christ (who was one of the most 
 accomplished and powerful orators the world ever saw,) *visit- 
 ed Scotland, he was received with little favour, on account of 
 his natural style of Elocution : the common remark was, that 
 he wanted the holy tone! — Ed. 
 
ACCENT. 45 
 
 by imitation and custom, to those of an inferior order. 
 | And though possibly, they, who had not the benefit of 
 j such regular instruction, might not be so critically ex- 
 act in the use of those accents, as they who had, yet 
 the difference was but small; and we are particularly 
 assured, that in Athens, where oratory was at its high- 
 I est pitch, the utterance of the lowest citizen was as 
 | correct, and his ear as pure, as those of the first class. 
 As the English have but one accent, so they have 
 • but one mark in writing to point it out; and this mark 
 ! is one of those used in Greek books, as it is pretend - 
 I ed, to point out their accents, though in reality they 
 I are quite insignificant. But as if there were some fa- 
 tality, that every thing should contribute to puzzle this 
 I subject among the learned, our casually borrowing the 
 mark of the acute accent from the Greek, has made 
 them, by an association of ideas, consider every ac- 
 cented syllable with us, as elevated, or pronounced in 
 a higher note than the rest. So that had the grave 
 instead of the acute been adopted to be our mark, 
 they would upon the same principle, have considered 
 all those syllables as depressed, or uttered in a lower 
 note than the rest. But had we luckily pitched upon 
 I some mark of our own, which had no similitude to 
 any of the Greek accents, there never would have 
 been the least question about high and low with regard 
 to those syllables, and the learned would have fallen 
 in of eourse with the general idea, that of its only 
 marking the syllable on which the stress of the voice 
 
 is to be laid. For I think I may appeal to all my 
 
 5* 
 
46 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 hearers, whether upon any dispute, about the pronun- I; 
 
 ciation of a word, when the question is asked upon f 
 
 which syllable the accent ought to be laid, as, adver'- i 
 
 tisement or advertisement, concordance or concor- p 
 
 dance, it ever enters into their heads, that this question i 
 means, on which syllable the voice is to be raised ; or 
 whether they do not understand it to be, on which 
 
 syllable we are to lay the greatest stress. Indeed the a 
 
 very term itself, the accent, shews we have but one, ) 
 for had we more than one, they must be distinguished 
 by different names as among the Greeks ; and that one, 
 
 I have clearly shewn to be a monotone, as before ex- p 
 
 emplified by the notes of a drum. The adventitious t 
 
 sense annexed to the term from adopting the ancient s 
 
 definition, has been the chief cause of the many errors S 
 
 and endless disputes upon this subject. But there have |» 
 been also several other meanings annexed to this word,, 
 
 which have served to heighten the confusion. Some- I; 
 
 times it is used instead of emphasis; sometimes to ex- i 
 
 press the different dialect in pronunciation; and some- p 
 
 times the peculiar tone or brogue of different countries, j 
 
 such as the Scotch, Irish, or Welch, accent. But I > 
 
 shall always confine it, when speaking of the English j) 
 accent, to its true meaning, as set forth in the defini- 
 tion, which I shall here repeat. Accent is a certain 
 
 stress of the voice upon a particular letter of a syllable ii 
 
 which distinguishes it from the rest, and at, the same i 
 
 time distinguishes the syllable itself, to which it belongs, i 
 from the others in a word. 
 
 The only difference of our accent depends upon its U 
 
 seat, which may be either upon a vowel, or a conso- i 
 
ACCENT. 47 
 
 i nant. Upon a vowel, as in the words glory, father, 
 j holy. Upon a consonant, as in the words ha&'it, bor'- 
 j row, battle. When the accent is on the vowel the 
 syllable is long, because the accent is made by dwell- 
 I ing on the vowel a longer time than usual. When it 
 is on the consonant, the syllable is short ; because the 
 | accent is made by passing rapidly over the vowel and 
 ; giving a smart stroke of the voice to the following 
 ! consonant. Thus the words, ad'd, led', bid', rod', cub', 
 are all short, the voice passing quickly over the vowel 
 ; to the consonant; but, for the contrary reason, the 
 i words, all, laid, bide, road, cube, are long, the accent 
 ! being on the vowels, on which the voice dwells some 
 time, before it takes in the sound of the consonant. 
 Obvious as this point is, it has wholly escaped the obser- 
 vation of all our grammarians, prosodians, and compilers 
 of dictionaries, who, instead of examining the peculiar 
 genius of our tongue, implicitly, and pedantically fol- 
 lowed the Greek method, of always placing the ac- 
 centual mark over the vowel. Now the reason of this 
 practice among the Greeks was, that as their accents 
 consisted in change of notes, they could not be dis- 
 tinctly expressed but by the vowels ; in uttering which 
 the passage is entirely clear for the voice to issue, and 
 i not interrupted or stopped, as in the case of pronounc- 
 | ing the consonants. But our accent being of another 
 ! nature, can just as well be placed on a consonant as a 
 I vowel. By this method of marking the accented syl- 
 | lable, our compilers of dictionaries, vocabularies, and 
 I spelling books, must mislead provincials and foreigners, 
 in the pronunciation of perhaps one half of the words 
 
48 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 in our language. For instance, if they should look for 
 the word, endeavour; finding the accent over the vowel 
 e, they will of course sound it endea-vour. In the 
 same manner dedicate will be called de-dicate, precip'- 
 itate preci-pitate, phenomenon pheno-menon, and so i 
 on through all words of the same kind. And in fact, 
 we find the Scots do pronounce all such words in that 
 manner ; nor do they ever lay the accent upon the con- 
 sonant in any word in the whole language; in which, J 
 the diversity of their pronunciation from that of the 
 people of England, chiefly consists. It is a pity that j 
 our compilers of dictionaries should have fallen into 
 so gross an error; as the marking of the accents in the 
 right way, would have afforded one of the most gene- I 
 ral and certain guides to true pronunciation that is to 
 be found with respect to our tongue ; as it is an unerr- 
 ing rule throughout the whole, without a single excep- 
 tion, that whenever the accent is on the consonant, the 
 preceding vowel has always its first short sound, as 
 
 i i i i i 
 exemplified in the words, hat, bet, Jit, not, cub. And 
 
 indeed as accent is the chief clue we have to the whole 
 pronunciation of our tongue, while its nature was mis- 
 understood, and its use perverted, it was impossible '. 
 that provincials and foreigners could ever attain it; 
 and accordingly the difficulty of speaking English pro- 
 perly, has been found insurmountable to all, except the 
 well-educated natives. 
 
 I shall now conclude this head with a few practical 
 rules for the strict observation of the laws of accent ; 
 
ACCENT. 49 
 
 the necessity of which, I hope, is by this time appa- 
 ! rent to all my hearers. 
 
 All persons who pronounce English words properly, 
 of course lay the accent right, as that is a part of pro- 
 nunciation ; and never fail to do so in conversation. 
 But many, when they come to read or speak in public, 
 i transgress the rules of accent. This arises from a 
 I mistaken notion in some, that words are rendered more 
 j distinct to a large assembly, by dwelling longer upon 
 l the syllables which compose them; and in others, that 
 j it adds to the pomp and solemnity of public declama- 
 ! tion, in which they think every thing ought to be dif- 
 1 ferent from private discourse. This has been chiefly 
 the vice of the stage, and has principally given rise to 
 the distinction of what is commonly called Theatrical 
 Declamation, in opposition to that of the natural kind ; 
 into an imitation of which many public speakers have 
 ! been betrayed, and their manner called on that account 
 : Theatrical. Upon examination it would appear, that 
 it arises chiefly from their dwelling upon syllables that 
 are unaccented, through a notion that it makes the words 
 move more slow, stately, and uniform, than the quick- 
 er and more spirited accents will allow. This was a 
 fault which Shakspeare complained of in his time, and 
 which has not been thoroughly amended since ; though 
 there have been some late efforts towards it, and some 
 progress made in it. The passage alluded to in Shaks- 
 peare is in the advice given to the player by Hamlet; 
 where in laying down rules for a just delivery, he says, 
 Speak the speech I pray you as I pronounced it to 
 you, trippingly on the tongue ; but if you mouth it, as 
 
 I < 
 
50 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 some of our actors do, I had as lieve the town-crier 
 spoke my lines." By c trippingly on the tongue,' he 
 means the bounding from accent to accent; tripping 
 along from word to word, without resting on syllables 
 by the way. And by c mouthing, 7 is meant, dwelling 
 upon syllables that have no accent, and ought therefore 
 to be uttered as quickly as is consistent with distinct ( 
 articulation ; or prolonging the sounds of the accented 
 syllables, beyond their due proportion of time. The 
 least degree of faultiness in this respect, gives an arti- 
 ficial air to language,; inasmuch as it differs from the 
 usual, and what is commonly called, natural manner , 
 of utterance ; and is on that account, of all others, to 
 be avoided most by public speakers ; whose business 
 it is industriously to conceal art. If any one pronoun- 
 ces the words for-tune, en'-croac'h-me'nt, con'-jectiire, , 
 grat'i-tiide, tomorrow, hap'pine'ss, patien'ce ; he does 
 not utter words, at least not English words, but sylla- 
 bles ; which with us, are always tied together by an , 
 accent ; as for' tune, encroachment, conjecture, grat'i- j, 
 tude, tomor'row, hap'piness, patience. And yet, this j 
 is an error, which almost all persons who speak with , 
 solemnity, run into, for want of knowing in what true , 
 solemnity of delivery consists. Which, though it may ] 
 demand a slower utterance than usual, yet, requires , 
 that the same proportion in quantity be observed in , 
 the syllables, as there is in musical notes, when the , 
 same tune is played in quicker or slower time. But 
 of this I shall have occasion to speak more at large D 
 hereafter. 
 
ACCENT. 51 
 
 The only rule, with regard to this head, necessary 
 to be observed by all public speakers, who can pro- 
 nounce English properly, is to lay the accent always 
 on the same syllables, and the same letter of the sylla- 
 ble, which they usually do in common discourse, and 
 ■ to take care not to lay any accent or stress, upon any 
 | other syllable. A rule so plain and easy, that nothing 
 j but affectation, or bad habits, contracted from imitat- 
 | ing others, can prevent its always taking place. And 
 j yet the want of knowing, or attending to this rule, is 
 ! one of the chief sources, of the unnatural manner of 
 < declaiming, which is so generally complained of, though 
 ' few can tell exactly where the fault lies. 
 
 I shall only add upon this head, that there are few 
 things in our language, so regular, and well settled, as 
 the article of accent. It is true there are some words 
 that have occasioned many disputes about the seat of 
 ' the accent, and have had their different partisans ; such 
 ! as concordance or concordance, refractory or refrac'- 
 tory, corruptible, or corrup'tible, accen'ted, or accent- 
 ed ; the accenting of these being doubtful, every man 
 is at liberty to choose which he likes best; and in 
 giving the preference, the ear beyond all doubt ought 
 to be consulted, as to that which forms the most agreea- 
 ble sound, rather than an absurd, pedantic rule, attempt- 
 ed to be laid down, that of throwing the accent as far 
 back as possible ; which has no foundation in the ge- 
 nius of our tongue, and must frequently produce the 
 most discordant sounds. And if any one who has the 
 liberty of choosing, should prefer the sound of con- 
 cordance, to concordance ; refractory to refrac'tory, 
 
52 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 or corruptible to corruptible ; he cannot possibly 
 make any one form a better opinion of his judgment, 
 and I am sure he will give those who have any skill in 
 sounds, a very bad one of his ear. 
 
EMPHASIS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EMPHASIS. 
 
 | Having done with words, I shall now proceed to 
 | consider sentences, the most important article in which 
 I is that of emphasis. 
 
 As the man who attempts to pronounce words with- 
 ! out observation of accent, really does not utter words 
 i but syllables ; so the man who attempts to pronounce 
 I sentences without emphasis, really does not utter 
 sentences, but words. So that in speech, words are 
 the body ; pauses and stops give it shape and form, 
 and distinguish the several parts of the body ; but ac- 
 cent and emphasis are the life, blood, and soul, which 
 put it in motion, and give it power to act. And as 
 nothing can be more tedious to the ear, or irksome to 
 the mind, than a long succession of mere lifeless word?, 
 we need not wonder that our public readers and reci- 
 ters, who judge of language only in its written state, 
 and have never become acquainted with its nobler 
 properties as offered to the ear, are either so little 
 attended to, or heard with disgust. 
 
 What, then, is emphasis? Emphasis is of two 
 kinds ; simple and complex. Simple, when it serves 
 only to point out the plain meaning of any proposition; 
 complex, when besides the meaning, it marks also, 
 some affection or emotion of the mind; or gives a 
 
64 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 meaning to words, which they would not have in their 
 usual acceptation, without such emphasis. 
 
 The opinion that emphasis is only a more 'forcible 
 accent than ordinary laid upon the word to which it 
 belongs, and that it is exactly of the same nature, dif- 
 fering only in degree of force; is one, which to the 
 great prejudice of elocution, lias too generally prevail- 
 ed. 
 
 But there is an absolute and constitutional difference, 
 between accent and emphasis, as certainly there ought 
 to be, which consists in this; that every emphatic syl- 
 lable, besides a greater stress, is marked also by a 
 change of note in the voice. To shew the necessity 
 of this, we need only observe, that the mind, in com- 
 municating its ideas, is in a continual state of activity, 
 emotion, or agitation, from the different effects which 
 those ideas produce on the mind of the speaker. Now, 
 as the end of such communication is not merely to lay 
 open the ideas, but also all the different feelings which 
 they excite in him who utters them, there must be 
 some other marks, besides words, to manifest these; 
 as words uttered in a monotonous state, can only re- 
 present a similar state of mind, perfectly free from all 
 activity or emotion. As the communication of these 
 internal feelings was a matter of much more conse- 
 quence in our social intercourse, than the mere convey- 
 ing of ideas, so the Author of our being did not leave 
 the invention of this language, as in the other case, to 
 man, but stamped it himself upon our nature, in the 
 same manner as he has done with regard to the rest of 
 the animal world, who, all express their various feel- 
 
EMPHASIS. 55 
 
 ings, by various tones. Only ours from the superior 
 I rank that we hold, is infinitely more comprehensive; 
 as there is not an act of the mind, an exertion of the 
 fancy, or an emotion of the heart, which have not their 
 peculiar tone, or note of the voice, by which they are 
 to be expressed, all suited in the exactest proportion, 
 to the several degrees of internal feeling. It is in the 
 proper use of these tones chiefly that the life, spirit, 
 grace, and harmony of delivery consist ; and the rea- 
 son that this is a talent so rarely to be found, is, that 
 almost all the nations of the world have lost sight of 
 this language of nature, and substituted fantastical and 
 artificial notes in its room. 
 
 Languages may be divided into two classes, accen- 
 tual, and emphatical. The accentual are those, in 
 which various notes, or inflexions of the voice, are af- 
 fixed to words, either in their separate state, or when 
 united in sentences, without any regard to their mean- 
 ing. The emphatical are those, in which all the va- 
 rious notes and changes of the voice, are wholly regu- 
 lated by the meaning of the words, and the sentiments 
 which they contain. 
 
 Having defined the nature of the two kinds of lan- 
 guage, as distinguished into accentual, and emphatical ; 
 it may be a matter of curiosity, to examine which of 
 the two, upon a fair comparison, merits the preference ? 
 Though the discussion of this point may be considered 
 as of little use, farther than speculation, yet if it leads 
 us to a discovery, that the mode of utterance which 
 has fallen to our share, is in its own nature superior to 
 that of the ancients, it may induce us, to take pains, to 
 
56 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 carry it to perfection, and obtain that superiority over 
 them, to which we are thus entitled. In comparing 
 them, let us suppose them both in a state of perfection. 
 The accentual, certainly was among the ancients : the 
 emphatical, through want of attention, never has been 
 so among us. But as the former has been wholly lost 
 to us, the comparison can never be brought to the test 
 of experiment ; and therefore we are reduced to the 
 necessity of considering the point only hypothetically. 
 In order to judge which kind of language is best, we 
 must first consider what are the ends, which ought to 
 be proposed, in all attempts to bring language to per- 
 fection. They are two; one for use, the other for 
 pleasure. To attain the useful end, it is necessary to 
 be able to communicate, all that passes in the mind of 
 one man, to others. To attain the pleasurable end, 
 that this should be done in such a way, as to delight 
 and flatter the ear. The former is the essential, the lat- 
 ter, the ornamental part of discourse. All that passes in 
 the mind of man may be reduced to two classes, which 
 I shall call, ideas, and emotions. By ideas, I mean, 
 all thoughts which rise, and pass in succession, in the 
 mind of man : by emotions, all exertions of the mind, in 
 arranging, combining, and separating its ideas, as well 
 as all the effects produced on the mind itself, by those 
 ideas, from the more violent agitation of the passions, 
 to the calmer feelings, produced by the operations of 
 the intellect and fancy. In short, thought is the object 
 of the one; internal feeling of the other. That which 
 serves to express the former, I call the language of 
 ideas; and the latter, the language of emotions. Words 
 
EMPHASIS. 57 
 
 are the signs of the one ; tones, of the other. With- 
 out the use of these two sorts of language, it is impossi- 
 ble to communicate, through the ear, all that passes in 
 the mind of man. But there is an essential difference 
 between the two, which merits our utmost attention. 
 The language of ideas is wholly arbitrary ; that is, 
 words, which are the signs of our ideas, have no natu- 
 ral connexion with them, but depend purely upon con- 
 vention, in the different societies of men, where they 
 are employed; which is sufficiently proved, by the 
 diversity of languages spoken by the different nations 
 of the world. But it is not so with regard to the lan- 
 guage of emotions. Nature herself has taken care to 
 frame that for the use of man ; having annexed to every 
 act, and feeling of the mind, its peculiar tone, which 
 spontaneously breaks forth, and excites in the minds 
 of others, tuned invariably by the hand of nature in 
 unison to those notes, analogous emotions. When- 
 ever, therefore, man interferes, by substituting any other 
 notes, in the room of those which nature has annex- 
 ed to the acts and feelings of the mind, so far the lan- 
 guage of emotions is corrupted, and fails of its end. 
 For the chords of the human heart, thus tuned in uni- 
 son to the natural notes only, will never vibrate in 
 correspondence to those of the artificial kind. These 
 artificial notes are at best insignificant ; when not regu- 
 lated by certain rules of proportion, as in the irregular 
 accentual, they are discordant to the ear, and deform 
 utterance ; and when reduced to the nicest musical pro- 
 portion, as in the regular accentual, the utmost effect 
 they can produce, is, to delight the ear, and amuse the 
 6* 
 
58 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 fancy. But whether this be not purchasing a sensual, 
 or fantastic gratification, at too dear a rate, by sacri- 
 ficing to it that endless variety of notes, annexed by 
 nature to that endless variety of thoughts and emotions, 
 may justly be questioned. And however high my 
 idea of the ancient orators may be, and whatever pow- 
 erful effects may have been produced by their mode 
 of delivery, I cannot help thinking that with the same 
 skill and ability in all the other branches of oratory, 
 they would have produced effects still more powerful, 
 had they delivered themselves in a language constitut- 
 ed like ours, the language of nature, unsophisticated 
 by art. This may be illustrated by an instance of a 
 similar kind ; for I believe it will be allowed, that the 
 finest opera, with all the charms and expression of 
 music, and performed in the best manner possible, 
 however it may delight the ear, and captivate the 
 fancy, will not make an equal impression on the mind, 
 or move the passions to so high a degree, as a well- 
 acted tragedy, delivered with all the energy of emphat- 
 ic speech. 
 
 From this account of emphasis, the proper use of it 
 in reading, is clearly pointed out ; and is to be acquir- 
 ed by a due degree of attention and practice. Every 
 one who understands what he reads, cannot fail of 
 finding out each emphatic word ; and his business then 
 is to mark it properly, not by stress only, as in the 
 accented syllables, but by a change of note, suited to 
 the matter, which constitutes the essence of emphasis. 
 If it be asked how the proper change of note is always 
 to be hit upon, my answer is, that he must not only 
 
EMPHASIS. 59 
 
 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 enters into the spirit of the au- 
 thor's sentiments, as well as into the meaning of his 
 words, he will not fail to deliver the words in proper- 
 ly varied tones. For there are few people who speak 
 English without a provincial tone, that have not the 
 most accurate use of emphasis, when they utter their 
 sentiments in common discourse; and the reason that 
 they have not the same use of it, in reading aloud the 
 sentiments of others, is owing to the very defective 
 and erroneous method, in which the art of reading is 
 taught; whereby all the various, natural, expressive 
 tones of speech, are suppressed, and a few artificial, 
 unmeaning, reading notes are substituted in their room* 
 
 *The necessity of observing propriety of emphasis is so great, 
 that the true meaning of words, cannot be conveyed without 
 it. For the same individual words, ranged in the same order, 
 may have several different meanings, according to the placing 
 of the emphasis. Thus, to use a trite instance, the following 
 sentence may have as many different meanings, as there are 
 words in it, by varying the emphasis. "Shall you ride to town 
 to-morrow ?" If the emphasis is on shall, as, shall you ride to 
 town to-morrow? it implies, that the person spoken to had 
 expressed before such an intention, but that there is some doubt 
 in the questioner, whether he be determined on it or not, and 
 the answer may be, Certainly, or, I am not sure. If it be on 
 you, as, shall you ride to town to-morrow? the question im- 
 plies that some one is to go, and do you mean to go yourself, 
 or send some one in your stead? and the answer may be, No, 
 but my servant shall. If on ride, as, shall you ri v de, &c. the 
 
60 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 There is no article, in which more frequent mistakes i 
 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 chil- 
 dren are taught to read sentences which they do not 
 understand ; and as it is impossible to lay the emphasis [ 
 [ 
 
 answer may be, No, I shall walk. If on tow^n, a9 shall you 
 ride to tow'n to-morrow, the answer may be, No, but I shall 1 
 ride to the forest. If on to-morrow, as, shall you ride to town j 
 to-morrow, the answer may be, No, not to-morrow, but the 
 next day. 
 
 As there is no pointing out the very meaning of the words 
 by reading, without a proper observation of v emphasis, it surely ' 
 has been a great defect in the art of writing, that there have J 
 been no marks invented for so necessary a purpose; as it re- 
 quires at all times, a painful attention in the reader to the f 
 context, in order to be able to do it at all ; and in many cases, j 
 the most severe attention will not answer the end ; for the em- 
 phasis is often to be regulated, not by the preceding part of 
 the sentence, but by the subsequent one ; which frequently is 
 so long, that the motion of the eye, cannot precede the voice, P 
 with sufficient celerity, to take in the meaning in due time. \ 
 The want of such marks is no where so strongly perceived as 
 in the general manner of reading the Church Service ; which 
 is often so ill performed, that not only the beauty, and spirit of 
 the service is lost, but the very meaning is obscured, conceal- 
 ed, or wholly perverted. I have heard many clergymen, who 
 did not read one single sentence as it should be, from the begin- S 
 ning to the end ; and I have known but few who were not guilty r 
 of many faults in omitting, or misplacing the emphasis. And 
 on this account it is, that there is no composition in the Eng- 
 lish tongue, which is at all attended to, so little understood, in 
 general, as the Church Service. 
 
EMPHASIS. 61 
 
 i right, without perfectly comprehending the meaning of 
 I what one reads, they get a habit either of reading in a 
 j monotone, 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. 
 The way to prevent this, is, to put no book into their 
 hands, which is not suited to their slender capacities ; 
 and to take care that they never read any thing whose 
 meaning they do not fully comprehend. The best way, 
 indeed, of furnishing them with lessons for a long time, 
 would be to take down their common prattle, and 
 make them read it, just as they speak it ; only correct- 
 ing any bad habits they may have acquired in their ut- 
 terance. Thus they will early be initiated into the 
 practice of considering reading to be 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 help 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 will have the same unerring rule to 
 guide them after they have been written down ; and 
 in process of time, by constant practice in this way, 
 they will be able to deliver the sentiments of others, 
 from books in the same manner. This will be found 
 the best method, not only of giving them a just and 
 natural delivery in reading, but also of ensuring it to 
 them when they come afterwards to speak in public. 
 
 With regard to persons more advanced in life, who 
 have contracted a habit of neglecting, or misemploying 
 emphasis in reading, the best way to remedy this will 
 
 A 
 
62 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 be, to dedicate a certain portion of time every day toj 
 reading aloud some passages fr,om books, written in an 
 easy, familiar style ; and at every sentence, let them, 
 ask themselves this question, — how should I utter this,/ 
 were I speaking it as my own immediate sentiments ?i 
 In that case, on what words should I lay the emphasis,* 
 and with what change of notes in the voice ? Though at, 
 first they may find, that their former habit will counteract^ 
 their endeavors in this new way, yet by perseverance,!) 
 they will not fail of success ; particularly if they wWii 
 get each sentence by heart, for some time, and revolvd 
 it in their minds with that view, without looking at the 
 book. Nor should Jthey be discouraged by frequent 
 disappointments in their first attempts, but repeat the 
 same sentence over, till they have satisfied themselves. 
 For it is not the quantity that they read, which is to ( 
 be regarded in this case, but the right manner of doing? 
 it; and when they shall have mastered that in some in^ 
 stances, they will afterwards make a rapid progress to- 
 wards accomplishing it in all. 
 
 Nothing has contributed so much, and so universally 
 to the corruption of delivery, as the bad use which has' 
 been made of the modern art of punctuation, by intro- 
 ducing artificial tones into all sentences, to the exclu- 
 sion of the natural ; for the teachers of the art of read- 
 ing, in order to distinguish with greater accuracy, the 
 stops from each other in utterance, annexed to them 
 different notes of the voice, as well as different portions •[ 
 of time. Those which marked an incomplete sense,; 
 had an elevated note of the voice joined to them; those! 
 which marked a complete sense, a depressed, or lowi 
 
 ii 
 
EMPHASIS. g3 
 
 note. This uniform elevation and depression of the 
 voice, in all sentences alike, produced a new kind of 
 tone, which may be termed the reading brogue, with 
 *ivhich all who learned to read, even such as were free 
 from every other, kind, became infected. Nor is this 
 brogue confined to reading only, but in general has 
 made its way into all the several branches of public 
 speaking. And this, from an obvious cause. Boys 
 ire accustomed to repeat their lessons, declamations, 
 Sic. in the same manner as they read. This mode is 
 not only confirmed in them by habit, but they acquire 
 k predilection for it. They consider this species of 
 'delivery, which they have been taught, as far superior 
 ':o that kind which comes of course, without any pains, 
 find therefore judge it most proper to be used on all 
 
 Smblic occasions. Thus has this unnatural mode of ut- 
 erance spread itself in the senate-house, the pulpit, the 
 •bar, the stage, and every place where public declama- 
 tion is used ; insomuch that the instances of a just and 
 latural elocution are very rare : the want of which is 
 nost sensibly, and generally felt in our churches, 
 i Our neighbors the French are not altogether in the 
 same predicament with us, with regard to this article, 
 hough it is still in a very imperfect state among them, 
 or though they have been employed near a century 
 in regulating and refining their tongue, still it is, as 
 itvith us, the written, not the spoken language, which 
 ipas been the chief object of their attention. There is 
 )ne article of speech indeed, which they have tho- 
 roughly ascertained, and reduced to rule ; I mean pro- 
 nunciation. But as to the art of delivery, it has never 
 
64 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 so much as been thought of among them ; and all their 
 treatises of rhetoric and oratory have, for their object, ' 
 like ours, not speech, but only composition in writing, i 
 The art of reading, as taught there, differs from ours I 
 in one essential article, which has been the main cause 
 of the difference between their public elocution and [j 
 ours ; in which they certainly have a great superiority <-> 
 over us. The article I mean is this ; they have laid it 7 
 down as a maxim, that children are to be taught to p 
 read in a perfect monotone ; and this monotone is ever I 
 after used by them in reading works of all sorts, whether j: 
 in poetry or prose; and, from custom, is considered by t 
 the French, as the only just manner of reading. Nothing, ; 
 certainly, can be more absurd, nothing more contrary 
 to common sense, nature, and taste, than this mode of l 
 reading. Yet it is attended with one advantage, that 
 public elocution is not infected by it, as it is by our 
 method. The monotone is confined wholly to reading *> 
 but, in all public declamation, the speakers indulge 
 themselves in the free use of that variety, which is 
 natural to them ; and their preachers, who deliver their 
 discourses from memory, not notes, have an elocution 
 more animated, more varied, more just than ours, and 
 produce proportional effects upon their auditors. But 
 this method of reading was a poor expedient to bring 
 about a reformation in one of the articles of delivery: 
 for it is probable, that the first motive towards estab- 
 lishing this principle in the art of reading, was to put an 
 end to the different tones used by people of the different 
 provinces, by making all read alike in one uniform tone. 
 But this, with regard to the article of reading, was 
 
EMPHASIS. 65 
 
 only substituting one evil, and perhaps a worse one, in 
 the room of another; and with regard to the more im- 
 portant use of delivery, whether from memory, or ex- 
 temporaneous, it produced no effect at all ; as each in 
 that case, resumed his own habitual tone of utterance. 
 They who were in a situation of acquiring a propriety 
 of speech in conversation, from being bred among those 
 who spoke with purity, retained the same in public 
 delivery; while they, whose utterance was vitiated, 
 '■ by being bred up among those, whose provincial tones, 
 | or other irregularities of speech, prevailed in private 
 I discourse, brought the same faults with them into 
 public also. Thus, in comparing the two different 
 methods, used in England and France, in teaching the 
 art of reading, we find that the former carries a taint 
 in its root, which spreads through all branches of elo- 
 cution, withers the tree, and will never suffer it to 
 bear fruit : whereas the latter is perfectly inoffensive, 
 does neither harm nor good, and leaves nature and 
 custom to take their course. Now this view of these 
 two methods, may serve to point out a third to us; 
 which, avoiding equally the monotony of the French, 
 on the one hand, and the adventitious reading tones of 
 the English, on the other, should teach the art of read- 
 ing, upon principles of pure and correct speaking. 
 
G6 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 
 
 The next points I am to treat of, are the pitch and , 
 management of the voice; articles of the utmost im- „ 
 portance to give due force and proportion to all the \ 
 others. To the being heard with satisfaction, it is ne- 
 cessary that the speaker should deliver himself with , 
 ease. But if he does not know how to pitch his voice j 
 properly, he can never have the due management of it ; 
 and his utterance will be painful to himself, and irk- j 
 some to his hearers. 
 
 Every speaker who is not corrupted by bad habit, 
 has three pitches in his voice, the high, low, and mid- 
 dle pitch. The middle pitch is that which is used in 
 ordinary discourse, from which he either rises or falls 
 accordingly as the matter of his discourse, or emotions li 
 of his mind require. This middle pitch, therefore, is k 
 what ought to be generally used, for two reasons ; first, $ 
 because the organs of the voice are stronger, and more p 
 pliable in this pitch, from constant use : and second- I) 
 ly, because it is more easy to rise or fall from that ] 
 pitch, to high or low, with regular proportion. 
 
 Most persons, through want of skill and practice, i 
 when they read or speak in public, fall into one of i 
 the extremes. Either through timidity and diffidence Is 
 they use the low pitch, in which they are not heard at 
 all, or with so much trouble to the listener, as soon to io 
 
PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 67 
 
 weary attention : or if they aim at avoiding this fault, 
 they run into the high pitch ; which is productive of 
 consequences equally bad. The organs of the voice, 
 in this unusual pitch, are soon wearied, and languor 
 and hoarseness ensue. And as the reason for continu- 
 ing it, will be equally strong during the whole dis- 
 course, as for the first setting out in it, the speaker 
 must lose all the benefits which arise from variety, and 
 fall into a disgusting monotony. 
 
 The prevalence of this practice arises from a com- 
 mon mistake in those who speak for the first time in a 
 large room, and before a numerous auditory. They 
 conclude it impossible that they should be heard in 
 their common pitch of voice, and therefore change it 
 to a higher. Thus they confound two very distinct 
 things, making high and low, the same with loud and 
 soft. Loud and soft in speaking, is like the forte and 
 piano in music, it only refers to the different degrees 
 of force used in the same key : whereas high and low 
 imply a change of key. A man may speak louder or 
 softer in the same key ; when he speaks higher or low- 
 er, he changes his key. So that the business of every 
 one is to proportion the force or loudness of voice, to 
 the room, and number of his auditory, in its usual pitch. 
 If it be larger than ordinary, he is to speak louder, 
 not higher ; in bis usual key, not in a new one. And 
 whoever neglects this, will never be able to manage 
 his voice with ease to himself, or pleasure to his hear- 
 ers. • 
 
 It is evident that he who begins in the high pitch 
 on a supposition that he could not otherwise be heard, 
 
68 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 must for the same reason continue in that pitch through- |j 
 out. And they who set out under this delusion are apt \ 
 to continue in it all their lives, having but little chance 
 of being informed of their error. So that whenever 
 they deliver any thing in public they of course fall 
 into this unnatural key. 
 
 This error is no where more observable than in the 
 usual manner of reading Divine Service. The unnatu- 
 ral pitch of voice, is the first thing that strikes every 
 judicious ear, in the first sentence ttr clergyman utters, 
 which is continued throughout ; nor have I heard many 
 in my life who read the Service in their own proper 
 pitch. The quantity of sound, necessary to fill even 
 a large space, is much smaller than is generally ima- 
 gined; and to the being well heard, and clearly under- 
 stood, a good and distinct articulation, contributes 
 more than power of voice. Possessed of that, a man 
 with a weak voice, has infinite advantages over him who 
 has a strong one, without it. If the voice be weak, and the 
 articulation good, the attention and silence of the audi- 
 tory will be proportionally greater, that they may not 
 miss any thing that is said; whereas they are under 
 no such apprehensions from a loud speaker. He who 
 delivers himself in a moderate pitch, whenever his 
 subject demands that he should rise to a higher, or 
 sink to a lower, does it with ease and due proportion ; 
 and produces the effects which are to-be expected 
 from such change, and agreeable variety. Whilst he 
 who takes a high pitch, cannot rise, upon o&asion, 
 without running into discord, nor sink, with anj rule 
 of proportion to guide him. They who to avoid this 
 
PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 69 
 
 ; fault run into the opposite extreme, and begin in a 
 I lower pitch than is natural to them, err indeed on the 
 i safer side, but are equally distant from the point of 
 ] truth. It is true it is more easy to rise gradually and 
 j proportionally than to descend; but whilst they re- 
 I main in that key, it will appear equally unnatural, and 
 ! more languid than the other. And they will be very 
 apt through the body of their discourse, to run chiefly 
 into that key, in which they had set out. The true, 
 safe, and sure rule (unless upon extraordinary occasions 
 indeed) is always to begin in your usual pitch of speak- 
 ing ; if that should not prove strong enough, strength- 
 en it by practice ; if there be such a natural weakness 
 in the organs as that you cannot be heard in public 
 assemblies in that pitch, you had better give up all 
 thoughts of appearing in them ; or if your profession 
 obliges you to it, you must give up all hopes of speak- 
 ing gracefully, and agreeably, or even intelligibly. For 
 he who is obliged to strain his voice in order to be 
 heard, will scarce articulate well. The office of ar- 
 ticulation is of a very delicate nature, and requires that 
 the organs which perform it, should not be disturbed, 
 or suffer any violence ; which must always be the case 
 when the voice is pushed out upon them with uncom- 
 mon force. I have known instances of persons with 
 very strong voices, of whom in their utmost exertions 
 of them, it has been very justly observed, that there 
 was no hearing what they said, they spoke so loud ; 
 for the torrent of the voice, left neither* time nor pow- 
 er in the organs, to shape the words properly, but 
 7* 
 
70 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 bore away with it clustered and uncouth masses of 
 abortive syllables. 
 
 The best rule for a speaker to observe is, never to 
 utter a greater quantity of voice, than he can afford 
 without pain to himself, or any extraordinary effort. 
 Whilst he does this, the other organs of speech will be i 
 at liberty to discharge their several offices with ease ; U 
 and he will always have his voice under command, j 
 But whenever he transgresses these bounds, he gives ( | 
 up the reins, and has no longer any management of it. J 
 And it will ever be the safest way too, to keep within i 
 his compass, rather than go at any time to the utmost 
 extent of it; which is a dangerous experiment, and 
 never justifiable but upon some extraordinary emotion. 
 For even in that case, the transgressing the limits in 
 the least, (difficult as the task is for a speaker to keep 
 within bounds, when under the influence of such emo- 
 tion) will scarce be pardoned. For, as the judicious 
 Shakspeare has well observed in his instructions to the 
 player, c In the very torrent, tempest, and as I may say, h 
 whirhcind of your passion, you must acquire and beget \ 
 a temperance that may give it smoothness.'' For the (j 
 same reason also, every speaker should take care in i 
 the management of the breath, always to get a fresh \ 
 supply before he feels any want of it ; for whilst he has i 
 some to spare, he recruits it with such ease, that his li 
 hearers are not at all sensible of his doing it. Whereas ] 
 if he waits untill he is put in mind of it by any degree i 
 of uneasiness, -he not only does it with more difficulty 
 to himself, but he may depend upon it that his hearers i 
 also have felt his uneasiness, and been sensible of his c 
 
PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 71 
 
 difficulty. For so strong is the sympathy between the 
 organs of speech, and those of hearing, that the least 
 uneasiness in the one, is immediately perceived by the 
 other. 
 
 I shall close my observations on this head with two 
 rules ; one, for giving strength and power to the voice 
 in its natural pitch. The other for adjusting the pro- 
 per quantity or degree of loudness in the voice, pro- 
 portioned to the size of the room and the number of 
 the auditory. The first rule for strengthening the voice, 
 is this. Any one, who through habit, has fallen into 
 a weak utterance, cannot hope suddenly to change it ; 
 he must do it by degrees and constant practice. I 
 would therefore recommend it to him, that he should 
 daily exercise himself in reading, or repeating in the 
 hearing of a friend ; and that too in a large room. At 
 first his friend should stand at such a distance only as 
 the speaker can easily reach, in his usual manner of 
 delivering himself. Afterwards let him gradually in- 
 crease his distance, and the speaker will in the same 
 gradual proportion increase the force of the voice ; for 
 the method of increasing by degrees is easy in this as 
 in every thing else, when sudden transitions are im- 
 practicable ; and every new acquisition of power, ena- 
 bles you the better to go on to the next degree. When 
 he shall have thus got to that distance, beyond which 
 the speaker cannot be heard without straining, and 
 forcing his voice, there let him stop ; and let that be 
 the usual place of his standing to hear the most part of 
 what is declaimed ; because when the speaker, is able 
 by practice to manage his voice in that extent, he will 
 
72 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 certainly be able to command it in all the inferior ' 
 degrees. Though for the more gradual unfolding of ' 
 the organs, and regular increase of the quantity of the 
 voice, it will be always right for the hearer to begin 
 at each day's exercise with the shortest distance, and 
 increase it by degrees till he arrives at the utmost ; in 
 which situation, for the reason before assigned, the 
 chief part of the exercise ought to be performed. 
 
 The second rule for giving a proper degree of loud- 
 ness, or issuing a sufficient quantity of voice propor- 
 tioned to the room and the audience, which is common- 
 ly called pitching the voice, is this. Let the speaker 
 after having looked round the assembly, fix his eyes 
 on that part of his auditory which is farthest from him, 
 and he will mechanically endeavour to pitch his voice 
 so as that it may reach them. This is what we con- 
 stantly practise in common discourse, for we always 
 proportion the loudness or softness of voice, to the dis- 
 tance of the person to whom we are speaking. When the 
 speaker, therefore, shall have fixed his eye upon the most : 
 distant part of his audience, his business is to consider 
 himself as addressing his discourse to some one amongst 
 them, in such a manner as that he may be heard by 
 him, and if the person be not beyond the reach of his ' 
 voice, he will not fail to effect it. But still he is to 
 take care not to change his usual pitch in order to do 
 this, but only to add force, or degrees of loudness in 
 proportion to the distance. This is what we do in " 
 life when we call after any person to come back ; we 
 add loudness to our voice according to the distance he 
 has got from us, but we never change the key, or bawl, * 
 
PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 73 
 
 till we find that he has got so far as that his ear can- 
 not be reached by the natural pitch of our voice. He, 
 therefore, who sets out in a higher key than is natural 
 to him, in order that he may be heard by the most 
 distant, may be justly said to bawl out his discourse, 
 but not to deliver it. 
 
 There is another material circumstance to be attend- 
 ed to in pitching the voice, which arises from the con- 
 struction of the room in which you are to speak; some 
 being admirably contrived for the purpose of speaking, 
 and others quite the contrary. Of course, in the former, 
 a much smaller quantity of voice will do, than in the 
 latter. The first object of every speaker, ought to be 
 to find out whether his voice can fill the room or not ; 
 and afterwards to proportion the quantity of it accord- 
 ingly. By filling a room with the voice is meant, when 
 there is such a quantity of it uttered, as not only will 
 reach the extremities, but return also to the speaker. 
 And a room may be said to be well constructed for 
 speaking, when this is effected by a moderate exertion 
 of a common voice. The two extremes are when 
 either a room through its size, or ill construction, will 
 admit of no reverberation, or when the reverberation 
 is made by an echo. I shall endeavor to find out 
 what is best to be done in the three cases. In the first 
 case, when the speaker can fill the room with his voice, 
 his business is to find out what quantity will be suffi- 
 cient to do it ; that he may neither unnecessarily waste 
 his voice by throwing out too much, nor diminish his 
 power by using too little ; but that he may have a per- 
 fect command and management of it, according to the 
 
74 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 different degrees of exertion, which may be required ,, 
 in the different parts of his discourse. The best way 
 of finding this out, will be, to begin with a moderate , 
 quantity of voice, and to increase it gradually, till the ! 
 speaker finds out the degree of loudness, that is neces- 
 sary to fill the room ; which will be discovered to him I 
 by the return of the sound to his own ear, as soon as 
 he has arrived at the proper pitch. With this degree i 
 or quantity of voice he is to deliver all the more forci- [ 
 ble, and impassioned parts of his discourse. For 1 
 though he may be distinctly heard with a smaller ex- 
 ertion, yet it will not be in a manner so satisfactory to \ 
 the hearer. Every speaker, therefore, in a well con- 
 structed room, which is not too large for his powers, I 
 may have an infallible criterion by which to judge of , 
 that point, as he may be sure that he has filled the ears " 
 of his auditory, when he has filled the room ; and he 
 may certainly know when he has filled the room, by 
 the return of his voice to his own ear. This is one of : 
 the most valuable pieces of management that a public 
 speaker can possess, and of which, with due attention, 
 and a little practice, he may easily become master. 
 This rule is on a supposition that the room is so con- r 
 structed as to return the sound gently and equably, i 
 without any perceptible echo. 
 
 But in the second case where the sound is suddenly n 
 reverberated by an echo, the difficulty to the speaker i 
 is much increased. Nothing is more apt to mislead 
 the unwary and unskilful speaker, than this circum- 
 stance in a room ; for as his voice sounds much loud- 
 er to himself on that account, he is apt to conclude i 
 that he is the better heard ; whereas the very thing d 
 
PITCH AND MANAGEMENT OF THE VOICE. 75 
 
 which adds to the loudness, destroys articulation and 
 distinctness of utterance, which are essentially necessa- 
 ry to the being understood. For the quick and sud- 
 den reverberation of the sounds which have been utter- 
 ed, makes such a jumble with those which are uttering, 
 that the whole appears a confused babble, of something 
 like words, indeed, but utterly unintelligible. In the 
 former case, when the room is well constructed for 
 speaking, the return of the voice is made in a moder- 
 ate and equable manner; in the latter, it rebounds like 
 a tennis-ball. In the first case, the undulation of sound 
 resembles the circles made in a smooth water by the 
 gentle dropping in o^a pebble, where all gradually in- 
 crease in their circumference, and are regular in their 
 figures: the other, resembles the motion of the water 
 when a stone is dashed violently into it, where all is 
 irregular and confused. Nothing can shew the igno- 
 rance which prevails in the art of speaking in this age, 
 in a stronger light, than this very circumstance ; for 
 there have been few rooms built for the purpose of 
 speaking, in which the contrivers have not endeavor- 
 ed by artificial means to procure as strong an echo as 
 possible, in order to assist the speaker, when it is of 
 all things the greatest hindrance to him. Whoever, 
 therefore, has the misfortune to be under a necessity of 
 speaking in a room of that sort, has no remedy but 
 this. He must lessen the quantity of his voice till he 
 finds no perceptible echo. It is true this will put it 
 out of his power to exert himself, but all he can hope 
 for in such circumstances, is to be heard and understood ; 
 energy he must wholly give up, at least it must be con- 
 fined to very small degrees. 
 
76 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TONES. 
 
 Thus far, I have considered the several points, that 
 are fundamentally, and essentially necessary, to every 
 public speaker ; without which, he will be so far from 
 making any impression on his hearers, that he will not 
 be able to command their attention, nor, in many cases, 
 even make himself understood. 
 
 But when a man has got so far, as I can see no rea- 
 son that he should stop there, or that he should not 
 farther endeavor, to make himself master of every 
 thing, which can add grace, or force to his delivery ; 
 I shall now attempt to lay open the principles, that 
 may serve as guides to him, in the use of the remain- 
 ing articles, tones, and gesture : upon which, all that 
 is pleasurable, or affecting in elocution, chiefly depends. 
 
 Words are, by compact, the marks or symbols of' 
 our ideas; and this is the utmost extent of their power. 
 Did nothing pass in the mind of man, but ideas ; were 
 he a different kind of being from what he is ; were he 
 like the Houynhms of Swift, always directed by a 
 cool, invariable, and as I may say, instinctive reason ; 
 to make known the ideas of such a mind, and its inter- 
 nal operations, would not be beyond the power of 
 words : and a language composed of words only, pro- 
 vided there were a sufficient number of them, so that 
 
TONES. 77 
 
 ! each idea, and each operation, might have its distinct 
 I mark, would sufficiently answer the end. For this we 
 | find effected amongst us, in all matters where simple 
 I reason, and mere speculation is concerned, as in the 
 j investigation of mathematical truths. 
 
 But as there are other things which pass in the mind 
 i of man, beside ideas ; as he is not wholly made up of 
 | intellect, but on the contrary, the passions, and the 
 ! fancy, compose a part of his complicated frame ; as the 
 j operations of these are attended with an infinite varie- 
 I ty of emotions in the mind, both in kind and degree; it 
 | is clear, that unless there be some means found of 
 I manifesting those emotions, all that passes in the mind 
 of one man cannot be communicated to another. Now, 
 as in order to know what another knows, and in the 
 same manner that he knows it, an exact transcript of 
 the ideas which pass in the mind of one man, must be 
 ! made by sensible marks, in the mind of another; so in 
 ; order to feel what another feels, the emotions which 
 are in the mind of one man, must also be communicat- 
 ed to that of another, by sensible marks. 
 
 That the sensible marks necessary to answer this 
 purpose, cannot possibly be mere words, might fully 
 be proved by a philosophical disquisition upon their na- 
 ture, were it proper at present to enter into such an 
 inquiry : but this point may be made sufficiently clear 
 to answer my present design, in a shorter way. It is 
 certain that we have given names to these emotions, at 
 least to such as are of the strongest, and most remarka- 
 ble kind, though much the greater part of them, and 
 8 
 
78 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 the different degrees of all, remain without names, f 
 But the use of these names, is not to stand as types of f 
 the emotions themselves, but only as signs, of the sim- 
 ple or complex ideas, which are formed of those emo- 
 tions ; that we may be enabled, by the help of those 
 names, to distinguish them in the understanding, and 
 treat of their several natures, in the same cool manner f 
 as we do with regard to other ideas, that have no con- ' 
 nexion with any emotions of the mind. 
 
 Every one will at once acknowledge that the terms ' 
 anger, fear, love, hatred, pity, grief, will not excite in > 
 him the sensations of those passions, and make him i 
 angry or afraid, compassionate or grieved; nor, should ' 
 a man declare himself to be under the influence of any ' 
 of those passions, in the most explicit and strong words . 
 that the language can afford, w r ould he in the least af- 
 fect us, or gain any credit, if he used no other signs I 
 but words. If any one should say in the same tone of 
 voice that he uses in delivering indifferent propositions 
 from a cool understanding, "Sure never any mortal 
 was so overwhelmed with grief as I am at this present." 
 Or, " My rage is roused to a pitch of frenzy, I can- 
 not command it : Avoid me, be gone this moment, or \ 
 I shall tear you to pieces :" surely no one would feel " 
 any pity for the distress of the former, or any fear from 
 the threats of the latter. We should either believe 
 that he jested, or if he would be thought serious, we . 
 should be moved to laughter at his absurdity. And 
 why is this? but because he makes use of words only, 
 as the signs of emotions, which it is impossible they 
 
TONES. 79 
 
 | can represent; and omits the use of the true signs of 
 I the passions, which are, tones, looks, and gestures.* 
 
 *The classification of inflections, is the point on which most 
 ] of all, Walker is defective. The conviction that he was treat- 
 j ing a difficult subject, led him into the very common mistake 
 of attempting to make his meaning plain by prolixity of re- 
 mark, and multiplicity of rules. One error of this respectable 
 i writer is, that he attempts to carry the application of his prin- 
 ! ciples too far. To think of reducing to exact system, all the 
 j inflections to be employed in the delivery of plain language, 
 I when there is no emotion and no emphasis, is idle indeed, 
 i Many who have attempted to follow the theory to this ex- 
 I treme, perplexed with the endless list of rules which it occa- 
 | sions, have become discouraged. Whereas the theory is of 
 no use except in reference to the rhetorical principles of lan- 
 guage, where tones express sentiment. Another fault of Walker 
 is, that the elements of speaking tones are not presented in any 
 intelligible method; but are so promiscuously intermingled 
 throughout his work, as to give it the character of obscurity. 
 
 The absolute modifications of the voice in speaking are 
 four : namely, monotone, rising inflection, falling inflection, 
 and circumflex. The first may be marked to the eye by a 
 horizontal line thus, ( — ) the second thus, (' ) the third thus, 
 C) the fourth thus, (~). 
 
 The monotone is a sameness of sound on successive sylla- 
 bles, which resembles that produced by repeated strokes of a 
 bell. This is often appropriate in grave delivery, and espe- 
 cially in acts of devotion, where emotions of reverence are 
 expressed. 
 
 The rising inflection turns the voice upward, or ends high- 
 er than it begins. It is heard invariably in the direct question; 
 as, will you go to day ? 
 
 The falling inflection turns the voice downwards, or ends 
 lower than it begins. It is heard in the answer to a question; 
 as, No ; I shall go to-morrow. 
 
80 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 This will serve to shew us that the language, or sen- 
 sihle marks, by which the emotions of the mind are ( 
 discovered, and communicated from man to man, are } 
 
 The circumflex is a union of the two inflections, sometimes 
 on one syllable, and sometimes on several. It begins with the \ 
 falling and ends with the rising slide. 
 
 In " Porter's Analysis" from which this note is substantial- 1 
 ly taken, many examples of these two simple slides of the •[ 
 voice on which the whole doctrine of inflections depends, are j 
 given — it will be sufficient for our object to select a few un- I 
 der each. 
 
 Shall I come to you with a rod — or in lov'e ? 
 
 The baptism of John, was it from heaven — or of men ? 
 
 Is this book yours — or mine ? 
 
 Are they Hebrews ? So am *I 
 
 Are they the seed of A'braham ? So am V I. 
 
 Are they ministers of Christ ? I am more. 
 
 The circumflex occurs chiefly where the language is hypo- 
 thetical or ironical. 
 
 Though he will not rise and give him because he is his 
 friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give 
 him as many as he needeth. 
 
 I may go to-morrow, though I cannot go to-day. 
 
 They tell us to be moderate ; but they, they, are to revel in 
 profusion. 
 
 But any fixed system of rules and directions which we may 
 adopt in relation to this subject, must necessarily be imper- 
 fect; for, as Whately justly remarks f - although the emphatic ' 
 word in each sentence may easily be pointed out in writing, 
 no variety of marks, that could be invented, — not even musi- 
 cal notation, — would suffice to indicate the different tones in 
 which the different emphatic words should be pronounced ; ' 
 though on this depends frequently the whole force, and even 
 sense of the expression. Take, as an instance, the following 
 
TONES. gl 
 
 entirely different from words, and independent of them. 
 Nor was this kind of language left to the invention of 
 man, or to the chance of such arbitrary marks, as he 
 should think proper to affix to the passions, in order 
 to characterize them : no, it was necessary to society, 
 and to the state of human nature in general, that the 
 language of the animal passions of man at least, should 
 be fixed, self-evident, and universally intelligible; and 
 it has accordingly been impressed, by the unerring 
 hand of nature, on the human frame. The improve- 
 ment and exercise of the intellectual faculties, to any 
 
 passage, (Mark. iv. 21.) "Is a candle brought to be put under 
 
 , a bushel, or under a bed. 1 ' That I have heard so pronounced 
 
 j as to imply that there is no other alternative: and yet the em- 
 
 j phasis was laid on the right words. It would be nearly as 
 
 I hopeless a task to attempt adequately to convey, by any writ- 
 
 ! ten marks, precise directions as to the rate, — the degree of 
 
 rapidity or slowness, — with which each sentence and clause 
 
 should be delivered. Longer and shorter pauses may indeed 
 
 be easily denoted ; and marks may be used, similar to those 
 
 in music, to indicate, generally, quick, slow, or moderate time; 
 
 but it is evident that the variations which actually take place, 
 
 are infinite — far beyond what any marks could suggest; and 
 
 that much of the force of what is said depends on the degree 
 
 of rapidity with which it is uttered; chiefly on the relative 
 
 rapidity of one part in comparison of another: for instance, 
 
 in such a sentence as the following, in one of the Psalms, 
 
 which one may usually hear read at one uniform rate ; " all 
 
 men that see it shall say, this hath God done ; for they shall 
 
 perceive that it is his work ;" the four words " this hath God 
 
 i done," though monosyllables, ought to occupy very little less 
 
 ! time in utterance than all the rest of the verse together." — Ed. 
 
 8* 
 
32 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 eminent degree, could fall to the lot of but a small por- , 
 tion of mankind ; as even the necessaries for the sup- i 
 port of life, cannot be acquired by much the greater j 
 part, but by such constant labour and industry as will 
 afford no time for contemplative studies. But though , 
 it be not necessary to society, that all men should 
 know much ; it is necessary that they should feel much, ; 
 and have a mutual sympathy, in whatever affects their ■ 
 fellow creatures. All affections, therefore, and emo- ,i 
 tions, belonging to man in his animal state, are so 
 distinctly characterized, by certain marks, that they j 
 cannot be mistaken ; and this language of the passions, It 
 carries with it the stamp of its almighty Artificer; ut- 
 terly unlike the poor workmanship of imperfect man, 
 as it is not only understood by all the different nations : 
 of the world, without pains or study; but excites alsoi 
 similar emotions, or corresponding effects, in all minds 
 alike. 
 
 Thus, the tones expressive of sorrow, lamentation, 
 mirth, joy, hatred, anger, love, pity, &c. are the same 
 in all nations, and consequently can excite emotions in < 
 us analogous to those passions, when accompanying 
 words which we do not understand. Nay, the very i 
 tones themselves, independent of words, will produce 
 the same effects, as has been amply proved by the 
 power of musical imitations. And though these tones, ii 
 are usually accompanied with words, in order that the 
 understanding may at the same time perceive the cause i 
 of these emotions, by a communication of the particu- 1 
 lar ideas which excite them; yet that the whole energy, i 
 or power of exciting analogous emotions in others, lies ' 
 
TONES. 83 
 
 in the tones themselves, may be known from this ; that 
 whenever the force of these passions is extreme, words 
 give place to inarticulate sounds : sighs and murmurings, 
 in love; sobs, groans, and cries in grief; half choked 
 sounds in rage ; and shrieks in terror, are then the only- 
 language heard. And the experience of mankind may 
 be appealed to, whether these have not more power in 
 exciting sympathy, than any thing that can be done by 
 mere words. 
 
 Nor has this language of the passions been confined 
 to man only ; for in that respect, he seems to be includ- 
 ed in the general law given to all animals that are not 
 mute, or wholly incapable of uttering any sound; as 
 they also express their passions by certain tones, which 
 striking the auditory nerves of those of the same spe- 
 cies, always produce correspondent effects ; inasmuch 
 as their kindred organs, are invariably tuned by the 
 hand of nature, in unison with those sounds. 
 
 But it is to be observed, that each species of animals, 
 seems to have a language of its own, not at all under- 
 stood, or felt by the rest. The lowing of the cow 
 affects not the lamb; nor does the calf regard the 
 bleating of the sheep. The neighing of the steed, 
 calls up all the attention of the horse-kind; they gaze 
 towards the place from whence the sound comes, and 
 answer it, or run that way, if the steed be not in view ; 
 whilst the cows and sheep raise not their heads from 
 the ground, but continue to feed, utterly unmoved. 
 The organs of hearing in each species, are tuned only 
 to the sounds of their own ; and whilst the roaring of 
 the lioness, makes the forest tremble, it is the sweetest 
 
84 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 music to the ears of her young. This shews us, w 
 that the auditory nerves of animals are constructed in i 
 such a way, as to be affected only with such sounds ij 
 as immediately regard the two chief ends of their be- f 
 ing; the propagation and preservation of their species : ; 
 all other sounds, therefore, excepting such as excite 
 sympathy or antipathy, are indifferent to them. Sym- j 
 pathy, with those of their own kind ; antipathy, against j 
 such as are their natural enemies, or destructive of j 
 their species. Those which excite sympathy, may be c 
 supposed to be all in concord ; those which rouse an 
 tipathy, to be discords; which, by creating an uneasy ; 
 sensation, immediately dispose them to flight, to avoid a 
 the enemy. Thus the cry of dogs, warns the hare i 
 of his danger : and the howlings of the wolf, alarm the s 
 flock. The different species of animals may, there 
 fore, be considered as so many different nations, speak- k 
 ing different languages, that have no commerce with 
 each other ; each of which, consequently, understands 
 none but their own ; excepting only those who are in ii 
 a state of warfare, by whom the language of the ene 
 my is sufficiently understood for the purpose of self 1 
 preservation. 
 
 As the passions and emotions of the several kinds 
 of animals, are very different, according to their differ- 
 ent natures, so is there an equal diversity of tones, by 
 which these several passions and emotions are express- 
 ed ; from the horrible roarings of the lion, to the gen- 
 tle bleatings of the lamb : from the loud bellowings of 
 the wild bull, to the low purring of the domestic cat. 
 But as there is no passion or emotion whatsoever, in - 
 
TONES 85 
 
 the whole animal world, which is not to be found in 
 | man, so equally comprehensive is the language of his 
 i passions, which are all manifested by suitable tones. 
 The roaring of the lion, is not more terrible than the 
 I voice of his anger; nor the cooings of the pigeon, more 
 soft, than the murmurs of his love. The crowing of 
 | the morning cock, is not so clear and sprightly as the 
 i notes of his joy, nor the melancholy mournings of the 
 I turtle, so plaintive as those of his wo. The organs 
 I of hearing, therefore, in man, are so constructed, as not 
 ! to be indifferent to any kind of tone, either in his own 
 '■ species, or in the animal world, that is expressive of 
 ! emotion or passion : from all, they receive either plea- 
 sure or pain, as they are affected with sympathy or 
 : antipathy. It is true that like the several tribes of 
 | animals, man is most affected, or has the strongest 
 ! sympathy excited, by such tones as are uttered by those 
 ' of his own species ; and in proportion, also, by those 
 ; which most nearly resemble them in others. We are 
 j moved most by the distressful cries of those animals 
 I that have any similitude to the human voice, such as 
 the fawn, and the hare, when seized in the chase, by dogs. 
 But still we both feel and understand the nature of all 
 others. Nor can any animal utter any sound which 
 we cannot explain, or tell from what emotion or pas- 
 sion it proceeds. This distinguishing faculty was ne- 
 cessary to man as master of the animal race, that by 
 understanding their several languages, he might relieve 
 their distresses, and supply their wants. And indeed, 
 we find, that the tones of all domestic animals, expres- 
 sive of their wants or distresses, have a wonderful 
 
S6 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 power over the human heart, and mechanically rouse 
 us to their relief. i 
 
 Thus extensive as are the powers of the human ear, u 
 those of the human voice, do not fall short of them ; i 
 but are exactly suited to them in degree and compre- i 
 hension ; there is no tone which the ear can distinguish, ) 
 that the voice, by pains and practice, is not capable \ 
 of uttering. Hence it comes to pass, that as man un- - 
 derstands the language of the different tribes of animals, \ 
 so he can make himself understood by them. The 
 horse rejoices in the applauding tones of his rider's j 
 voice, and trembles when he changes them to those of ( 
 anger. What blandishments do we see in the dog , 
 when his master sooths him by kind notes ; what fear, 
 and even shame, when he changes them to those of 
 chiding ? By those the waggoner directs his team, and ,. 
 
 the herdsman his flock. Even animals of the most L 
 
 l 
 
 savage nature, are notproof against the collective powers 
 of the human voice ; and the shouts of multitudes, will 
 put wild beasts to flight, who can hear without emotion 
 the roarings of the thunder. ■, 
 
 But that man should be furnished with such an ex- . 
 
 f. 
 
 tensive power in these points, even in his animal state, 
 will appear reasonable, when we consider that his na- i| 
 ture, is an abstract of all animal nature ; and that in j 
 his tribe are to be found, all the emotions and passions, , 
 that belong to all the several tribes. Consequently, all 
 the marks expressive of those emotions, or such as 
 are similar to them, should belong to that tribe. If 
 man is capable of being the most social, the most f 
 tender and affectionate to those of his own species, r 
 
TONES. 87 
 
 of any animal; he is at the same time, capable of 
 becoming a greater enemy, and of having a stronger 
 hatred and detestation of them, than is to be found 
 even amongst the different tribes of animals, that 
 are born in a natural state of enmity. All the na- 
 tural language therefore of sympathy, and antipathy, 
 should be given to him in a higher degree, for the 
 same reason that it is in a more limited state assigned 
 to the several tribes of animals. 
 
 Thus far we find, that man, in his animal capacity, 
 is furnished, like all other animals, by nature herself, 
 with a language which requires neither study, art, nor 
 imitation ; which spontaneously breaks out in the ex- 
 actest expressions, nicely proportioned to the degrees 
 of his inward emotions ; and which is not only univer- 
 sally understood, but felt, by those of the same species, 
 as also, in certain degrees, by the rest of the animal 
 world. That animals should come perfect from the 
 hand of nature, in this respeet, as well as in every thing 
 else, seems reasonable, from this consideration, that 
 they are utterly incapable of improving themselves, or 
 of making any alteration in their frames, by their own 
 care or pains ; their several faculties, by an invariable 
 law, growing to perfection, and decaying with their 
 bodies, with as little assistance from themselves, as 
 vegetation in herbs or trees is produced in the insen- 
 sitive world. Nature has not been less provident with 
 regard to man, as the first of animals; on the con- 
 trary this, as well as all his other animal faculties, is 
 bestowed on him in a degree suitable to the superiority 
 of his rank. But as man is something greater than the 
 
88 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 first of animals; as he is the link between animal and 
 spiritual beings, and partakes of both their natures ; 
 other faculties, and other principles, belonging to his 
 nobler, spiritual part, disclose themselves ; of which * 
 there are no traces in the animal world. ] 
 
 The first great distinction between the human and s 
 animal species, and which seems to mark their boun- 
 daries, is this: that it is in the power of man, by his . 
 own pains and industry, to forward the perfection of L 
 his nature. And what the nobler part of his nature is, 
 is clearly pointed out by that distinction ; because it 
 is that nobler part only, or such of his animal faculties, 
 as are necessary to forward the perfection of that no- 
 bler part, which are capable of improvement by such 
 pains. All the organs and faculties of his body neces- 
 sary to his animal life, are so fashioned by the hand of; 
 nature, that they grow of course to perfection ; but the 
 organs (if I may be allowed the expression) and facul- 
 ties of his mind, necessary to his rational life, are only 
 in embryo; and it depends wholly upon the assistance k 
 of others, together with his own care, to give them 
 birth, and bring them to maturity. 
 
 Hence arises the necessity of a social state to man,: 
 both for the unfolding, and exerting of his nobler facul-,J 
 ties. For this purpose, a power of opening a commu- [ 
 nication between mind and mind, was furnished in the 
 most easy way, by bestowing on him the organs oft 
 speech. But still we are to observe, that nature did 
 no more than furnish the power and means ; she did 
 not give the language, as in the case of the passions, 
 but left it to the industry of men, to find out, and agree r 
 
TONES. 89 
 
 upon such articulate sounds, as they should choose to 
 make the symbols of their ideas. And she seems to 
 have laid down the same general law, with respect to 
 erery thing which regarded the nobler part of man ; 
 to furnish nothing but what was absolutely necessary, 
 and leave the rest to his own industry, from the ex- 
 ertion of which, his merit was to arise, and his preten- 
 sions to stand a candidate for admission into a high- 
 er, and happier order of beings. Accordingly as 
 she did not furnish the words, which were to be the 
 symbols of his ideas ; neither did she furnish the tones, 
 which were to manifest, and communicate by their 
 own virtue, the internal exertions and emotions, of such 
 of his nobler faculties, as chiefly distinguish him from 
 the brute species ; but left them also, like words, to 
 the care and invention of man ; contenting herself with 
 supplying him with an instrument, of such a compass 
 as would furnish a sufficient variety of emotions, exer- 
 tions, and energies of all his faculties, if sought for, 
 and settled by agreement, to be their marks. Nor has 
 art found those which are of her invention to be of less 
 efficacy, or less capable of exciting correspondent 
 emotions, than those even of nature, when established 
 by custom; in this case justly called second nature. 
 The only difference between them lying in this, that the 
 tones of the animal passions, of themselves excite analo- 
 gous emotions, without the intervention of any thing else ; 
 they are understood, by being felt. But the tones re- 
 sulting from the emotions and exertions of our nobler 
 faculties, though they excite feeling, as it is in the na- 
 ture of all tones to do so, yet it is only of a vague and 
 9 
 
90 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 indeterminate nature; not corresponding to the ener- i 
 gies in the mind of the speaker, unless they are asso- i 
 ciated with words, or the symbols of the ideas which I 
 give rise to those energies and emotions ; their nature i 
 and degree then become fixed, and the hearer both \ 
 feels and understands them. When any tones, therefore, \ 
 are affixed to certain modes of expression, and adopt- 
 ed into general use ; those tones, though they have no i 
 natural connexion with the sentiment, no more than 
 Words have with ideas; yet by such association, be- I 
 come equally intelligible, and equally affecting with i 
 those that have, and are made part of the language ; r 
 insomuch, that were those expressions to be uttered, f 
 without those tones, they would not convey their full i 
 meaning. t 
 
 Thus far I have considered tones, chiefly in contra- 3 
 distinction to words, as the types and language of the i 
 passions, and all internal emotions, in the same way as . 
 articulate sounds, are the types and language of ideas, ■: 
 independent of any such emotions. But when we come i 
 to examine the powers of each in their full extent, we I 
 shall find, that though words are limited to their pecu- d 
 liar office, and never can supply the place of tones ; f 
 yet tones, on the other hand, are not confined to their i 
 province, but often supply the place of words, as marks p 
 of ideas. And though the ease and distinctness with I 
 which our ideas are marked by articulate sounds, has x 
 made all mankind agree to use them in discourse, yet < 
 that tones are capable in a great measure of supplying 3 
 their place, is clear from this; that the Chinese Ian- > 
 guage is chiefly made up of tones, and the same indi- 
 
TONES. 91 
 
 vidual word shall have sixty different meanings, accord- 
 ! ing to the different tones in which it is pronounced. 
 j Here, then, it is clear, that fifty nine of the sixty ideas, 
 are marked by tones ; for the same individual word, 
 j pronounced exactly in the same manner, cannot pos- 
 sibly by itself, be a clear and distinct mark, for more 
 j than one idea. This indeed has prodigiously increas- 
 I ed the difficulty of their language, so that it is scarce- 
 j ly possible for strangers to acquire it ; and it is the 
 i labour of a man's life, even among the natives, to 
 | make himself fully master of it. Such a use of the 
 ! tones therefore, in equal extent, has not been adopted 
 ' by any other nation. But there are none which have 
 it not in some degree. It is true these tones amongst 
 us, are not annexed to words in their separate state, 
 but only when they are ranged in sentences ; and he 
 must be very ignorant of speech, who does not know, 
 that the same individual words in a sentence, shall have 
 several very different meanings according to the tones 
 which accompany the emphasis. To the use of these 
 tones, is owing, in a great measure, conciseness of dis- 
 course; and the necessity of multiplying words in a 
 language, to a degree that might make them burthen- 
 some to the memory, is removed. Nor are these the 
 only advantages arising to language from tones ; for 
 by thus setting off words by tones, and making them 
 determine their meaning, an agreeable variety may be 
 introduced into the most abstracted and philosophical 
 discourses, in which there is no room for the language 
 of the passions and emotions ; and which, consequently, 
 must occasion disgust, and soon weary attention, if de- 
 
92 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 livered by the use of mere words, in one dull uniform 
 tone. On the same account it is fortunate, that tones 
 have also been made the marks of the several pauses; a 
 and the links which unite together, the several mem- I 
 bers of sentences and periods. 
 
 But beside the use of tones in the exertion of his 
 animal and intellectual faculties, there is another part I 
 of man's nature which seems to be the link that joins t 
 the other two, a great part of whose exertions, have b 
 their very essence, so far as they are communicated 3 
 by the voice, in tones; I mean the fancy. — To one 
 branch of this part of his frame, nature herself has 
 furnished matter for a language, different in its' kind 
 from all other, and peculiar to man ; I mean, risibility; 
 and this matter, according to the exertions of fancy, t 
 is to be modified into an infinity of shapes. There is 
 a laugh of joy, and a laugh of ridicule; there is a laugh : 
 of anger, and a laugh of contempt. Nay there are few of 
 our passions, to which fancy cannot adapt, and associate 
 this language. And should we trace it through all its se- 
 veral modifications and degrees, from the loud burst of 
 joy, to the tones belonging to the dry sneer of contempt; 
 we should find, that an extensive, and expressive Ian- 3 
 guage, independent of words, belongs to this faculty h 
 alone. Let any one who has been present at a well acted ) 
 comedy, only reflect, how very different the sentiments, i 
 characters, and humour have appeared, in the repre- 
 sentation, from what was conveyed to him by the mere 
 perusal of the words in his closet, and he will need no f 
 other proof to shew him how necessary, and how ex- 
 tensive a part, the tones make, of the language of fancy. : 
 
TONES. 93 
 
 From what has been said, it will sufficiently appear, 
 
 i how grossly they are mistaken, who think that nothing 
 
 i is essentially necessary to language, but words ; and 
 
 : that it is no matter, in what tones their sentiments are 
 
 uttered, or whether there be any used, so that the 
 
 words are but distinctly pronounced, and with such 
 
 | force of voice as to be clearly heard. For it must 
 
 I be allowed, that the use of language is not merely to 
 
 | communicate ideas, but also all the internal operations, 
 
 I emotions, and exertions, of the intellectual, sensitive, 
 
 ! and imaginative faculties of man: It must also be al- 
 
 1 lowed, that from the frame of our language, our very 
 
 1 ideas cannot be communicated, nor consequently our 
 
 meaning understood, without the right use of tones ; as 
 
 J many of our ideas are marked and distinguished from 
 
 j each other by tones, and not words. It must further 
 
 | be admitted, that the connexion or repugnance of our 
 
 ideas, their relationship or disagreement, and various 
 
 i dependence on each other in sentences, are chiefly 
 
 pointed out by tones belonging to the several pauses. 
 
 When, therefore, we reflect, that not only every thing 
 
 which is pleasurable, every thing which is forcible and 
 
 affecting in utterance, but also the most material point 
 
 necessary to a full and distinct comprehension of 
 
 "the sense of what is uttered, depends upon tones; it 
 
 may well astonish us to think, that so essential a part 
 
 of language, should in a civilized country be wholly 
 
 neglected. Nay worse, that our youth should not only 
 
 be uninstructed in the true use of these, but in the little 
 
 art that is used, they should be early perverted by false 
 
 rules, utterly repugnant to those which nature has 
 9* 
 
94 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 clearly pointed out to us. In consequence of which, 
 all the noble ends which might be answered in a free 
 state, by a clear, lively, and affecting public elocution, 
 are in a great measure lost to us. And how can it be 
 otherwise, when we have given up the vivifying, ener- 
 getic language, stamped by God himself upon our na- 
 ture, for that which is the cold, lifeless work of art, t 
 and invention of man ? and bartered that which can j 
 penetrate the inmost recesses of the heart, for one L 
 which dies in the ear, or fades on the sight. 
 
 I should now proceed to lay down some practical 
 rules and observations, with regard to this material ar- , 
 ticle, but that there is another branch of language so 
 nearly connected with this, that all rules in regard to 
 the one, have a necessary relation to the other ; and 
 therefore it will be both the shortest, and clearest 
 method, to place them together in view. The branch 
 which I mean, is that part of language which is mani- 
 fested to sight, by the expression of the countenance 
 and gesture : of which I shall treat in the next chapter. 
 
GESTURE. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GESTURE. 
 
 | As nature has annexed tones to the passions, to make 
 | their exertions known through the ear; so has she as- 
 j sociated to them looks and gestures, to manifest them 
 | to the eye. The one, may be justly called the speech, 
 I the other, the hand-writing of nature. And her hand- 
 writing, like her speech, carries evident marks with it, 
 of its divine original; as it corresponds exactly to its 
 archetype, and is therefore universally legible, with- 
 out pains or study ; and as it contains in itself a power, 
 of exciting similar, or analogous emotions. Not like 
 the writing of man, which having no affinity with its 
 archetype, can be understood only by pains and labor; 
 and containing no virtue of its own, can of itself, com- 
 municate no emotion. 
 
 Nor is the written language of nature less expressive, 
 or less copious, than her speech. They seem nicely 
 suited to each other, in degree and power; in their 
 effects exactly similar, having no other difference, but 
 what arises from the difference of the organs, through 
 which they are conveyed. As every passion has its 
 peculiar tone, so has it, its peculiar look or gesture. 
 And in each, the several degrees are marked, with the 
 nicest exactness. Both indeed proceeding from the 
 touching of one master-string, internal feeling, must 
 always answer to each other, if I may so speak, in 
 
96 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 perfect unison. Thus far they are equal in point of ex- 
 pression, and with respect to copiousness; as it has 
 been before observed, that the human voice is furnish- 
 ed with an infinite variety of tones, suitable to the in- 
 finite variety of emotions in the mind ; so are the hu- 
 man countenance and limbs, capable of an infinite 
 variety of changes, suitable to the tones ; or rather to 
 the emotions, whence they both take their rise. To 
 this purpose every nobler organ in man's complicated t 
 frame, and the whole animal economy contribute. The 
 muscles, nerves, the blood and animal spirits, all are li 
 at work to shew internal commotion. The contraction 
 or remission of the solids, shewn by courageous exer- *. 
 tion of action, or pusillanimous trembling ; the rushing 
 or withdrawing of the fluids, seen in blushing or pale- 
 ness ; are strong and self-evident characters. But of y 
 all the organs, the eye, rightly called the window of jt 
 the soul, contains the greatest variety, as well as dis- \ 
 tinction and force of characters. In rage it is inflamed, fi 
 in fear it sickens; it sparkles in joy, in distress it is ; 
 clouded. Nature has indeed annexed to the passions | 
 of grief, a more forcible character than any other, that 
 of tears ; of all parts of language, the most expressive. \ 
 And justly was this extraordinary sign of passion, an- 
 nexed to the nature of man ; the child of sorrow, and 
 inhabitant of the vale of wo: not only to ease the 
 burthened heart, but more powerfully to excite his fel- 
 low creatures to pity, and to relieve his distress. Thus, 
 at once affording balm to the afflicted, and inciting i 
 mankind to the exercise of their noblest quality, be 
 nevolence. On which account, this single character, 
 
GESTURE. 97 
 
 j sums up in it the whole power of language ; and in 
 j certain circumstances, has more force alone, than all 
 | the united endeavors, of words, tones, and gestures, 
 ' can come up to. Such were the precious drops that 
 ! fell from Milton's Eve, which Adam kissed away ; as 
 
 gracious signs of sweet remorse, 
 And pious awe, that feared to have offended. 
 
 But though in this written language of nature, she 
 has given such forcible, and distinct characters, to all 
 the animal passions of man, and proportionally to such 
 as have a near affinity to them, or are blended with 
 jthem; yet she has laid down the same law, with re- 
 gard to the visible signs of the exertions and emotions 
 of all his nobler faculties, as she has done with regard 
 to the tones. In both she has furnished the means 
 with equal liberality; but has left it to the invention 
 and care of man, to make a right use of them, and ap- 
 ply them in suitable degrees. By the exertion of such 
 skill and pains, it would be found that the visible lan- 
 guage alone, which can he shewn in the features and 
 limbs of man, is of itself sufficient, without other aid, 
 to every purpose of social communication. To in- 
 stance only in two articles, the eyes, and hands ; what 
 inward emotion is there which cannot be manifested 
 by these? Do not the eyes discover humility, pride, 
 cruelty, compassion, reflection, dissipation, kindness, 
 resentment ? Is there an emotion of fancy, is there a 
 shade of ridicule, which they cannot represent ? Let 
 any one who has seen Mr. Garrick perform, consider 
 how much he was indebted to the language of his eyes, 
 and there will be no occasion to say more, to give him 
 
98 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 an idea of the extent and power of expression, to which i 
 that language may be brought. 
 
 With respect to the power of the hands, every one 
 knows that with them, we can demand, or promise; 
 call, dismiss; threaten, supplicate; ask, deny; shew 
 joy, sorrow, detestation, fear, confession, penitence, I 
 admiration, respect; and many other things now in 
 common use. But how much farther their powers! 
 might be carried, through our neglect of using them ' 
 we little know. And indeed the extensiveness of this i 
 visible language, would scarce gain credit with us, ] 
 notwithstanding all the accounts of it handed down : 
 from antiquity, particularly with respect to the mutes, i 
 had we not instances of natural deaf mutes, now living, i 
 who have been compelled to the study and practice of ) 
 this language, through the misfortune of having been 
 born without the sense of hearing. 
 
 Having sufficiently shewn the force and extent of 
 this language of nature, and the absolute necessity of it 
 to man, in order to the exertion, exercise, and mani- 
 festation of all his nobler faculties, it may justly excite li 
 wonder to reflect, that it has been in general so little 
 cultivated ; and that history furnishes us with an ac- 
 count, but of two nations, out of the great variety that u 
 have inhabited this peopled globe since the creation, li 
 that ever applied themselves to the regular study and li 
 practice of it, so as to bring it to perfection. And > 
 these were the Greeks and Romans ; who raised them- ; 
 selves to such an height above the rest of mankind, that i 
 when we examine their history, survey their mighty 5 
 works, and compare them with those of other nations, 1 
 
GESTURE. 99 
 
 ! their proportion to the rest of the world, seems to be 
 that of the Brobdignags to the Lilliputians. 
 
 It is true that, in some other countries, this language 
 i of signs, has in some degree prevailed ; but the differ- 
 ence between the ancients and moderns, lies in this ; 
 that the ancients founded all their instituted signs, 
 on nature ; from her they drew all their stores ; fitted 
 I them in the nicest and exactest manner to the emotions 
 . which they were to express ; and adapted them so to 
 ! their artificial language, that their whole delivery 
 : formed the most complete harmony : the words, tones, 
 I looks, and gestures, corresponding to each other, in 
 I such a way, as that each contributed to enforce and 
 I adorn the other ; and their united efforts exhibited the 
 sentiments of the mind, in their full proportion and 
 beauty. So that all mankind who saw and heard them, 
 were charmed with the manner of their delivery, 
 though they understood not their speech ; and partook 
 I of their emotions, even without any communication of 
 i their ideas. But amongst the moderns, the instituted 
 signs of tones, gesture, &c. were not founded on na- 
 ture, but caprice and fancy : and obtained their whole 
 force from fashion and custom. Consequently, they 
 had neither meaning, nor beauty to any but the natives 
 of each country, and were totally different from each 
 other in the several countries ; which is sufficiently 
 known by all, who are conversant with the natives of 
 France, Spain, and Italy. But of all nations in the 
 world, the English seem to have the least use of this 
 language of signs ; there being few instituted signs of 
 | emotions, either of tones, looks, or gestures, that are 
 
100 LESSONS ON FXOCUTION. 
 
 adopted into general use. On the contrary, each indi- r 
 vidual, either follows his own fancy in this respect, 
 and has what is called a way of his own; or else adopts 
 the manner of some other, who pleases his fancy, and L 
 of whom he is altogether a mimic. 
 
 From what has been said, it is apparent that no gene- f 
 ral practical rules, I mean such as would be of any 1 
 efficacy, can be laid down in this respect. For gene-' 1 
 ral practical rules must be founded on general practice; 
 and as there is no such standard, in this country, toj 
 refer to, it would be in vain to lay down such rules, as 
 cannot be explained and enforced by examples. In 
 some points, that demand practice, as well as specula- 
 tion, the practical part must be obtained by the imita- 1 
 tion of patterns, and continual exercise in that way,' 
 till the imitation becomes perfect, and passes into a 
 habit. But where there are no general models to be 
 copied from, there can be no general practice, found- 
 ed on imitation. In Greece and Rome, all the public 1 
 speakers, agreeing as much in the use of the same signs, 
 or language of nature, as they did in the use of the 1 
 same words, or language of art; afforded general, con- ; 
 stant, and sure patterns of imitation to others. In 1 
 France, Italy, and Spain, as in each country, there is 
 an uniform, steady use of the same signs, though in af 1 
 more confined way, yet so far they also afford sure 
 patterns of imitation. But in our own country, where 
 there are scarce any traces of a general agreement in the' 
 use of such signs, there can be no observations drawn 
 from general practice, no rules laid down that require' 
 explanation by examples, and no manner recommended, 
 
GESTURE. 101 
 
 which demands the aid of patterns. In this case, all 
 that can be done is, to lay down such rules to indi- 
 viduals, as shall enable them to avoid faults, not acquire 
 beauties. It is in the power of rules to compass the 
 former, the latter cannot be obtained without models 
 and practice. I say cannot be obtained ; for to some, 
 nature has been uncommonly bountiful; and in those 
 who have had the good fortune to escape ill habits, a 
 native grace will appear, beyond what could be ac- 
 quired by art alone; but of this the instances are rare. 
 If instances of such extraordinary gifts are few, much 
 fewer are the examples of such as have not been cor- 
 
 i rupted by custom. And indeed when these gifts are 
 
 I bestowed in the most eminent degree, they are capa- 
 ble of great improvement . by art ; so that industry is 
 equally useful, if not equally necessary to all. 
 
 It has been already observed, that as there is no 
 common standard to be referred to, no general models 
 
 (for imitation, in the use of tones and gesture; each in- 
 dividual, either forms a manner peculiar to himself, or 
 adopts that of some other, that strikes his fancy. Of 
 these two ways, there can be no doubt which a man 
 should follow. He that forms to himself a manner of 
 his own, will probably acquire such a one as will be 
 most consonant to his own powers and his own feel- 
 ings. The very ease with which he falls into this, 
 and the difficulty, as well as absurdity, of putting any 
 constraint upon his nature, and forcing his organs, 
 where he has no object of imitation in view, will of 
 
 c course accomplish this point. But he who endeavors 
 to adopt the manner of another, loses sight of his own 
 10 
 
102 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 nature, and puts a constraint upon his organs. For 
 men do not differ more from each other in their faces, 
 than they do in their powers of delivery. And the 
 same manner which is easy and agreeable in one man, 
 becomes constrained and disgusting, when assumed by 
 another. The reason is, that all constraint upon na- 
 ture is instantly perceived, as it produces affectation, 
 and of course destroys true feeling ; for it is as impos- 
 sible, where affectation takes place in the manner of 
 delivery, or in the signs of inward emotions, that the 
 feelings of the heart should be excited, as that two ' 
 musical strings, not in unison, should vibrate to each 
 other, when one only is struck. Fantastical emotions 
 will produce fantastical signs, and fantastical signs, by 
 reaction, will produce fantastical emotions. Both, hav- 
 ing their rise in the imagination, may operate upon 
 the fancy, and produce effects there, but never can ' 
 reach the heart; as all communication between them ' 
 is necessarily cut off by affectation. Thus the fan- 
 cied operations of the spirit, in the people called Qua- : 
 kers, manifested by the most unnatural signs; and in 
 some other religious sects, by a certain cant, and ex- 
 travagant gestures, produce powerful effects on the J j 
 imaginations of such hearers as are bred up in the 
 persuasion that such signs are the language of the 
 spirit: But it must be evident, upon observing both 
 the preachers and their auditory, that it is only the 
 imagination which is so wrought upon ; as there is no I 
 discovering in their countenances any signs which are 
 the natural concomitants of the feelings of the heart. ' 
 
GESTURE. . 103 
 
 This sort of language of emotions, therefore, is well 
 calculated to make enthusiasts, but not believers. 
 
 In such a situation of things, the rule by which all 
 public speakers are to guide themselves is obvious and 
 easy. Let each, in the first place, avoid all imitation 
 of others; let him give up all pretensions to art, for it 
 is certain that it is better to have none, than not enough; 
 and no man has enough, who has not arrived at such a 
 perfection of art, as wholly to conceal his art ; a thing 
 not to be compassed but by the united endeavors of 
 the best instruction, perfect patterns, and constant prac- 
 tice. Let him forget that he ever learned to read ; at 
 least, let him wholly forget his reading tones. Let 
 him speak entirely from his feelings ; and they will 
 find much truer signs to manifest themselves by, than 
 he could find for them. Let him always have in view 
 what the chief end of speaking is ; and he will see the 
 necessity of the means proposed to answer the end. 
 The chief end of all public speakers is to persuade ; 
 and in order to persuade, it is above all things neces- 
 sary, that the speaker should at least appear, himself 
 to believe what he utters ; but this can never be the 
 case, where there are any evident marks of affectation, 
 or art. On the contrary, when a man delivers himself 
 in his usual manner, and with the same tones and ges- 
 ture that he is accustomed to use when he speaks 
 from his heart ; however awkward that manner may be, 
 however ill-regulated the tones, he will still have the 
 advantage of being thought sincere ; which, of all others, 
 is the most necessary article towards securing atten- 
 
1Q4 .LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 tion and belief; as affectation of any kind, is the sur- 7 
 est way to destroy both. y 
 
 In elocution, the two great articles are, force, and , 
 grace ; the one has its foundation chiefly in nature, the \ 
 other in art. When united, they mutually support each 
 other; when separated, their powers are very differ- 
 ent. Nature can do much without art; art but little 
 without nature. Nature, assaults the heart ; art, plays 
 upon the fancy. Force of speaking, will produce 
 emotion and conviction; grace, only excites pleasure } 
 and admiration. As the one is the primary, and the |j 
 other but a secondary end of speech, it is evident, that j, 
 where one or the other is wholly to take place, the B 
 former should have the preference. Grace in elocu- 
 tion, is very difficult to attain in the present state jj 
 of things. Force of delivery, is the necessary result 
 of a clear head, and warm heart; provided no bad L 
 habits interfere, and the speaker suffers his manner to b 
 be regulated wholly by his feelings and conceptions. , 
 
 This point being allowed, it is evidently in the pow- 
 er of every one, to deliver himself with such force, 
 and acquire such a reputation for speaking, as he is en- 
 titled to by his natural talents. There are few public j. 
 speakers who have not two kinds of delivery ; one for 
 public, the other for private use. The one, artificial [ 
 and constrained; the other, natural and easy. There j, 
 is, therefore, nothing more required, than to change onei 
 manner for another; to unlearn the former, and substi- , 
 tute the latter in its room ; of which, each individual 
 is already master. Had he indeed a new manner to 
 acquire, as well as to get rid of the old, the difficulty 
 
 
GESTURE. 105 
 
 would be great; but when he has only to unlearn a 
 bad habit, and has another ready to substitute in its 
 j room, it requires nothing but attention, and regular in- 
 1 formation of his errors, when he falls into them. 
 
 I know the objection ready to be started against this 
 i method is, what has been already mentioned, that if 
 I every one follows his own manner, the faults belonging 
 I to that manner, must of course accompany his delivery. 
 'Tis granted ; and it were to be wished, that a way were 
 i opened by which speakers might be cured of all faults, 
 | in all the parts of delivery ; but as this is impossible, 
 | without the aid of masters ; and since through want of 
 I masters, faults there must be; the question is, whether a 
 j person should take up with his own, or those of another ? 
 A man's own faults, sit easy on him ; habit has given them 
 the air of being natural; those of another, are not assum- 
 ed without awkwardness, they are evidently artificial. 
 Where truth is concerned, the very faults of a speaker, 
 I which seem natural, are more agreeable to the hearer 
 than such beauties as are apparently borrowed ; in the 
 same manner as the most indifferent natural complexion, 
 is preferred by those whose taste is not corrupted, to 
 the finest painted skin. It is often seen, that the mo- 
 tions and address of a man awkwardly formed, appear 
 more graceful, on account of their ease, than those of 
 the best shaped, who ape the manner of others, and 
 who shew an evident attention to their deportment; for 
 that must always be the case of copyists. 
 
 The office of a public speaker is, to instruct, to 
 please, and to move. If he does not instruct, his dis- 
 course is impertinent; and if he does not please, he 
 10* 
 
106 LESSONS ON ELOCUTION. 
 
 will not have it in his power to instruct, for he will 
 not gain attention ; and if he does not move, he will 
 not please, for where there is no emotion, there can 
 be no pleasure. To move, therefore, should be the 
 first great object of every public speaker ; and for this 
 purpose, he must use the language of emotions, not 
 that of ideas alone, which of itself has no power of 
 moving. It is evident, in the use of the language of 
 emotions, that he who is properly moved, and at the 
 same time delivers himself in such tones as delight 
 the ear with their harmony, accompanied by such 
 looks and gestures as please the eye with their grace, 
 whilst the understanding also perceives their proprie- 
 ty; is in the first class, and must be accounted a mas- 
 ter. In this case, the united endeavors of art and nature 
 produce that degree of perfection which is in no other 
 way to be obtained in any thing that is the workmanship 
 of man. Next to him, is the speaker, who gives way 
 to his emotions, without thinking of regulating their 
 signs ; and trusts to the force of nature, unsolicitou 
 about the graces of art. And the worst, is he, who 
 uses tones and gestures which he has borrowed from 
 others, and which, not being the result of his feelings, 
 are likely to be misapplied, and to be void of proprie- 
 ty, force, and grace. But he who is utterly without 
 all language of emotions, who confines himself to the 
 mere utterance of words, without any concomitant 
 signs, is not to be classed at all amongst public speak- 
 ers. The very worst abuse of such signs, is prefera- 
 ble to a total want of them; as it has at least a strong- 
 er resemblance to nature. 
 
 
PART SECOND. 
 
 I INSTRUCTIONS AND CRITICISMS 
 
 READING 
 
 OF THE CHURCH SERVICE. 
 
INSTRUCTIONS AND CRITICISMS 
 
 READING OF THE CHURCH SERVICE. 
 
 SHERIDAN'S ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY. 
 
 You cannot but be sensible of the general clamour, 
 which has, at all times, been raised against the very 
 bad manner in which the service of the church is too 
 often administered. The blame of this has been con- 
 stantly thrown upon you by the laity; who charge you 
 with neglect, and want of taking proper pains to quali- 
 fy yourselves for executing this important part of your 
 duty. In the course of this work I have fully exoner- 
 ated you from that charge ; as however desirous you 
 might be to make yourselves masters of it, the means 
 were not in your power ; for having no lights to guide 
 you in your researches, you were each obliged to con- 
 tinue in that manner of delivery, which you had ac- 
 quired in your early days, and which custom had es- 
 tablished too firmly to be altered without assistance. 
 But this excuse will now no longer avail you. The 
 means of acquitting yourselves, with propriety at least, 
 in the discharge of that part of your office, are so clear- 
 ly laid open, that a person of a very moderate capaci- 
 ty may attain it, by the application of one mcteth only ; 
 
 ^H 
 
110 ON READING, &c. 
 
 and such as are desirous of excelling in that way, may 
 compass their end, in proportion to their natural pow- 
 ers of delivery, and the pains they shall take, accord- 
 ing to the method here proposed. 
 
 Such of the clergy as shall hereafter neglect to make 
 use of the means of information now offered to them, i 
 will be considered as inexcusable ; and their faults can j 
 no longer escape notice, as they will all now be obvi- r 
 ous to their hearers ; for it is probable that this work , 
 will be very generally read by the laity, to whom, in 
 other respects, it will be found equally useful and ne- \ 
 cessary. i 
 
 If my Lords the Bishops would pitch upon this book 5 
 as part of their examination for holy orders, and make ,1 
 propriety of reading, in all future candidates, an es- t\ 
 sential requisite to their admission into that sacred of- i 
 fice, they would do a more real service to the cause of j 
 religion, than the most celebrated of their order ever 
 have done by their polemical writings. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 \ There is not any thing which can shew the low state 
 [ of the Art of Reading among us, in a stronger light, 
 than the general complaint, that the service of the 
 I church is so seldom delivered with propriety. At first 
 view, one would be apt to imagine, that in the settled 
 service, open to all to be studied and examined at lei- 
 sure, every one, by suitable pains, might make himself 
 ! master of the proper manner of reading it. It is this 
 I mistaken notion, which makes the laity so forward to 
 | lay the blame at the door of such of the clergy, as do 
 I not perform this part of the office well ; attributing it 
 wholly to neglect, and the want of taking proper pains. 
 Whereas the true cause of the defect, is, the erroneous 
 manner in which all are taught to read, by persons ut- 
 terly disqualified for the office. They are originally 
 I set wrong upon principle, and yet think themselves 
 right. How is it possible therefore, that they should 
 set about amending faults, of which they are not con- 
 scious ? And when this faulty manner has taken root, 
 by custom and a length of years, how difficult, nay 
 impossible would it be, even supposing they were made 
 conscious of it, to change such habits, without the assis- 
 tance of skilful persons, to point out the particulars in 
 which they are faulty, and shew how they are to be 
 amended. And where are such to be found? As to 
 any information they might receive from their friends 
 or acquaintance, they would be but little the better for 
 it ; as they probably are as unskilled in the art, and 
 
112 ON READING 
 
 deficient in the practice, as themselves ; even suppos- ! 
 ing they were willing to give th£m such information. 
 But it is well known how backward men are to perform 
 the task of censors upon any habits of their friends, j 
 unless called upon to do so. And the man who wants 
 such information, from a consciousness of his deficien- 
 cy, is yet restrained from applying for it, by a false 
 shame; considering it as a disgrace to acknowledge 
 that he did not know how to read, at that time of life. ' 
 For this is the light in which they consider it, con- 
 founding under one term, two very distinct things, that ' 
 of mere reading, and reading well. In learning to read, 1 
 two very dhfereut ends may be proposed. The ose, 1 
 that of silent reading, to enable us to understand au- J 
 thors, and store our minds with knowledge ; the other, 
 that of reading aloud, by which we may communicate 
 the sentiments of authors to our hearers with perspi- 
 cuity and force. All our pains have been employed 5 
 in accomplishing the former end; and with regard to : 
 the latter, we are either set wrong by false rules, or 
 left wholly to chance. Now if it were known that to 
 arrive at perfection in the art of reading in the latter 1 
 sense, would require much time and pains, even sup- 
 posing it were taught by a regular system of rules 
 and skilful masters ; surely it could never be consider- 1 
 ed as a disgrace to any one to be deficient in such an 
 art, who, far from having precepts to guide, or masters \ 
 to teach him, should be misled by false lights, in the 
 very first principles of the theory, and corrupted by 
 bad examples in the practical part. For the benefit of 
 such as are desirous of getting rid of their bad habits, 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 113 
 
 and discharging that important part of the sacred office, 
 
 the reading of the liturgy, with due decorum, I shall 
 
 first enter into a minute examination of some parts of 
 
 the service, and afterwards deliver the rest, accompa- 
 
 ! nied with such marks, as will enable the reader, in a 
 
 i short time, and with moderate pains, to make himself 
 
 I master of the whole. And though this may seem to 
 
 j be chiefly calculated for the use of the clergy, yet it 
 
 j will be found the very best lesson that could be given 
 
 j to all others, in the art of reading. In making my 
 
 i comments, I shall not select passages from different 
 
 [ parts of the service, but take them in their order as 
 
 i they lie in the Prayer-book, beginning with some of 
 
 I the texts that are usually read before the exhortation. 
 
 But first it will be necessary to explain the marks which 
 
 you will hereafter see throughout the remainder of this 
 
 work. They are of two kinds ; one, to point out the 
 
 emphatic words, for which purpose I shall use the 
 
 grave accent of the Greek | ]. 
 
 The other, to point out the different pauses or stops, 
 
 for which I shall use the following marks : 
 
 For the shortest pause, marking an incomplete sense, a 
 
 small inclined line, thus | 1 
 
 For the second, double the time of the former, two [ " ] 
 
 And for the third or full stop, three [ '" ] 
 
 When I would mark a pause longer than any belonging 
 
 to the usual stops, it shall be by two horizontal lines, 
 
 as thus [ = ] 
 
 When I would point out a syllable that is to be dwelt 
 
 on some time I shall use this mark [ — ] 
 
 or a short horizontal over the syllable. 
 11 
 
114 ON READING 
 
 When a syllable should be rapidly uttered, this [ y ] 
 
 or a curve turned upwards; the usual marks of long 
 
 and short quantity in prosody. 
 
 The reason for my using new marks for the stops, 
 
 is this. They who have been accustomed to associate 
 
 reading notes to the stops, will, on the sight of them, 
 
 be apt to fall into their old habit; and as the new marks 
 
 are free from such association of ideas, they will be 
 
 more likely to be guided in all the changes of their 
 
 voice by the sense only. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. H5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ORDER FOR DAILY MORNING PRAYER. 
 
 As the first necessary step towards getting into a good 
 habit, is to get rid of a bad one, I shall point out the 
 faults that are usually committed in reading the ser- 
 vice, and afterwards propose the amendments. 
 
 SENTENCES OF SCRIPTURE AT THE BEGINNING 
 OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 From these it will be sufficient to select the last two 
 by way of examples. 
 
 I have often heard the following verse read in this 
 manner. 
 
 " Enter not into judgment with thy se rvant 
 O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be 
 justified." 
 
 Here the words, not, servant, sight, justified, between 
 which it is impossible to find any connexion, or depend- 
 ence of one on the other, are principally marked. By 
 these false emphases, the mind is turned wholly from 
 the main purport and drift of the verse. Upon hear- 
 ing an emphasis upon not, it expects quite another con- 
 clusion to make the meaning consistent ; and instead 
 of the word for, which begins the latter part of the 
 sentence, it would expect a but ; as Enter no't into 
 
116 ON READING 
 
 judgment with thy servant O Lord, but regard me with 
 an eye of mercy. When it hears the emphasis on ser- 
 vant, it expects also another conclusion ; as, Enter no v t 
 into judgment with thy servant O Lord, but enter into 
 judgment with those who are not thy servants. And 
 by the emphasis on the words sight , and justified, the 
 true meaning is not conveyed. But if read in the fol- 
 lowing manner, c Enter not into judgment with thy 
 servant O Lord" for' in th'y sight' shall no man li ving 
 be justified' — the whole meaning becomes obvious, and i 
 we see that there is a great deal more implied, than 
 the mere words would express, without the aid of pro- 
 per emphasis. 'Enter nut into judgment with thy servant' 
 O Lord'" — That is, enter not, O Lord, into the severi- 
 ty of judgment with thy servant — c for' in thy sight' — 
 which is all-piercing, and can spy the smallest blemish [ 
 — c shall no man living be justified' — No man on earth, 
 no not the best, shall be found perfect, or sufficiently 
 pure, to stand the examination of the eye of purity 
 itself. 
 
 b 
 
 Upon this sentence thus pronounced, the following 
 beautiful passage in Job, may be a comment. 
 
 " How then can man be justified with God, or how f 
 can he be clean that is born of woman ? Behold even 
 to the moon, and it shineth not ; yea the stars are not 
 pure in his sight. How much less, man, that is a worm, 
 and the son of man, which is a worm." 
 
 The following sentence is often read in this faulty 
 manner. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. H7 
 
 " If we say that we have no si V we deceive 
 ourselves' and the truth is not in us" but if we 
 confess our sins' God is faithful and just to 
 forgive us our sins' and to cleanse us from all 
 unrighteousness." 
 
 " If we say that we have no si n." Here by laying 
 the strong emphasis on the word say we are led to a 
 wrong meaning, as if we only said it with our lips, 
 but did not think so. How then can the conclusion 
 follow of deceiving ourselves ? We may deceive others 
 by saying what is false, but it is only by thinking 
 falsely, we can deceive ourselves. Which is the true 
 meaning of the words properly pronounced. " Ff we 
 say that we have no sin', we deceive ourselv'es' 1 that 
 is, i v f there be any among us, so vainly blind to their 
 own faults, as to imagine they are without sin, they 
 deceive themselves. This sentence is not an affirma- 
 tive one, but conditional. It does not say that there 
 are any such amongst us, but, if there be any such ; 
 and, therefore, the conditional particle z/, is, in this 
 case, emphatical. " Ff we say that we have no si V 
 we deceive ourselv es — and the truth is not in u V 
 Here is another fault committed in laying the empha- 
 sis on the words in us only, whilst the word " truth," 
 which is the important one, is slightly passed over. 
 " And the truth is not in us." That is, the opinion 
 entertained of ourselves is false. This strong empha- 
 sis laid only on the words in u's, is the more unpardon- 
 able in those who lay such an emphasis on the word 
 11* 
 
118 0N READING 
 
 " say," because it by no means follows that the truth i 
 is not in us because we say otherwise : a man may j] 
 think the truth, and say the contrary : and this very i 
 phrase proves the meaning of the text as before ex- 1 
 plained, that it relates to thinking, nut saying ; as it i 
 expressly says, the truth is not in us, that is, we think -\ 
 falsely. . jt 
 
 " But if we confess our si ns." — Here again the false 
 emphasis is laid on the word sins, whilst the principal j) 
 circumstance, that of confessing is slightly passed c 
 over. " But if we confers our sins" — that is, if upon (j 
 a thorough self-examination, after having discovered [ 
 our sins, we make an humble acknowledgement of p 
 them, with a contrite heart, and a thorough desire and z 
 intention of reforming; (for all this is implied in the t 
 word confess, as no other sort of confession can be of ) 
 any avail towards obtaining the grace promised.) How jj 
 emphatical, therefore, ought this word to be, which { 
 implies so much ! i 
 
 There is another word in this sentence which is 
 hurried over as if it were a mere particle, when in ji 
 this place it is a word of strong import ; I mean the ! r < 
 word but. It is usually read " but if we confess our ° 
 sins," as if it w ere a mere disjunctive particle. Where- i 
 as, but in this situation stands in the place of the words i 
 on the other hand, as may be perceived by reading the t 
 two members of the sentence and uniting them by ji 
 those words. " Ff we say that we have no si n, we i 
 deceive ourselves, and the truth is not i'n us ; on the : 
 other hand, if we confers our sins." — cc But" therefore, ( 
 standing in the place of words, should be emphatical, i 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. \\ 9 
 
 as all particles are when they are substituted in the 
 place of words. " But if we confess our sins God is 
 faithful and just to forgive us our si ns." Who is faith- 
 ful and just to forgive us our sins? Could any one 
 conceive that it is the great God of the universe who 
 is here spoken of in so slight a way ? Throughout the 
 whole service, indeed, the awful name of God is by 
 some treated so familiarly, and so little distinguished 
 \ from any particle of three letters, as must give great 
 ! offence to pious ears. It is said of the great Robert 
 ! Boyle, that he never mentioned the name of God, even 
 ! in private discourse, without making a perceptible 
 I pause after it. How much more would this practice 
 j become those who are engaged in the solemn act of 
 public worship, and how much would it add to the so- 
 lemnity of that worship ? It is manifestly proper that, 
 in reading this sentence, the voice should dwell with 
 devotional emphasis upon the word God, and that it 
 I should be preceded and followed by a perceptible 
 pause. " Ff we confess our sins' God' is faithful and 
 : jVst to forgiVe us our sins, &c." These last words are 
 j generally as improperly read as the rest. The chief 
 emphasis is here also, often placed on the word sin's, 
 which not only mars the sense, but produces a sad 
 cacaphonia, very disagreeable to the ear, by the three 
 successive emphases on the word " sins" in the same 
 sentence. As, " if we say that we have no sin' we de- 
 ceive ourselves' and the truth is not in us" but if we 
 confess our si ns' God is faithful and just to forgive us 
 our si ns &c." The want of laying the proper empha- 
 sis on the word confess, in the former part of the sen- 
 
120 ON READING 
 
 tence, produces the same mistake in not laying it right 
 on the word forgive in the latter, as the one is a con- i 
 sequence of the other. If we confess our sins, God 
 will forgive our sins. 
 
 The words " faithful" and "just," by being hurried 
 over, lose their whole force and import. When pro- 
 perly pronounced, there is implied in them by means , 
 of emphasis, that God has entered into a covenant with 
 man that, upon confession and repentance, he will 
 forgive him his sins, through the atonement of Christ : 
 his faithfulness and justice, therefore, are both pledged 
 for the fulfilment of this covenant. " God' is faithful I 
 and ju'st, to forgive us our sinV and to cleanse us from 
 
 all unrighteousness." 
 
 Here the emphasis on the word " unrighteousness," ] 
 is as unfortunately placed, as any of the others. For 2 
 the emphasis ought to be stronger both on the words \ 
 " cleanse" and " all ;" the meaning of the sentence, j 
 being that, God, upon our confession and repentance, j 
 will not only forgive our sins, but likewise cleanse us, . 
 not from unrighteousness only, but from all unrighte- * 
 ousness. He will thoroughly purify us. Having thus, 
 very minutely pointed out the various errors so com- • 
 monly committed in reading this sentence, — I shall - 
 now mark it in the manner in which it is usually read, 3 
 and then, in what I apprehend to be the right way of r 
 reading it, that the difference may be the more ap- j 
 parent. 
 
 If we say that we have no si n' we deceive our- \ 
 selves', and the truth is not in us" but if we confess 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 121 
 
 our sin's' God is faithful and just to forgive us our 
 sin's' and to cleanse us from all unrig'hteousnes. 
 
 Now in the other. 
 
 Ff we say that we have no sin' we deceive our- 
 selves' and the truth is not in us" but' if we confess 
 our sins' God' is faithful' and ju'st' to forgiVe us our 
 sins' and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
 
 THE EXHORTATION. 
 
 The Exhortation I have often heard delivered in the 
 following manner : 
 
 ■o 
 
 "Dearly beloved brethren, the scripture 
 moveth us in sundry places to acknowledge 
 and confess our manifold sins and wickedness. 
 And that we should not dissemble nor cloak 
 them before the face of Almighty God our 
 Heavenly Father, but confess them with an 
 humble lowly penitent and obedient heart, to 
 the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the 
 I same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. 
 And although we ought at all times humbly to 
 acknowledge our si us before God, yet ought 
 we chiefly so to do when we assemble and 
 meet together. To render thanks for the 
 great benefits we have received at his hands, 
 to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his 
 most holy word, and to ask those things which 
 
122 ON READING 
 
 are requisite and necessary as well for the body ' 
 as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech 
 you as many as are here present, to accompa- 
 ny me with a pure heart and humble voice to , 
 the throne of the heavenly grace, saying." 
 
 In the beginning of this exhortation, we usually find, k 
 that the clergyman's eye is fixed on the book, and that ( 
 he utters the words as mere matter of form; but, sure- ( 
 ly, the truly Christian and affectionate address, with |* 
 which it commences, from a pastor to his flock, ought \i 
 to be made with earnestness, and his eyes looking I 
 round the whole congregation. ' Dearly beloved bre- i 
 thren!'=And then there should a pause of some length \ 
 ensue, to give them time to collect themselves, and i 
 awaken their attention to the solemn duty they are ji 
 about to perform. Whereas, in the other way, when k 
 the eye is on the book, the congregation cannot feel it 
 as an immediate address to them ; especially when they I 
 find that there is no pause after this address, but that i 
 he immediately runs on to the next sentence, which It 
 has no connexion with it, misled by the false pointing ( 
 of a comma after the words, £ Dearly beloved brethren,' I 
 which ought to have been marked by what is called a fc 
 point of admiration. In the latter part of the first pe- |i 
 riod, * but confess them with an humble lowly penitent u 
 and obedient heart, to the end that we may obtain, for- \ 
 giveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and u 
 mercy' — there are several faults committed. In the i 
 first place, the four epithets preceding the word heart, r, 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 123 
 
 are huddled together, and pronounced in a monotone, 
 disagreeable to the ear, and enervating to the sense; 
 whereas each word rising in force above the other, 
 ought to be marked by a proportional rising of the 
 notes in the voice ; and, in the last, there should be 
 such a note used as would declare it at the same time 
 to be the last — c with an humble' lowly' penitent' and 
 obedient heart, &c.' At first view it may appear, 
 that the w T ords humble and lowly, are synonimous ; 
 but the word lowly, certainly implies a greater de- 
 gree of humiliation than the word humble. The 
 word, penitent, that follows, is of stronger import 
 than either ; and the word, obedient, signifying a per- 
 fect resignation to the will of God, in consequence of 
 our humiliation and repentance, finishes the climax. 
 But if the climax in the words, be not accompanied 
 by a suitable climax in the notes of the voice, it can- 
 not be made manifest. In the following part of the 
 sentence, ' to the en v d that we may obtain' forgiveness 
 of the same' there are usually three emphases laid on 
 the words, end, obtain, same, where there should not 
 be any, and the only emphatic word, forgiveness, is 
 slightly passed over ; whereas it should be read — 6 to 
 the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same,' 
 keeping the words, obtain and forgiveness, closely 
 together, and not disuniting them, both to the pre- 
 judice of the sense and cadence. The following 
 words, ' by his infinite goodness and mercy,' lose 
 much of their force, by the manner of repeating 
 them; whereas, by interjecting a pause between the 
 words, his, and infinite, as, c by his' infinite goodness 
 
^ 
 
 124 ON READING 
 
 and mercy' we not only pay the proper reverence due, 
 to the Deity, whenever he is mentioned, but there is|> 
 superadded, by this means, a force to the word, infi^ 
 nite, coming- after the pause, which alone can make 
 us have an adequate conception of those attributes in 
 Him, whose mercy endureth forever — { by his' infinite , 
 goodness and mercy.'— ' And although we ought at allk 
 times' — Here the accent of the word, although, is 3 
 changed,. and put on the first syllable, although; and 
 this syllable being pronounced in the same quantity as, 
 the word all, which follows soon after, occasions a 
 repetition of the same sound so suddenly, as to be. 
 disagreeable to the ear; and the want of the due^ 
 change of note on the word all, obscures the sense — 
 ' and although we ought at all times' — whereas, in the , 
 right way of pronouncing it, and c although we ought 
 at all times' — the repetition of the same sound is j 
 avoided, and the following meaning is evidently im- 
 plied ; though we should embrace every opportunity, 
 when we are alone, and in private meditation, to con- : 
 fess our sins before God, yet ought we chiefly so to 
 do, when we assemble and meet together, to join in 
 acts of public worship. Here, also, there is often an [ 
 unfortunate emphasis on the word, so, instead of the 
 word, chiefly, 'yet ought we chiefly so to do, &c.' [ 
 and this arises from not giving the due emphasis to 
 to the word, all, in the former part of the sentence, 
 which would have shewn the necessity of giving a 
 correspondent force to the word, chiefly, in the latter. 
 4 And although we ought at all times' humbly to ac- 
 knowledge our sins before God" yet ought we chiefly , 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 125 
 
 so to do' when we assemble and meet together to ren- 
 | der thanks' for the great benefits that we have receiv- 
 ! ed at his hands, &c.' Nothing is more frequent than 
 i to give the tone of a full stop at the end of the former 
 part of this sentence, as thus — ' yet ought we chiefly 
 j so to do when we assemble and meet together. 5 
 What, at any time, in assemblies of amusement and 
 | festivity ? No, it is only when we assemble and meet 
 i together, to render thanks for the great benefits we 
 have received at his hands, &c In this, and what 
 i follows, a distinct enumeration is made, of the seve- 
 ral parts whereof the public worship is composed. 
 To render thanks for the great benefits that we have 
 received at his hands" Thanksgiving. To set forth his 
 most worthy praise" by psalms and hymns. To hear 
 his most holy loord" in the Lessons. And to ask those 
 things that are requisite and necessary, as well for the 
 body as the soul" the prayers. On which account, 
 the several sentences containing the distinct parts of 
 the service, ought to be kept more detached from 
 each other, than they usually are ; and the words pe- 
 culiarly expressive of each branch of the service, 
 should chiefly be made emphatical. c To render 
 tha nks' for the great benefits that we have received 
 at his hands" to set forth his most worthy praise" to 
 hear' his most holy wo'rd ' and to a N sk those things' 
 which are requisite' and necessary' as well for the 
 body' as the soul"" Whereas, in the usual way of 
 running these sentences into one another, the auditor 
 I has no time to observe the distinctness of the parts ; 
 
 ! and I believe it has seldom occurred to any one, that 
 12 
 
126 ON READING 
 
 in these four sentences, are separately enumerated l| 
 the four capital branches of the church service. I 
 c Wherefore I pray and beseech you as many as are 
 here present' — This is the way in which that passage 
 is usually delivered; but, surely a more particular 
 and personal address, would have more force to call 
 up attention, than this vague and general one; which 
 will be done only by placing the emphasis on the ' 
 word, you. ' Wherefore I pray and beseech you' as 
 many as are here present, &c.' That is, I pray and be- 
 seech all of you, and each individual of you, here pre- 
 sent, to accompany me, &c. for that is what is im- 
 plied in the words c as many as are here present :' it is 
 addressing them in detail, each individual of the num- 
 ber there present ; and if these words be not taken in 
 that sense, they are a mere tautology ; for if they had 
 only a general meaning, like the word i/ow, they would 
 express nothing more than what had been already 
 done by that word. 
 
 I shall now read the whole, in the manner I have 
 recommended ; and if you will give attention to the 
 marks, you will be reminded of the manner, when you 
 come to practise in your private reading. 
 
 " Dearly beloVed brethren !=The scripture 
 moveth us' in su ndry places' to acknowledge 
 and confess our manifold sins and wickedness" 
 and that we should not dissemble nor cloak 
 them before the face of Almighty God' our 
 Heavenly Father" but confess them' with an 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 127 
 
 humble' lowly' penitent' and obedient heart' to 
 the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the 
 same' by his' infinite goodness and mercy"' 
 And although we ought at all times' humbly 
 to acknowledge our sins before Go d" yet ought 
 we chiefly so to do' when we assemble and 
 meet together' to render tha nks' for the great 
 benefits w T e have received at his hands" to set 
 forth' his most worthy praise" to hear' his most 
 holy word" and to ask those things' which are 
 requisite and necessary' as well for the body' 
 as the soul'" Wherefore' I pray and beseech 
 you' as many as are here present' to accompa- 
 ny me' with a pure heart' and hu'mble voice' 
 unto the throne of the heavenly grace' saying " 
 
 GENERAL CONFESSION. 
 
 Now to examine the Confession in the same way. 
 
 'Almighty and most merciful Father.'— -Hera the 
 greatest stress is usually laid on the word, Father; 
 whereas it ought to be on the attribute, merciful. 
 We are making a confession of our sins, and imploring 
 pardon for them of God ; and it is upon the greatness 
 of his mercy, that we presume to approach him in this 
 manner, or to hope for pardon ; which is implied in 
 the words properly read — c Almighty and most mer- 
 ciful Father 5 — Another fault here committed, is the 
 dropping the vo'ce at the end, as if it were a full stop ; 
 
128 ON READING 
 
 whereas, it is evidently an incomplete member of a 
 sentence, as would appear if it were immediately fol- 
 lowed by the subsequent one, which belongs to it, 
 without the reader's being interrupted by the congre- 
 gation. But that interruption ought to make no change 
 in the proper manner of delivering it, which should be 
 in a sustained note, and which the reader would use 
 were he to continue it without such interruption. 
 ' Almighty and most merciful Father' we have erred 
 and strayed from thy ways' like lost sheep.' These 
 last two words are often run into one another, and 
 pronounced as if they were but one ; instead of c like 
 lost sheep,' it is read, like losssheep.' c We have fol- 
 lowed too muc'h the devices and desires of our own 
 hearts.' Here by laying the stress on the word, much, 
 there is no more implied, but that we have given way 
 to our inclinations more than we should do ; and that, 
 may admit of being interpreted, but in a small degree. 
 But when it is repeated thus — t We have followed too 
 much' the devices and desires of our own hearts' it 
 implies, in a great degree, there are no boundaries 
 iiscd to our wanderings; and not only so, but the 
 tone of voice accompanying that emphasis, includes 
 at the same time self condemnation, and contrition. 
 c We have followed too much' the devices and desires 
 of our own hearts. We have offended against thy 
 holy laws. We have left undo ne those things which 
 we ought to have do'ne ; and we have do ne those 
 things which we ought not to have do ne.' In which 
 way of reading, the repetition of the word, done, four 
 times in so short a space, and in the same tone, is at 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 129 
 
 once disagreeable to the ear, and obscures the mean- 
 ing. But in the right way of reading it — * We have 
 left u ndone those things which we ou v ght to have 
 done" and we have done those things' which we 
 ought no v t to have done'" The two emphases placed 
 on the two negatives, make the word, done, with 
 which they are connected, pass unnoticed by the ear; 
 and the different notes of voice, used to the same 
 word, twice repeated in one sentence, give at once an 
 agreeable variety to the ear, and enforce the meaning 
 upon the understanding. Which is no more than this ; 
 ' We have left u ndone' what we ought to have do ne ; 
 j and we have done' what we ought no't to have done. 
 And there is no health in us.' In this way the stress 
 is improperly laid upon in* and the important word, 
 health, is passed over unmarked. It should be read — 
 c and there is no heaPth in us. — But thou O Lord have 
 mercy upo n us miserable offenders.' In this way of 
 | running the words of the invocation into one another, 
 ; all reverence to the Deity is lost. — l But thou O Lord,' 
 Whereas, by interjecting a small pause before the im- 
 mediate address to him by name, and at the same time 
 lowering the voice, in token of respect, the manner 
 would be such, as alone can become a creature, ad- 
 dressing his Creator. c But thou' O Lord' have mer- 
 cy upo'n us miserable offenders"" In these words, 
 here, as well as in all other places where they are 
 repeated, it is usual to lay the emphasis on the insig- 
 nificant word, upon, instead of the important one, 
 mercy; by saying, — c have mercy upon us' — instead 
 
 of ' have me'rcy upon us miserable offenders.' — 
 
 12* 
 
1 30 ON READING 
 
 The difficulty of reading the Liturgy with spirit, 
 and even with propriety, is somewhat peculiar, on ac- 
 count of the inveterate and long established faults to 
 which almost every one's ears are become so familiar; 
 so that such a delivery as would shock any one of 
 even moderate taste, in any other composition, he 
 will, in this, be likely to tolerate, and to practise. 
 Some read, " have mercy upon us, miserable offend- 
 ers," and others, " have mercy upon us, miserable 
 offenders ;" both laying the stress on a wrong word, ' 
 and making the pause in the wrong place, so as to 
 disconnect "us" and "miserable offenders," which 
 the context requires us to combine. Every one, in 
 expressing his own natural sentiments would say ] 
 " have mercy upon us-miserable-offenders." > 
 
 c Spare thou those O God who confess their faults.' i 
 In the first part of the sentence, the words, thou those, j 
 when run too closely together, have a bad effect on , 
 the ear. ' Spare thou those' — which may be avoid- 
 ed by a small separation of those words ; as, Spare 
 thou' those' O God' who confers their faults. — Restore 
 thou those who are penitent.' Here is a repetition of 
 the same words, thou those, which has still a worse ef- • 
 feet on the ear, and is to be remedied in the same way. 
 ' Restore thou' those who are pe'nitent. According | 
 to thy promises' declared unto mankind in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord'" And grant O most merciful Father 
 for his sake' — Here we have another instance of the 
 want of respect to the Deity, by not making the pro- 
 per pause before the immediate address to him ; and 
 indeed the same may be observed throughout the 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. J 31 
 
 i whole service. It should be read thus : And grant' 
 I most meVciful Father' for his sake' that we may 
 
 hereafter' live a go v dly' righteous' and sober life" to 
 1 the glory of thy holy name. 
 
 I shall now insert the confession marked as I think 
 
 it ought to be read. 
 
 Almighty and most merciful Father' we 
 
 ; have er red and strayed from thy ways' like lost 
 
 | sheep'" We have followed too much the de- 
 
 | vices and desires of our own hearts'" We have 
 
 ! offe nded against thy holy laws'" We have left 
 
 u ndone those things which we ought to have 
 
 done" and we have done those things which 
 
 we ought not to have done" and there is no 
 
 health in us'" But thou' O Lord' have mercy 
 
 upon us- miserable-offenders'" Spare thou' 
 
 ! those' O God' who confess their faults'" Restore 
 
 thou' those who are pe nitent" according to thy 
 
 promises declared unto mankind' in Christ 
 
 Je sus our Lord'" And grant' most merciful 
 
 Father' for his sake" that we may' hereafter' 
 
 live a godly' righteous' and sober life' to the 
 
 glory of thy holy name'" Amen. 
 
 THE ABSOLUTION. 
 
 In reading the absolution, it is usual to begin it in 
 the same manner, and tone of voice, as if it were a 
 
132 0N READING 
 
 prayer addressed to the Almighty, instead of speaking 
 of him, and delivering a commission in his name. As 
 thus — c Almighty God ! the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ' — instead of the authoritative tone of one speak- J 
 ing in his name, and who has received power and com- } 
 mandment from him, to declare his gracious pleasure 
 to his people. The words as they stand, have indeed 
 the same air as several prayers beginning in the same • 
 manner : which probably has betrayed most into the J 
 same mode of delivering them. But whoever will ' 
 suppose them to be preceded by the article, the, which ^ 
 is understood, as thus — The Almighty God, Father of ' 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, &c. will immediately see the f 
 necessity of using a tone very different from that of 1 
 supplication ; and will easily bring himself to the use 3 
 of it. — c Who desireth not the death of a si nner, but ? 
 rather that he may tur n from his wickedness and live.' ' 
 Here the emphasis on the words, sinner, in the first r 
 part, and, turn from his wickedness, in the latter, ob- J 
 scure the main purport of the sentence ; which is, The ' 
 Almighty takes no pleasure in seeing a sinner perish jl 
 everlastingly, (which is implied in the death of a sinner) ' 
 but wishes rather, that by a course of penitence and re- 
 formation, he may receive eternal life ; which is impli- J 
 ed in the word, live. How strongly marked, therefore, E 
 should words be of such powerful import ! c And hath ~ 
 given power and commandment to his ministers, to ' 
 declare and pronounce to his people being penitent' — J 
 The words, by being thus huddled together, lose ^ 
 much of their import and clearness. But read in the J 
 following way — And hath given poVer' and com- 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 133 
 
 mandment to his ministers" to declare' and pronounce' 
 to his people' — the different parts of each member of 
 the sentence, and their reference to each other are 
 distinctly pointed out. He hath given to his ministers 
 commandment' to declare" and power' to pronounce' 
 the absolution of sins — upon a certain condition. 
 Ought not the condition then, to be particularly mark- 
 j ed and enforced, instead of being slurred over as it 
 usually is ? < to declare and pronounce to his people 
 being penitent the absolution, &c.' Should it not have 
 i the solemnity of a pause, both before and after it, ac- 
 ! companied by a lower tone of voice, to give it its due 
 I weight ? As thus — to declare and pronounce to his 
 [ people' being pe v nitent' the absolution' and remission 
 of their sins. — £ He pardoneth and absolveth all those 
 I who truly repent, &c.' Here the observation former- 
 ly made, recurs, of the slight manner in which the 
 Almighty is often mentioned, and which must be much 
 more striking on this occasion, where his minister is 
 commanded in his name, to declare his pleasure to his 
 people, upon so important an article. Surely this 
 cannot be done with too much solemnity, and may be 
 effected by dwelling with a tone of reverential awe, 
 on the relative which stands for his name, followed by 
 a suitable pause ; thus — He" pardoneth and absolveth 
 all those who truly repenY and unfeignedly belie Ve his 
 holy Gospel. — c Wherefore let us beseech him to grant 
 us true repentance, &c.' In this, as in all other 
 places, where there is a particular address to the con- 
 gregation, it is to be wished that it were brought more 
 home to them, by force of emphasis on the proper 
 
134 ON READING 
 
 word; as thus — Wherefore let us beseech him to grant 
 uV true repentance — that is, let us all who are here [ 
 assembled, unite to beseech him that we may be made 
 fit partakers of this covenant ; the covenant just before 
 published to all Christians. From which each pastor 
 takes occasion to exhort his own particular flock, 
 earnestly to pray to God, that they may partake of it. J 
 
 Many are apt even to commit so gross an error, as (I 
 to lay the chief stress on the words which denote the D 
 most important things ; without any consideration of i 
 the emphatic word of each sentence : e. g. in the Ab- 
 solution, many read, " let us beseech him to grant us 
 true repentance ;" because, forsooth, " true repen- 
 tance" is an important thing ; not considering that, as 
 it has been just mentioned, it is not the new idea, and 
 that to which the attention should be directed by the 1 
 emphasis ; the sense being, that since God pardoneth 
 all that have true repentance, therefore, we should. 
 " beseech him, to grant it to us." 
 
 These are the principal faults usually committed in 
 reading the absolution. Others of smaller note I shall 
 not expatiate on, but leave them to each one's obser- 
 vation, by presenting the whole in what appears to 
 me to be the right manner of reading it. 
 
 a Almighty God' the father of our Lord Je- 
 sus Christ' who desireth not the death of a if 
 sinner' hut rather that he may turn from his 3 
 wickedness' and live" hath given power' and 
 commandment to his ministers' to declare and 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 135 
 
 pronounce to his people' being penitent' the 
 absolution and remission of their sins" He" 
 pardon eth and absolveth all those who truly 
 repent' and unfeignedly believe his holy gos- 
 pel'" Wherefore' let us beseech him' to grant 
 ifs true repentance' and his Holy Spirit' that 
 those things may please him' which we do at 
 this pre sent' and that the rest of our life 
 herea fter' may be pure and holy" so that at 
 the lasY we may come to his eternal joy' 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord'"' 
 
 LORD'S PRAYER, VERSICLE AND GLORIA PATRI. 
 
 I now come to the Lord's prayer. Nothing can 
 shew the corrupt state of the art of reading, or the 
 power of bad habit, in a stronger light, than the man- 
 ner in which that short and simple prayer, is general- 
 ly delivered. In the first words of it, 'Our Father 
 who a'rt in Heaven' — that false emphasis on the word, 
 art, has almost universally prevailed. This strong 
 stress upon the affirmative, art, looks as if there might 
 be a doubt, whether the residence of God were in 
 Heaven, or not ; and the impropriety of the emphasis 
 will immediately appear, upon changing the word we 
 are accustomed to, for another of the same import. 
 For instance, should any one instead of saying — Our 
 Father who residest in HeaVen — read — Our Father 
 who residest in Heaven, the absurdity would be glar- 
 
136 ON READING 
 
 ing. The other consequently should be read in the 
 same way — e Our Father' who art in Heaven 5 — with i 
 the emphasis upon Heaven, and the voice somewhat 
 raised. I have known a few who have seen this mis- 
 take, and to avoid it, have run into another error, as 
 thus — { Our Father whoart in Heaven,' making the 
 two words, who and art, appear but as one, by too | 
 precipitate an utterance — whoart. — They should be 
 pronounced distinctly, but without any stress ; and I 
 this will be accomplished in spite of habit, by frequent 
 trials, if care be taken to reserve the emphasis for the ' 
 word Heaven, as thus — c Our Father' who art in 
 HeaVen' hallowed be thy nameW Thy kingdom come, ' 
 thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.' — By ' 
 running the words and members of the sentence thus 
 into each other, the importance of the sentiments, and 
 the relation which one member of the sentence bears 
 to the other, are lost. The first, expresses a wish for 
 the coming of the promised kingdom of Christ ; the 
 other, a desire of the consequences to be expected 
 from the coming of that kingdom, that the will of God 
 may be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven ; which we 
 are told will be the case, when Christ begins his reign. 
 The meaning of the first, is the same as if it were 
 written — May thy kingdom come ; but the word, may, 
 being understood, its place should be supplied by a 
 small pause before the word, come — e thy kingdom' 
 come'" and after a due pause, to let so solemn a wish 
 make its proper impression, the reason of this wish, 
 that is, in order that the will of God may be done on 
 Earth, as it is in Heaven, should be distinctly pointed 
 
 1 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 137 
 
 out, by a small pause before the words, on Earth, and, 
 in Heaven, as thus — c thy kingdom' come" thy will' be 
 done' on earth' as it iV in Heaven' — with the emphasis 
 on the word, be, and a pause before it, to correspond 
 with the pause and emphasis, before, and on, the word, 
 come ; as there is the same reason for both, may, being 
 here understood, as in the former case ; c may thy 
 kingdom come" may thy will be done"' and upon the 
 absence of that optative, the emphasis, in order to 
 supply its place should be transferred to the auxiliary, 
 be, as it is in all other cases. By reading it in the 
 usual way, misled probably by false pointing, they 
 make these two, detached sentences, utterly indepen- 
 dent of each other. Whereas in the other way, the 
 latter is a consequence of, and closely connected with, 
 the former. c Thy kingdom' come" thy will' be done' 
 on ea rth' as it iV in HeaVen — ' and from this read- 
 ing only can the true meaning of the passage be dis- 
 closed. — c Give us this da v y our daily bread' — Here 
 the emphasis on the word, day, is unfortunately placed, 
 both with regard to sound and sense. The ear is 
 hurt, by the immediate repetition of the same sound, 
 in the word daily — c Give us this day our daily bread' 
 — And the true meaning is not conveyed ; for this is 
 supposed to be a prayer to be daily used, and a peti- 
 tion to be daily preferred, composed for our use by 
 him, who bade us take no thought for the morrow ; 
 wherefore it should be thus pronounced — c Give us 
 thi's day' our daily brea'd" — c And forgive us our 
 trespasses, as we forgive those, who trespass against 
 us.' — There are so many faults committed, in this 
 13 
 
1 38 ON READING 
 
 manner of reading the sentence, that to enter into a 
 minute examination of them, would take up too much 
 time unnecessarily; as I apprehend that the bare 
 reading of it in the right manner will carry conviction 
 with it, and needs no other comment. fc And forgive 
 us' our trespasses' a v s we' forgive those who trespass 
 against uV I must here, however, shew the necessity 
 there is, for laying a strong emphasis on the little 
 word, as, which is always slurred over ; because that 
 particle implies the very condition on which we ex- 
 pect forgiveness ourselves, that is, in like manner as 
 we grant it to others. There is another fault com- 
 mitted by some, in removing the accent from the last 
 syllable of the word, forgive, to the first; as, Give us i 
 this day our daily bread, and fo'rgive us our trespasses, 
 &c.' by which they seem to make an opposition be- 
 tween the words, give and forgive, where there is 
 none intended ; than which nothing can be more ab- 
 surd and puerile. — c And lead us not into temptation, 
 but deliver us from evil.' — It were to be wished, for 
 obvious reasons, that the strong emphasis on the word, 
 lead, were transferred to the word, temptation; in- 
 stead of saying — ' and lead us not into temptation' — 
 that it were read — c and lead us not into temptation, ' 
 but deliver us from evil.' — c For thine is the kingdom, 
 and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever.' — In 
 this way of reading, the fine close of this admirable 
 prayer, is changed in its movement, from the solemn j 
 and majestic, to a comic and cantering pace. ' For i 
 thine is' the kingdom' and the power' and the glory' 3 
 for ever' and ever.' The measure in this way, to j 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 1 39 
 
 speak in the prosodial language, becomes purely am- 
 phibrachic, used only in comic poems and ballads; 
 whereas by making a pause after the word, thine, and 
 separating the other members of the sentence, the 
 movement becomes chiefly anapaestic, full of force and 
 dignity. — 4 For thine' is the kingdom" and the power" 
 and the glory" for ever' and ever.' 
 
 I shall now read the whole in the proposed manner. 
 
 c Our Father' who art in HeaVen' ha llow- 
 ed be thy name=Thy kingdom' come" thy 
 will' be done on earth' as it is' in HeaVen= 
 Give us this day' our daily brea'd'" And for- 
 give us' our trespasses' as we' forgive tho'se' 
 who trespass against uV" And lead us not 
 into temptation' but deliver us from evil=For 
 thine' is the kingdom" and the power" and the 
 glory" for ever' and ever='* 
 
 \ O Lord open thou our lip's' — In this way of read- 
 ing, the address to God seems only to be, to open our 
 mouths, which surely does not require his interven- 
 
 * Sheridan directs the following passage to be read thus ; 
 " thy will b£ done on earth r as it iV in Heaven." with the 
 emphasis on the words <e be" and "is;" these, however, are 
 not the emphatic words, and do not even exist in the original 
 Greek, but are supplied by the translator; the latter of them 
 might, indeed, be omitted without any detriment to the sense ; 
 " thy will be done, as in Heaven, so also on earth," which 
 is a more literal translation, is perfectly intelligible. — Whately. 
 
140 0N READING 
 
 tion ; but when the emphasis is placed right, as thus 
 — c O Lord' open thou our lips' — the figurative mean- 
 ing starts forth, which is, do thou inspire us with a 
 true spirit of devotion, ' and our mouth shall shew 
 forth thy praise.' 
 
 ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost' — To give a due solemnity to this, and 
 to direct the hearer's attention to the three persons, 
 to each of whom, glory is to be attributed, I would 
 recommend a small pause, before the naming of the 
 first person, and a longer one after that, and the se- 
 cond ; as thus I 
 
 c Glory be' to the Father'' and to the Son" 
 and to the Holy Ghost'" 
 
 As it was' in the begi nning" is' now" and 
 ever shall be' world without end'" 
 Praise ye' the Lord" 
 The Lord's name be praised=' 
 
 Thus far I have been minute in my observations, 
 because it will save me the trouble of commenting 
 upon similar faults, when they occur in the rest of the 
 service ; and as those which are most generally com- 
 mitted throughout, have been laid open in the course 
 of this discussion, I shall content myself hereafter, 
 with reading and marking the remainder of the usual 9 
 service, in a proper way ; and shall reserve my com- 7 
 ments only for such passages as are most difficult, or 
 in which the most glaring faults are committed. For 
 a discussion throughout, equally minute, would run 
 these discourses to an unreasonable length. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 141 
 
 VENITE EXULTEMUS DOMINO. 
 
 c O come' let us sing unto the Lord" let us 
 heartily rejoice in the strength of our salva- 
 tion'" 
 
 Let us come before his presence with 
 thanksgiving" and shew ourselves glad in him' 
 with psalms'" 
 
 For the Lord' is a great God" and a great 
 King' above all Gods'" 
 
 In hi s hand' are all the corners of the earth" 
 i and the strength of the hills' is his also'" 
 
 The sea is his' and he made it' and hfs 
 hands prepared the dry land'" 
 
 O come' let us worship and fall down" and 
 kneel before the Lord our Maker"' 
 
 For He' is the Lord our God" and we' are 
 the people of his pasture' and the sheep of his 
 hand" 
 
 O worship the Lord in the beauty of holi- 
 ness" let the whole earth stand in a we of him'" 
 
 For he cometh' for he cometh to judge the 
 earth" and with righteousness to judge the 
 world' and the people with his truth"' 
 13* 
 
142 0N READING 
 
 Next follows the 
 
 TE DEUM LAUDAMUS. 
 
 One general fault, in reading the following sentences, 
 is dropping the voice at the conclusion of each mem- 
 ber ; whereas, in many the sense is not complete, till 
 made up by that part in which the congregation re- 
 sponse ; and in one instance, it does not terminate till 
 the third by the Minister. 
 
 Another fault almost equally common is falsely 
 placing the emphasis on the word " thee" in the se- 
 venth, and three following sentences of the Te Deum; 
 nor can it with propriety be made the emphatic word 
 in the other portions of this sublime Hymn, with the 
 exception, perhaps, of the concluding clause in the first ' 
 sentence, and the first clause in the last sentence. 
 
 We praise thee' 6 God" we acknowledge 
 thee to be the Lord"' 
 
 All the ea rth' doth worship thee' the Father 
 everlasting'" 
 
 To thee' all angels cry aloud" the heavens' 
 and all the powers therein"' 
 
 To thee' Cherubim and Seraphim continual- 
 ly do cry' 
 
 Holy" Holy" H5ly' Lord God of Sabaoth'" 
 
 Heaven and earth' are full of the majesty of j 
 thy glory'" 
 
 The glorious company of the apostles' praise 
 thee" 
 
 i 
 
I ill. CHURCH - 143 
 
 The goodly fetarahip ofthe prophets pi 
 
 thee" 
 
 The n hie army of marhrs' [Hike tin < 
 The H 1\ Church throughout all the world 
 
 doth acknowledge th 
 
 The Father' of an i nlinite majesty ! 
 Thine adorable 1 true' and only Son" 
 AUo the Holy Ghost' the comforter 
 
 Thou art the Kin - of Glorv () Christ 
 
 Thou art the curia sting Son of the Father 
 
 When thou tookett upon thee to deli \ « r 
 man' thou didst humble thyself to be born of a 
 virgin 
 
 When thou hadst overco me the sharpness 
 of death thou didst open the kingdom of hea- 
 ven' to all bel1e\< 
 
 Thou sittest at the right hand of God in 
 the glory ofthe Father"' 
 
 We believe' that thou shalt come to be our 
 judge" 
 
 We the refore pray thee' help thy servants' 
 whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious 
 blood " 
 
 Make them to be numbered frith thy saints 
 in glory everlasting 
 
 O Lord' save thy people' and bless thine he- 
 ritage" 
 
144 ON READING 
 
 Govern them' and lift them up for ever" 
 
 Day by day' we ma gnify thee" 
 
 And we worship thy name ever' world with- jl 
 out end'" 
 
 Vouchsafe' O Lord' to keep us this day 
 without sin'" 
 
 O Lord' have mercy upon us" have mercy 
 upon us' /; 
 
 O Lord' let thy mercy be upon us' as our 
 tru st is in thee'" 
 
 O Lord' in thee have I trustedlet me never 
 be confounded= 
 
 JUBILATE DEO. 
 
 6 be joyful in the Lord' all ye lands" serve 
 the Lord with gla dness' and come before his 
 presence' with a so ng" 
 
 Be ye sure' that the Lord' He is God' it is 
 He that hath made us' and not we' ourselves" 
 we are his people' and the sheep of hi s pas- 
 ture'" 
 
 O go your way into his gates' with thanks- 
 giving" and into his courts' with praise" be 
 thankful unto him' and speak good of his j 
 name" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 145 
 
 For the Lord' is gracious" his me rcy is ever- 
 lasting" and his truth' endureth from genera- 
 tion to generation= 
 
 BENEDICTUS. 
 
 Bles sed be the Lord God of Israel" for' he 
 hath visited' and redeemed his people'" 
 
 And hath raised up a mighty salvation for 
 j us' in the house of his servant David" 
 
 As he spake by the mouth of his holy Pro- 
 phets' which have been since the world began" 
 
 That we should be saved from our e nemies' 
 and from the hand of all that hate us'" 
 
 Glory be, &c.' 
 
 It is not part of my province, to descant upon the 
 propriety of appointing these hymns to be read, as 
 part of the church service ; though, surely, they seem 
 much better calculated for singing. But since it is a 
 necessary part of the service, nothing can be more 
 absurd, than delivering them in the usual cold mono- 
 tonous manner. What can be more incongruous to 
 the matter, than such a mode of uttering the following 
 verse — 
 
 c come let us sing unto the Lord, let us 
 heartily rejoice in the strength of our salva- 
 tion' — Or this, 
 
146 ON READING 
 
 ' O be joyful in the Lord all ye lands, serve 
 the Lord with gladness and come before his f 
 presence with a song.' 
 
 Surely hymns, such as these, ought to be delivered 
 in tones of that enthusiastic ardour, which naturally r 
 result from a heart filled with admiration, love, and 
 gratitude towards its great Creator and Benefactor. 
 
 After these follows the Creed. 
 
 c I believe in Go'd' the Father Almighty' j 
 maker of heaven and earth" and in Jesus 
 Christ' his only Son' our Lord'" Who was 
 conceived' by the Holy Ghost" born' of the 
 Virgin Mary" suffered' under Pontius Pilate" 
 was crucified' dea'd' and bu Vied" [he descend- 
 ed into hell"] the third day he rose from the 
 dead" he a'scended into heaven" and sitteth 
 on the right hand of God' the Father Almigh 
 ty" from thence' he shall come to ju dge' the 
 quick and the dea v d'" I believe in the Holy 
 Ghost" the holy catholic church" the commu- 
 nion of saints" the forgiveness of sins" the re - 
 surre'ction of the body" and the life ever- 
 lasting. 5 
 
 This Creed will admit of little change in the notes 
 of the voice. It ought to be pronounced with dis- 
 tinctness and solemnity ; to which nothing will con- 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 147 
 
 tribute so much, as a due observation of the pauses, 
 in the sentences, and their several members. 
 
 ' The Lord' be with you. 5 
 
 Here the emphasis ought to be on the auxiliary 
 
 verb, 6e, as may, the sign of the optative, is omitted, 
 
 I as was mentioned in a former case. This adds to the 
 
 solemnity of the wish. Whereas, in the common way 
 
 of repeating it. ' The Lord be with you ;' it is ex- 
 
 ; actly the same as the common mode of expression, in 
 
 j bidding farewell. 
 
 i 
 
 6 And with thy spirit. 
 
 Let us pray'" 
 
 Lord' shew thy me rcy upon us" 
 
 And grant us thy salvation"' 
 
 O God' make clean our hearts within us" 
 
 And take not thy Holy Spirit from us= 
 
 A COLLECT FOR PEACE. 
 
 O God' who art the author of peace' and 
 lover of co ncord" in knowledge of whom' 
 standeth our eternal life" whose service' is 
 perfect freedom" defend us' thy humble ser- 
 vants' in all assaults of our e nemies" that we' 
 surely trusting' in thy defence' may not fear 
 the power of any adversaries' through the 
 might of Jesus Christ' our Lord= 
 
148 ON READING 
 
 A COLLECT FOR GRACE. 
 
 6 Lord' our heavenly Father' almighty and 
 everlasting God" who hast safely brought us to) 
 the beginning of this day" defend us in the J 
 same' with thy mighty power" and grant that J 
 this day' we fall into no sin' neither run into jt 
 any kind of danger" but that all our doings'] 
 being ordered by thy governance' may be righ-t> 
 teous in thy sight' through Jesus Christ' our I 
 Lord= 
 
 A PRAYER FOR THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIT- 
 ED STATES, AND ALL IN CIVIL AUTHORITY. 
 
 6 Lord' our heavenly Father' the high and 
 mighty Ruler of the universe" who dost from 
 thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth" 
 most heartily we beseech thee' with thy favour | 
 to behold' and bless thy servant' the President 
 of the United States' and all others in authori- 
 ty" and so replenish them with the grace of 
 thy Holy Spirit' that they may always incline 
 to thy will' and walk in thy way"' Endue 
 them plenteously' with heavenly gifts" grant 
 them in health and prosperity long to live" and 
 finally' after this life' to attain everlasting joy 
 and felicity' through Jesus Christ' our Lord= 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 149 
 
 A PRAYER FOR THE CLERGY AND PEOPLE. 
 Almighty' and everlasting God' from whom 
 
 cometh every good and perfect gift' send down 
 I upon our Bishops' and other Clergy' and upon 
 
 the congregations committed to their charge' 
 J the healthful spirit of thy grace" and that they 
 i may truly please thee' pour upon them the 
 I continual dew of thy blessing'" Grant this' O 
 | Lord' for the honour of our advocate and me- 
 i diator' Jesus Chr!st== 
 
 A PRAYER FOR ALL CONDITIONS OF MEN. 
 
 O God' the Creator and Preserver of all 
 mankind' we humbly beseech thee' for all sorts 
 and conditions of men' that thou wouldst be 
 \ pleased to make thy ways known unto them' 
 thy sa Ving health unto all nations'" More es- 
 pe cially' we pray for thy holy Chu'rch univer- 
 sal" that it may be so guided and governed by 
 thy good Spirit' that all who profess and call 
 themselves Christians' may be led into the way 
 of truth" and hold the faith' in unity of Spirit' 
 in the bon d of peace' and in righteousness of 
 life'" Finally' we commend to thy Fatherly 
 goodness' all those' who are a ny ways afflict- 
 ed or distressed' in mind' body' or estate" that 
 14 
 
. 
 
 150 ON READING 
 
 it may please thee to comfort and relieve them 
 according to their several necessities" giving 
 them patience under their sufferings' and a 
 happy i ssue out of all their afflictions"' And 
 this we beg for Jesus Christ's sake. 
 
 A GENERAL THANKSGIVING. 
 
 Almighty God' Father of all mercies' we' 
 thine unworthy servants' do give thee most 
 humble' and hearty thanks for all thy good- 
 ness and loving kindness' to us' and to all men"' 
 We bless thee for our creation' preservation' 
 and all the blessings of this life" but above all' 
 for thine inestimable love in the redemption 
 of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ' for the 
 means of grace' and for the hope of glory"' And' 
 we beseech thee' give us that due sense of all 
 thy mercies' that our hearts may be unfeign- 
 edly thankful" and that we may show forth 
 thy praise' not only with our lips' but in our 
 lives' by giving up ourselves to thy se rvice' and 
 by walking before thee in holiness and righ- 
 teousness all our days' through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord' to whom' with thee' and the Holy 
 Ghost' be all honour and glory' world without 
 end'" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 151 
 
 A PRAYER OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. 
 
 Almighty God' who hast given us grace at 
 this time' with one accord to make our com- 
 mon supplications unto thee" and dost promise 
 that when two or three are gathered together 
 in thy name' thou wilt grant their requests" 
 fulfil now' O Lord' the desires and petitions of 
 thy servants' as may be most expedient for 
 them" granting us' in this world' knowledge 
 of thy truth'' and in the world to come' life 
 everla'sting= 
 
 2 COR. XIIL 14. 
 
 The grace' of our Lord Jesus Christ" and 
 the love' of God" and the fellowship' of the 
 Holy Ghost' be with us all' eVermore'= 
 
 A few remarks only will be offered upon the fore- 
 going prayers. In reading " a prayer of St. Chrysos- 
 tom," it is very common to make " two, or three" the 
 emphatic words. This faulty emphasis would lead 
 one to suppose, that the promise quoted, was exclusive- 
 ly applicable to very small assemblies of Christians, 
 containing not more than two or three ; whereas, the 
 true meaning of the promise is, that our Lord will be 
 in the midst of all assemblies of social worshippers, 
 whether their number be few or many. We remind 
 
152 ON READING 
 
 him of his promise, and beseech him to fulfil it by 
 granting the petitions and desires we have now pre- 
 sented. 
 
 In pronouncing the benediction in the usual way, as 
 thus — ' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
 love of Go v d, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost' — 
 all its solemnity and force is lost. The three distinct 
 attributes, referred to the three persons in the God- 
 head, ought to be pointed out by the due emphasis 
 and pauses. c The grace' of our Lord Jesus Christ" 
 and the loVe' # of God" and the fellowship' of the 
 Holy Ghost" be wi v th us all' evermore.' In the last 
 part, by laying the stress upon the unimportant pre- 
 position, with, the pious and ardent wish, included in 
 the benediction, is lost, which can only be manifested 
 by a forcible emphasis on the words, be, and, all, l be 
 with us all, evermore'=on be, as expressive of the 
 wish, which was before explained ; on all, as extend- 
 ing the benediction to the whole, and each individual 
 of the congregation. 
 
 EVENING PRAYER. 
 
 I shall now proceed to such parts of the Evening 
 Service, as are not contained in that of the morning. 
 
 CANTATE DOMINO. 
 
 O Sing unto the Lord a new song" for he 
 hath done marvellous things"' 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 153 
 
 With his own right hand" and with his holy 
 arm' hath he gotten himself the victory'" 
 
 The Lord' declared his salvation" his righte- 
 ousness hath he openly showed in the sight of 
 j the heathen"' 
 
 He hath remembered his mercy and truth 
 
 ! toward the house of Israel" and all the ends of 
 
 ! the world have seen the salvation of our God"' 
 
 Show yourselves jo yful unto the Lord' all 
 
 | ye lands' sing' rejoice' and give thanks '" 
 
 Praise the Lord upon the harp" sin'g to the 
 ! harp' with a psalm of thanksgiving"' 
 
 With tru mpets' also' and shawms' O' show 
 yourselves jo yful before the Lord the King'" 
 
 Let the sea make a noise' and all that there- 
 in is" the round wo rid' and they that dwell 
 therein'" 
 
 Let the floods clap their hands" and let the 
 hills be joyful together before the Lord" for he 
 cometh to judge the earth'" 
 
 With ri ghteousness shall he judge the world' 
 and the people with e quity'" 
 
 BONUM EST CONFITERI. 
 
 It is a good thing to give than ks unto the 
 
 Lord" and to sing praises unto thy name' O 
 
 Most Highest" 
 14* 
 

 154 ON READING 
 
 To tell of thy loving-kin dness' early in the 
 mor'ning" and of thy truth' in the ni v ght season" 
 
 Upon an instrument of ten strings' and upon 
 the lute' upon a loud instrument' and upon the \ 
 harp" 
 
 For thou' Lord' hast made me glad through 
 thy works'' and I will rejoice in giving praise 
 for the operations of th v y hands"' 
 
 DEUS MISEREATUR. 
 
 God be me rciful unto us' and ble v ss us" and 
 show us the lig'ht of his countenance' and be 
 merciful unto us'" 
 
 That thy way may be known upon earth" 
 thy saving health' among all nations'" 
 
 Let the people praise thee' O God" yea' let 
 all the people praise thee"' 
 
 6' let the nations rejoi'ce and be gla v d" for 
 thou shalt judge the folk ri v ghteously' and go- 
 vern the nations upon earth'" 
 
 Let the people praise thee' O God" yea' let 
 all the people praise thee" 
 
 Then' shall the earth bring forth her in- 
 crease' and God' even our own God' shall give 
 us his bles'sing" 
 
 God shall ble v ss us' and all the ends of the 
 world shall fear him'" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 155 
 
 BENEDIC, ANIMA MEA. 
 
 Praise the Lord' O my soul" and all that is 
 within me' praise his holy name'" 
 
 Praise the Lord' O my soul" and forget not' 
 all his benefits" 
 
 Who forgiVeth all thy si v n' and healeth all 
 thine infirmities" 
 
 Who saveth thy li v fe from destruction' and 
 crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kin v d- 
 
 tri 
 
 ness 
 
 O praise the Lord' ye An'gels of his' ye that 
 excel in strength' ye that fulfi v l his command- 
 ment' and hearken unto the voice of his wo N rd" 
 
 O praise the Lord' all ye his hos v ts" ye ser- 
 vants of his' that do his pleasure"' 
 
 O speak good of the Lord' all ye works of 
 his' in all pla'ces of his dominion"' Praise thou 
 the Lord' O my soul'" 
 
 A COLLECT FOR PEACE. 
 
 O God' from whom all holy desires' all good 
 
 counsels' and all just works do proceed" give 
 
 j unto thy servants' that peace' which the world 
 
 | canno t give" that our hearts may be set to 
 
 obey thy commandments" and also' that by 
 
156 0N READING 
 
 thee' we' being defended from the fear of our 
 e v nemies' may pass our time in rest and quiet- 
 ness' through the merits of Jesus Christ' our 
 Saviour= 
 
 A COLLECT FOR AID AGAINST PERILS. 
 
 O Lord' our heavenly Father' by whose Al- 
 mighty power we have been preserved this 
 day" by thy great mercy' defend us from all 
 perils and dangers of this night' for the love 
 of thy only Son' our Saviour' Jesus ChrTst= 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 157 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE LITANY. 
 
 O God the Father" of Heaven" have me rcy 
 upon us-miserable-sinners'" 
 
 God the Son" Redeemer of the world" 
 have mercy upon us-miserable-sinners'" 
 
 God the Holy Ghost" proceeding from 
 the Father and the Son" have mercy upon 
 us-miserable-sinners'" 
 
 holy' blessed' and glorious Tri nity" three 
 Persons' and one Go'd" have me rcy upon us- 
 miserable-sinners== 
 
 Remember not' Lord' our offences' nor the 
 offences of our forefa thers" neither take thou 
 ve ngeance of our sins'" Spare us' good Lord" 
 spare thy people' whom thou hast redeemed 
 with thy most previous bloo'd' and be not 
 an gry with us for ever" 
 
 Spare us' good Lord'" 
 
 From all evil and mischief" from sin" from 
 the era fts and assaults of the deVil" from thy 
 wrath'' and from everlasting damnation' 
 
 Good Lord deliver us'" 
 
158 ON READING 
 
 From all bli ndness of heart" from pride' 
 vain-glory' and hypocrisy" from envy' hatred 
 and malice" and all uncha ntableness' 
 
 Good, &c. 
 
 From all inordinate and sinful affections" 
 and from all the deceits of the world' the fle W 
 and the devil' 
 
 Good Lord' deliver us'" 
 
 From lightning' and te mpest" from plague' 
 pe stilence' and famine' from ba ttle' and muV- 
 der" and from sudden dea Xti 
 
 Good, &c. 
 
 From all sedition' privy conspiracy' and re- i 
 be'llion" from all false doctrine' heresy' and 
 schis W from hardness of heart' and contem pt 
 of thy word and commandment' 
 
 Good, &c. 
 
 By' the mystery of thy holy incarnation" by' J 
 thy holy nativity' and circumcision" by' thy i 
 ba ptism' fa sting' and temptation' 
 
 Good, &c. 
 
 By thine agony and bloody swea t" by thy i 
 cro'ss and pa'ssion" by thy pre cious death and 
 bu rial" by thy glorious resurrection and asce n- 
 sion" and by the coming of the Holy Ghost' 
 
 Good, &c. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 159 
 
 In all time of our tribulation" in all time of 
 our prosperity" in the hour of death" and in 
 the day of judgment' 
 Good Lord deliver us= 
 =We sinners' do beseech thee to hear us' 
 I O Lord God" and that it may please thee to 
 | rule and govern thy holy Church universal' in 
 I the right way" 
 
 We beseech thee to hear us' good Lord'" 
 That it may please thee to ble^ss and pre- 
 '■ serve' all Christian Rulers and Ma gistrates" 
 ' giving them grace to execute justice' and to 
 , maintain truth" 
 We, &c. 
 
 That it may please thee' to illuminate all 
 bishops' priests' and deacons' with true know- 
 ledge and understanding of thy word" and that 
 both by their preaching' and living' they may 
 set it forth" and shew it accordingly'" 
 We, fyc. 
 
 That it may please thee' to bless' and keep' 
 all thy people'" 
 We, fyc. 
 
 That it may please thee' to give to all na- 
 tions' unity' peace' and concord'" 
 We&c. 
 
160 0N READING 
 
 That it may please thee' to give us an heart 
 to love' and fear thee" and diligently to liVe \j 
 after thy commandments'" s 
 
 We, <Sfc. 
 
 That it may please thee' to give to all thy 
 people increase of grace' to hear meekly thy 
 word" and to receive it with pure affection" 
 and to bring forth the fruits of the spirit'" 
 
 We, &c. 
 
 That it may please thee' to bring into the !i 
 way of truth' all su ch' as have e rred' and are 
 deceived" 
 
 We, <§fc. 
 
 That it may please thee' to strengthen' such 
 as do stand" and to comfort' and hefp the 
 weak-hearted" and to raise up' those who fall" 
 and finally to beat down Satan under our feet'" 
 
 We, <SfC. 
 
 That it may please thee' to succour' help' 
 and comfort' all who are in danger' necessity' 
 and tribulation'" 
 
 We, &c. 
 
 That it may please thee' to preserve all who j) 
 travel' by land' or by water" all women in the 
 perils of child-birth" all si v ck persons' and 
 young children" and to shew thy pity upon all 
 prisoners and captives'" 
 
 We, &c. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 161 
 
 That it may please thee' to defend' and pro- 
 | vide for' the fatherless children' and widows" 
 ; and all who are de'solate' and oppressed" ' 
 
 We, 3-c. 
 
 That it may please thee to have mercy upon 
 all men'" 
 
 We, <SfC. 
 
 That it may please thee' to forgive our erie- 
 j mies' persecutors' and slanderers' and to turn 
 ! their hearts'" 
 
 We, &c. 
 
 That it may please thee' to giVe' and pre- 
 serve to our use' the kindly fruits of the earth 
 so that in due time we may enjoy them'" 
 
 We, <§?c. 
 
 That it may please thee' to gi ve us true re- 
 pentance" to forgive us all our sins' negli- 
 gences' and ignorances" and to endue us with 
 the grace of thy Holy Spirit' to ame nd our lives 
 according to thy holy wo rd= 
 
 We beseech thee to hear us' good Lord= 
 
 =So n of God' we beseech- thee to hear 
 
 us'" 
 
 O La'mb of God" who takest awa'y the si'ns 
 of the world' 
 
 Grant us thy peace'" 
 15 
 
162 ON READING 
 
 Lamb of God' who takest away the sins 
 of the world' 
 
 Have mercy upon us" 
 
 1 shall now make a few observations upon some 
 passages in the above service. 
 
 In the opening of the Litany, there is something so 
 wrong in the composition, that it will be very difficult ) 
 to set it right by any mode of reading. The usual J 
 way of delivering it — ' O God the Father of Heaven' 
 — certainly does not make it sense. God may pro- | 
 perly be styled the Creator of Heaven, as well as of T 
 Earth ; but as we should be struck with the impro- l 
 priety of calling him the Father of Earth, custom I 
 alone could prevent our perceiving that it is equally * 
 absurd to style him the Father of Heaven. Besides, 
 there is evidently intended here, in the opening of the 
 Litany, a distinct address to each of the Persons of - 
 the Trinity ; not only by their different appellations, 
 but by specific attributes to each. Thus in the ad- 
 dress to God the Son, he is peculiarly characterized 
 as Redeemer of the world. In that to the Holy 
 Ghost, as proceeding from the Father and the Son. J 
 The like was probably intended with regard to the r 
 address to God the Father, at the opening, by the words . 
 c of Heaven,' as considering that to be peculiarly his J 
 province, as that of the Earth more immediately be- 
 longed to our Redeemer. If this was the intention, as 
 it certainly ought to have been, of the writer, it is so 
 obscured by the ill choice and arrangement of the 
 words, that all the world have mistaken it. Had he 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 163 
 
 inserted the word, Ruler, or Creator, the sense would 
 then have been plain, and the composition perfect ; as 
 thus—' O God the Father ! Ruler of Heaven, &c. 
 
 O God the Son! Redeemer of the world, &c. 
 
 O God the Holy Ghost ! proceeding from the Fa- 
 ther and the Son, &c.' 
 
 There is no doubt, that as it was intended that the 
 opening of the Litany, should be, by a distinct address 
 to each of the three Persons of the Trinity, this inten- 
 tion should have been manifested in the first instance 
 in the address to the first Person, God the Father ; 
 which it is not at all, in the manner in which it is ge- 
 nerally delivered — ' O God the Father of Heaven' — 
 for this is not God the Father considered as one of the 
 Persons of the Trinity, that is, the Father of Jesus 
 Christ, or God the Son ; but expressly, God the Fa- 
 ther of Heaven ; and therefore has no relation to, or 
 connexion with, the two following invocations, to 
 God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost The only 
 way to remedy this defect, is by making a pause after 
 — c God the Father'— as I have read and marked it — 
 Thus — O God the Father' of Heaven — That is, pecu- 
 liarly God of Heaven, as we style the Son, our Sa- 
 viour and Redeemer, more peculiarly Lord of Earth. 
 This may at first appear uncouth from its novelty, but 
 the reason for it will soon appear, and its propriety be 
 made manifest. 
 
 Many persons in reading the introductory petitions of 
 the Litany, place the emphasis on the unimportant word 
 " upon" — as thus, " have mercy upo'n us' miserable 
 sinners ;" and others, lay the principal stress upon the 
 
164 °N READING 
 
 almost equally unimportant word " us :" — " have mer- 
 cy upon uV miserable sinners." A little reflection 
 will convince them that these are unnatural emphases. 
 A congregation of truly penitent sinners, realizing the 
 misery of an unpardoned state, would only be intent 
 upon pleading for mercy, and would offer up these 
 earnest appeals to the triune God, in the same manner 
 that we have directed a similar petition in the general 
 confession to be read : — " have mercy upon us-misera- 
 ble-sinners." 
 
 In that part of the Litany where we pray for a de- 
 liverance from all kinds of evil, there is one fault that 
 constantly runs through the whole ; which is, that at 
 the end of every passage which the clergyman utters, 
 he makes a full stop ; though there is not one of them 
 which contains a complete sense, till it be joined with 
 the following part spoken by the congregation. Thus 
 in the first passage — ' From all evil and mischief, from 
 sin, from the crafts and assaults of the devil, from thy 
 wrath, and from everlasting damnation' — It is evident 
 that the sentence is not closed, as it does not contain 
 a single verb ; nor can it be made sense, till the words 
 — c Good Lord deliver ws' — be joined to it. And the 
 same may be observed throughout all that part of the 
 Litany. The best way to get rid of this bad habit, is, 
 that the clergyman should throughout, mentally, at 
 least, join with the congregation in repeating those 
 words — c Good Lord deliver us' — and then, he will of 
 course, see the necessity of not giving the tone of a 
 full stop to the preceding part of the sentence. 
 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 165 
 
 It is usual when that part of the Litany is ended, in 
 j which we deprecate evil, to run on immediately, and 
 ' in the same tone of voice, to the next part, in which 
 i we pray for good. But surely there ought to be a 
 i pause of some duration, to mark this change; and the 
 I tone should be lowered to that of one who supplicates, 
 ! and beseeches the grant of favors to which he is not 
 ! entitled ; as is manifest from the very first words with 
 | which it sets out. — ' We sinners' do beseech thee to 
 ! hear us' 6 Lord God, &c. 
 
 There is a passage in that part of the Litany, often 
 improperly read thus — c That it may please thee to 
 defend and provide, for the fatherless children and 
 widows, &c.' — in which way of stopping, /or, is equal- 
 ly associated to the former verb, defend, as to the lat- 
 ter, provide ; but we know that, defend and for, can 
 never be united, as defend for, is not English. We 
 should therefore read it thus — That it may please thee 
 to defend, and provide for, the fatherless children, and 
 widows, &c. 
 
 I shall not detain you with any remarks upon the 
 slighter faults committed in this part of the service, 
 but proceed to the rest. 
 
 O Christ' hear us" 
 Lord' have mercy upon us" 
 Christ' have mercy upon us" 
 Lord' have me rcy upon us= 
 15* 
 
166 ON READING 
 
 O Lord' deal not with us according to our 
 si'ns" 
 
 Neither reward us according to our ini qui- 
 ties= 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 O God' merciful Father who despisest not 
 the sighing of a contrite heart' nor the desire \ 
 of such as are so rrowful" mercifully assi st our 
 prayers' which we make before thee in all our 
 troubles and adversities' whensoever they op- 
 press us" and graciously hear us' that those 
 evils' which the craft and subtlety' of the devil' 
 or man' worketh against us' may' by thy good 
 providence' be brought to nought'' that we' thy 
 servants' being hurt by no persecutions' may 
 evermore give than ks unto thee' in thy holy j 
 church' through Jesus Christ' our Lord'" 
 
 O Lord' arise" help us' and deliver us' for 
 thy name's sake'" 
 
 O God' we have heard with our ears' and , 
 our fathers have declared unto us' the noble 
 works that thou didst in their days' and in the 
 old time before them'" 
 
 O Lord' arise" help us' and deliver us' for 
 thine honour. 
 
 From our e nemies defend us' Christ" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 167 
 
 Graciously look upon our afflictions" 
 With pi'ty' behold the sorrows of our hearts" 
 Mercifully forgive the sins of thy people" 
 Favourably' with me rcy' hear our prayers" 
 O Son of David' have mercy upon us" 
 Both now and ever' vouchsafe to hear us' 
 O Christ" 
 
 Graciously hear us' O Christ" graciously 
 | hear us' O Lord Christ'" 
 
 O Lord' let thy mercy be shewed upon us' 
 As we do put our trust in thee= 
 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 We humbly beseech thee O Father' merci- 
 fully to look upon our infirmities" and for the 
 glory of thy name' turn from us all those 
 evils' that we most ju stly have deserved" and 
 grant' that in all our troubles' we may put our 
 whole trust and confidence in thy me'rcy' and 
 evermore se rve thee' in holiness and pureness 
 of living' to thy honour and glory' through our 
 only Mediator and Advocate' Jesus Christ our 
 L6rd= 
 
 It must be manifest, I think, to every careful observ- 
 er, (although it is unnoticed by Sheridan,) that there 
 
1 68 ON READING 
 
 is here a change as to the person addressed. Most of 
 the petitions in the Litany, are addressed to the second 
 person in the Trinity : to Him who submitted to " bap- 
 tism, and fasting and temptation ;" to " agony and 
 bloody sweat ;" to the " cross and passion" for us. 
 This is especially true, of the fervent responsive peti- 
 tions immediately preceding this concluding prayer. 
 tc O Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the 
 world, grant us thy peace," &c. " Graciously hear L 
 us, O Christ" &c. But this prayer, is manifestly ad- 
 dressed to the first person in the Trinity ; and this 
 change is distinctly marked by reading the introducto- 
 ry address with the emphasis upon the word thee, as 
 follows, "We humble beseech thee' O Father' &c." 
 Whereas, in the common mode of reading it, the im- 
 portant change is passed over without notice, and this 
 most solemn and interesting part of our service is de- 
 prived of one of its distinguishing beauties. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 169 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS UPON SEVERAL 
 OCCASIONS. 
 
 Most gracious God' we humbly beseech thee' 
 as for the People of these United States in 
 ! general' so especially for their Senate and Re- 
 I presentatives' in Co ngress assembled" that thou 
 ! wouldest be pleased to dire ct' and prosper' all 
 I their consultations' to the advancement of thy 
 glory' the good of thy Chu rch' the safety' ho- 
 nour' and welfare of thy people" that all things 
 may be so ordered and settled by their endea- 
 vours' upon the be st' and surest foundations" 
 that peace and happiness' truth and justice' reli- 
 gion and piety' may be established among us' 
 for all generations'" These' and all o'ther ne- 
 cessaries' for them' for uV and thy whole 
 church' we hu mbly beg' in the name and me- 
 diation of Jesus Christ' our most ble'ssed Lord 
 and Saviour= 
 
 FOR A SICK PERSON. 
 
 O Father of mercies' and God of all com- 
 fort' our only help in time of need" look down 
 
170 ON READING 
 
 from heaven' we humbly beseech thee" behold' 
 visit' and relieve thy sick servant for whom 
 our prayers are desired'" Look upon him 
 with the eyes of thy me rcy" comfort him with 
 a sense of thy goo v dness" preserve him from 
 the temptations of the enemy" give him pa- 
 tience under his affliction" and' in thy good 
 time' restore him to health' and enable him to 
 lead the re sidue of his life' in thy fear and to 
 thy glory" Or else' give him grace so to take 
 thy visitation' that after this painful life ended' 
 he may dwell with thee' in life everlasting' 
 through Jesus Christ' our Lord'" 
 
 FOR A PERSON GOING TO SEA. 
 
 O Eternal God' who alone spreadest out 
 the heavens' and rulest the raging of the sea" 
 we commend to thy Almighty protection' thy 
 servant! for whose preservation on the great 
 deep our prayers are desired'" Guard him we 
 beseech thee' from the da ngers of the sea" from 
 sickness" from the violence of enemies' and 
 from e'very evil to which he may be exposed'" 
 Conduct him in safety to the haven where he 
 would be' with a grateful sense of th y mercies' 
 through Jesus Christ' our Lord" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 171 
 
 FOR A PERSON UNDER AFFLICTION. 
 
 Merciful God' and heavenly Father' who 
 [ hast taught us' in thy holy Word' that thou dost 
 i not willingly afflic't or grieve the children of 
 j men" look with pity' we beseech thee' upon the 
 | sorrows of thy servant for whom our prayers 
 ! are desired'" In thy wisdom' thou hast seen 
 ; fit to visit him with trouble' and to bring dis- 
 I tress upon him'" Remember him O Lord' in 
 | mercy' sanctify thy fatherly correction to him" 
 endue his soul with patience under his afflic- 
 tion' and with resignation to thy blessed will" 
 comfort him with a sense of thy goo'dness" 
 lift up thy countenance upon him' and give 
 1 him peace through Jesus Christ' our Lord'" 
 
 FOR MEETINGS OF CONVENTION. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God' who' by thy 
 Holy Spirit' didst preside in the councils of the 
 blessed Apostles' and hast promised' through 
 thy Son' Jesus Christ' to be with thy Church' 
 to the e nd of the world" we beseech thee' to 
 be present with the council of thy Church' 
 here assembled in thy name and presence'" 
 Save them from all error' ignorance' pride' 
 
1 72 0N READING 
 
 and prejudice' and of thy great mercy' vouch- 
 safe' we beseech thee' so to direct' sanctify' 
 and govern us in our present work' by the 
 mighty power of the Holy Ghost' that the 
 comfortable gospel of Christ' may be truly 
 preac hed' truly received' and truly followed' in 
 all places' to the breaking down the kingdom 
 of sin' satan and death'' till' at length' the whole 
 of thy dispersed sheep' being gathered into one 
 fold' shall become partakers of everlasting life.' 
 through the merits and death of Jesus Christ' 
 our Saviour'" 
 
 It has been deemed sufficient, under this head, to 
 have selected and marked, those occasional prayers 
 which are most frequently used. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 173 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ORDER FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE 
 LORD'S SUPPER, OR HOLY COMMUNION. 
 
 THE COLLECT. 
 
 Almighty God' unto whom all hearts are 
 open' all desires known' and from whom no 
 secrets are hid" cleanse the thoughts of our 
 hearts by the inspiration of thy holy spirit" that 
 we may perfectly love thee' and wo v rthily 
 magnify thy holy name' through Christ our 
 Lord= 
 
 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 God spake these words' and said" I' am the 
 Lord thy God" thou shalt have none other 
 Gods but me'" 
 
 Lord have mercy upon us' and incline our 
 hearts to keep this law'" 
 
 Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven 
 
 image' nor the likeness of any thing that is in 
 
 heaven above' or in the earth beneath' or in 
 
 the waters u nder the earth' thou shalt not bow 
 
 16 
 
I 
 
 174 ON READING 
 
 down to them' nor worship them" for V the 
 Lord thy God' am a jealous God' and visit 
 the sins of the fathers' upon the children unto 
 the third and fourth generation' of them that 
 hate me' and shew mercy unto thousands in 
 them that love me' and keep my command- 
 ments'" 
 Lord, &c. 
 
 A passage in this commandment Sheridan directs 
 to be read, according indeed to the usual mode, both 
 of reading and pointing it, — " visit the sins of the fa- 
 thers' upon the children' unto the third and fourth ge- 
 neration of them that hate me;" which mode of 
 reading destroys the sense, by making a pause at 
 " children," and none at " generation ;" for th's im- 
 plies that the third and fourth generations, who suffer 
 these judgments, are themselves such as hate the Lord, 
 instead of being merely, as is meant to be expressed, 
 the children of such ; "of them that hate me," is a 
 genitive governed not by " generation," but by " chil- 
 dren :" the reading given above, expresses the true 
 sense of the threatening ; i. e. " I — visit the sins of 
 the fathers, who hate me, upon the third and fourth 
 generations of their descendants." 
 
 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 thy God in vain" for the Lord will not hold 
 him guiltless' who taketh his name in vain'" 
 
 Lord, <SfC. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 175 
 
 Remember' that thou keep holy the Sabbath 
 day" six days shalt thou labour' and do all 
 that thou hast to do" but the seventh day' is 
 the Sabbath of the Lord thy God'" In if thou 
 shalt do no manner of work" thou' and thy 
 son' and thy daughter" thy man-servant' and 
 thy maid-servant" thy cattle' and the stranger 
 that is within thy gates'" For in six days' the 
 Lord made heaven and earth' the sea' and all 
 that in them is" and re'sted the seventh day" 
 wherefore the Lord ble ssed the seventh day' 
 and hallowed it'" 
 
 Lord, &c 
 
 Honor thy Father and thy Mother' that thy 
 days may be long' in the land which the Lord 
 thy God giveth thee'" 
 
 Lord, &c 
 
 Our Author sanctions a very common error in the 
 reading of this commandment, by adopting this faulty 
 punctuation — " that thy days' may be long in the land' 
 which the Lord thy God giveth thee :" the pause, as 
 well as the emphasis, should be at " long," not at 
 "land." No one would say in ordinary conversation, 
 
 U I hope you will find enjoyment in the garden' 
 
 which you have planted." " I think you will be com- 
 fortable in the house' — which your father has given 
 you." 
 
176 0N READING 
 
 Thou shalt do no murder" 
 
 Lord, &c. 
 
 Thou shalt not commit adultery'" 
 
 Lord, fyc. 
 
 Thou shalt not steal'" 
 
 Lord, &c 
 
 Many Clergymen in reading the negative, or pro- 
 hibitory commandments, are in the habit of accenting 
 the word " not." And here it may be worth while 
 to remark, that in some cases, the copula ought to 
 be made the emphatic word ; (i. e. the " is," if the 
 proposition be affirmative, the " not ," if negative,) viz. 
 where the proposition may be considered as in oppo- 
 sition to a contradictory one. If, for example, it had 
 been a question, whether we ought to steal, or not, the 
 commandment in answer to that, would have been 
 rightly pronounced, " thou shalt not steal :" but, the 
 question being, what things we are forbidden to do, 
 the answer is, that " to steal" is one of them ; " thou 
 shalt not steal." In such a case as this, the proposi- 
 tion is considered as opposed, not to its contradictory, 
 but to one with a different predicate: the question be- 
 ing, not, which copula (negative or affirmative,) shall 
 be employed, but what shall be affirmed, or denied of 
 the subject : for example, "it is lawful to beg ; but 
 not to steal :" in such a case, the predicate, not the 
 copula, will be the emphatic word. 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 177 
 
 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy 
 1 neighbour '" 
 
 Lord, &c 
 
 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house" 
 i thou shalt not coVet thy neighbour's wife" nor 
 
 I his servant' nor his maid' nor his ox' nor his 
 
 i 
 
 ass' nor any thing that is his'" 
 
 Lord have mercy upon us' and write all 
 these thy laws in our hearts we beseech thee= 
 
 It is remarkable that our Author should have omit- 
 ted an emphasis on the word " covet," in the tenth 
 commandment, which is so evidently the governing 
 word. " I had not known lust, except the law had 
 said, thou shalt not coVet." 
 
 Another fault worth noticing, on account of its com- 
 monness, is the placing of the emphasis on " neigh- 
 bour" in the ninth and tenth commandments ; as if 
 there might be some persons precluded from the bene- 
 fit of the prohibitions. One would think that the man, 
 to whom our Lord addressed the parable of the good 
 Samaritan, had been used to this mode of delivery, by 
 his asking, " and who is my neighbour V* 
 
 THEN THE MINISTER MAY SAY, 
 
 Hear also what our Lord Jesus Christ saith. 
 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart' and with all thy soul' and with all 
 16* 
 
178 °N READING 
 
 thy mind" This is the first and great com- 
 mandment" And the second' is like unto it" 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"' 
 On these two commandments' hang all the law 
 and the prophets'" 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 O Almighty Lord and everlasting God 
 vouchsafe' we beseech thee' to direct' sancti- 
 fy' and govern' both our hearts and bodies' i 
 the ways of thy laws' and in the works of thy 
 commandments" that' through thy most mighty 
 protection' both here and ever' we may be pre- 
 served in body and soul' through our Lord 
 and Saviour' Jesus Christ'" 
 
 ! 
 
 ; 
 
 THE NICENE CREED. 
 
 I believe in one God' the Father Almighty' 
 maker of heaven and earth' and of all things 
 visible and invisible" and in one Lord' Jesus 
 Christ" the only begotten Son of God" begotten 
 of his Father before all worlds" God of God" 
 Light of light" very God of very God" begot 
 ten' not made" being of one substance with 
 the Father' by whom all things were made" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 179 
 
 who' for us men' and for our salvation' came 
 down from Heaven' and was incarnate by the 
 Holy Ghost' of the Virgin Mary' and was made 
 man" and was crucified also for us under Pon- 
 tius Pilate" He suffered' and was buried' and 
 the third day he rose again' according to the 
 scriptures' and ascended into Heaven" and 
 sitteth on the right hand of the Father'" And 
 He shall come agaf n'with glory' to jVdge both 
 the quick and the dead" whose kingdom shall 
 have no end'" And 1 believe in the Holy 
 Ghost' the Lord and giver of life" who pro- 
 ceeded! from the Father and the Son" who' 
 with the Father and the So v n together is wor- 
 shipped' and glorified" who spake by the pro- 
 phets'" And I believe one Ca tholic and Apos- 
 tolic Church" I acknowledge one baptism for 
 the remission of sins" and I look for the re- 
 surrection of the dead' and the life of the world 
 to co nae.'== 
 
 There is a passage in the Creed, often faultily de- 
 livered, in the following manner — { Go v d of Go v d, 
 Light of light, ve'ry God of very God' — In which 
 mode of expression — 'Go'd of Go N d' — according to 
 the common acceptation, it would imply a superiority 
 in him over God ; as, when we say, ' King of Kings;' 
 but, by laying the stress on, { o/,' as c God o v f God' 
 
180 ON READING 
 
 — the true meaning is pointed out, which is, c God 
 proceeded fro m God, light frona light, very God fro'm 
 very God.' Thus indicating the unity of the divine 
 nature and essence, in connexion with the 'personal 
 distinctions in the Godhead. 
 
 I shall now proceed to the rest of the service for the 
 Communion. 
 
 THE OFFERTORY. 
 
 c Let your light so shine before men' that 
 they may see your good works' and glorify your 
 Father which is in Heaven= 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves' treasures upon 
 ear th' where moth and rust doth corrupt' and 
 where thieves break through' and steal" but 
 lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven' 
 where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt' and 
 where thieves do not break through nor 
 steal= 
 
 Whatsoever ye would that men should do 
 unto you' even so do unto them" for this' is 
 the law and the prophets= 
 
 Not every one that sai'th unto me' Lord' 
 Lord' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven" 
 but he that doeth the will of my Father which 
 is in heaven " 
 
 Zaccheus stood forth' and said unto the 
 Lord' Behold' Lord' the half of my goods I 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 181 
 
 give to the poor" and if I have done any 
 wro ng to any man I resto re four-fold'" 
 
 Who goeth a warfare at any time at his 
 own cost? Who planteth a vi neyard and eat- 
 eth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a 
 fiVck' and eateth not of the milk of the flock? 
 If we have sown unto you spiritual things' 
 is it a great matter if we shall reap your worFd- 
 I ly things? 
 
 Do ye not know' that they who minister 
 ! about holy things' live of the sacrifice'' and 
 i they who wait at the altar' are parta kers with 
 the altar? Even so' hath the Lord also ordain- 
 ed' that they who preach the Gospel' should 
 li Ve of the Gospel'" 
 
 He that so weth little' shall rea p little" and 
 he that soweth pie nteously' shall reap plente- 
 ously" Let every man do according as he is 
 | disposed in his heart' not grudgingly' or of ne- 
 cessity" for God loveth a chee rful giver" 
 
 Let him that is tau ght in the word' minister 
 unto him that teacheth' in all good thiugs"' Be 
 not deceived' God is not mocked" For what 
 soe Ver a man so weth' that shall he reap" 
 
 While we have time' let us do good unto all 
 men" and especially unto them that are of the 
 household of faith'" 
 
182 ON READING 
 
 Godliness is great riches' if a man be coi 
 tent with that he hath" For we brought no- 
 thing into this world' neither may we carry 
 any thing out"' 
 
 Charge them who are rich in this world' 
 that they be ready to give' and gla'd to distri- 
 bute" laying up in store for themselves a good 
 foundation against the time to come' that they 
 may attain ete rnal life'" 
 
 God is not unrighteous' that he will forget 
 your works' and labour that proceedeth of 
 loVe" which love ye have showed for his name's 
 sake' who have ministered unto the saints' an< 
 yet do minister'" 
 
 To do goo'd and to distribute' forget not" 
 for with such sacrifices God is well pleased"' 
 
 Whoso hath this world's good' and seeth hi 
 brother have need' and shutteth up his com' 
 passion from him' how dwelleth the love of 
 God in him? 
 
 Give alms of thy goods' and never turn thy 
 face from any poor man" and then' the face of 
 the Lord shall not be turned away from thee'" 
 
 Be merciful after thy power" if thou hast 
 mu ch' give pie nteously" if thou hast little' do 
 thy diligence gladly to give of that little" for 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 183 
 
 so gatherest thou thyself a good reward' in the 
 | day of necessity '= 
 
 ! He that hath pity upon the poor' lendeth un- 
 ; to the Lord" and look' what he layeth out' it 
 i shall be paid him agai n=== 
 I Ble ssed be the man that provideth for the 
 i sick and needy" the Lord shall deliver him in 
 ! the time of trouble= 
 
 PRAYER FOR THE WHOLE STATE OF CHRIST'S 
 CHURCH MILITANT. 
 
 Almighty and everliving God' who by thy 
 holy Apostle hast taught us to make prayers 
 and supplications' and to give thanks for all 
 men" we humbly beseech thee' most mercifully 
 [to accept our alms and oblations and] to re- 
 ceive these our prayers' which we offer unto 
 thy divine Majesty" beseeching thee to inspire 
 continually the universal church' with the spi- 
 rit of truth' unity' and concord'" And grant 
 that all those who do confers thy holy name' 
 may agree in the truth of thy holy word' and 
 live in unity' and godly love"' We beseech thee 
 also' so to direct and dispose the hearts of all 
 Christian Rulers' that they may truly' and im- 
 par tially administer justice' to the pu nishment' 
 
184 ON READING 
 
 of wickedness and vice" and to the mainte 
 nance of thy true religion and virtue'" Give 
 gra ce' O Heavenly Father' to all Bishops and 
 other Ministers' that they may' both by their 
 life' and do ctrine' set forth thy true and lively 
 wor d' and rightly and duly administer thy holy 
 sacraments"' And to all thy people' give thy 
 heavenly grace" and especially to this congre- 
 gation here present' that with meek heart' and 
 due reverence' they may hear' and receive thy 
 holy word' truly serving thee in holiness and 
 righteousness all the days of their life"' And 
 we most humbly beseech thee' of thy goodness' 
 O Lord' to comfort and succour all those' 
 who' in this transitory life' are in trouble' sor- 
 row' need' sickness' or any other adversity'" 
 And we also bless thy holy name' for all thy 
 servants departed this life in thy faith and fear' 
 beseeching thee to give us grace' so to follow 
 their good examples' that wi th them' we may 
 be partakers of thy Heavenly kingdom'" Grant 
 this' O Father' for Jesus Christ's sake' our only 
 mediator and advocate= 
 
 THE EXHORTATION. 
 
 Dearly beloved in the Lord" Ye who mind 
 to come to the holy Communion of the Body 
 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 185 
 
 and Blood of our Saviour Christ" must consi- 
 der' how Saint Paul exhorteth all persons' dili- 
 gently to try and examine themselves' before 
 they presume to eat of tha t bread' and drink 
 of tha t cup" For' as the benefit is great' if 
 with a true penitent heart' and lively faith' we 
 receive that holy sacrament'' so is the danger 
 great if we receive the same unworthily'" 
 Judge' therefore' yourselves' Brethren' that 
 ye be not judged of the Lord" repent ye 
 truly for your sins past" have a lively and stead- 
 fast faith in Christ our Saviour" amend your 
 lives' and be in perfect cha rity with all men" 
 so shall ye be meet partakers of those Holy 
 Mysteries'" And above all things' ye must 
 give most humble and hearty thanks' to God 
 the Father' the Son' and the Holy Ghost' for 
 the rede mption of the world' by the death and 
 passion of our Saviour Christ' both God' and 
 man" who did humble himself even unto the 
 dearth upon the Crops' for us-miserable-sin- 
 ners" who lay in darkness and the shadow of 
 death' that he might make us the children of 
 God' and exalt us to everla sting life"' And to 
 the end that we should always remember' the 
 exceeding great love of our Master and only 
 Saviour' Jesus Christ' thu s dying for us" and 
 17 
 
] 86 ON READING 
 
 the innumerable benefits' which by his precious 
 blood-shedding he hath obtained for us' He' 
 hath instituted and ordained Holy Mysteries' 
 as pledges of his love' and for a continual re- 
 membrance of his death' to our great and end- 
 less comfort" To Him' therefore' with the 
 Father' and the Holy Ghost' let us give' (as we 
 are most bounden') continual thanks" submit- 
 ting ourselves wholly' to hi s holy will and plea- 
 sure" and stu dying to serve him' in true holi- 
 ness and righteousness' all the days of our 
 life= 
 
 THE INVITATION. 
 
 Ye' who do truly' and ea rnestly repent you 
 of your sins" and are in love and charity with 
 your neighbours" and intend to lead a new life' 
 following the commandments of God' and walk- 
 ing from henceforth in his holy ways" draw 
 near with faith' and take this holy sacrament 
 to your comfort" and make your humble con- 
 fession to Almighty God' devoutly kneeling 
 
 A GENERAL CONFESSION. 
 
 Almighty God' Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ' Maker' of all things' Judge' of all men" 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 187 
 
 we acknowledge' and bewail our manifold 
 sins and wickedness' which we from time to 
 time most grievously have committed' by 
 thought' word' and deed' against thy divine 
 Majesty" provoking most jVstly thy wrath and 
 indignation against us'" We do earnestly re- 
 pent' and are heartily so rry for these our mis- 
 doings'" The remembrance of them is griev- 
 ous unto us" the burden of them is intolera- 
 ble'" Have me rcy upon us' have mercy upon 
 us' most merciful Father" for thy Son our Lord 
 Jesus Christ's sake' forgi Ve us all that is past" 
 and grant that we may ever hereafter serve 
 and please thee in ne wness of life'' to the ho- 
 nour and glory of thy name' through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord= 
 
 THEN THE PRIEST SHALL SAY, 
 
 Almighty God' our heavenly Father' who' 
 of his great mercy' hath promised forgiveness 
 of sins' to all those who with hearty repent- 
 ance' and true faith' turn unto him" have 
 mercy upon you" pardon' and deliver you from 
 all your si v ns" confirm and strengthen you in 
 all goo'dness' and bring you to everlasting life" 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord= 
 
188 ON READING 
 
 THEN SHALL THE PRIEST SAY, 
 
 Hear' what co'mfortable words' our Saviour 
 Ch rist saith' unto all that truly turn to him'" 
 
 Come unto me' all ye that travel' and are 
 heavy laden' and I will refresh you'" 
 
 So God loVed the world' that he gave his 
 only begotten Son' to the end that all that be- 
 lieve in him' should not pe'rish' but have ever- 
 lasting lTfe= 
 
 Hear also what Saint Paul saith" 
 
 This' is a true saying' and wortny of all men 
 to be received' that Christ Jesus came into the 
 world to saVe sin x ners= 
 
 Hear also what Saint John saith" 
 
 If any man si n' we have an Advocate with 
 the Father' Jesus Christ the righteous" and H£* 
 is the propitiation for our sins= 
 
 Lift up your hearts" 
 
 We lift them up unto the Lord'" 
 
 Let us give tha'nks unto our Lord God" 
 
 It is meet and right so to do"' 
 
 It is very meet' right' and our bounden du- 
 ty' that we should at all times" and in all places' 
 give tha'nks unto thee' O Lord' Holy Father' 
 Almighty' everlasting God"' 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 189 
 
 TRISAGION. 
 
 Therefore with angels' and archangels' and 
 with all the company of Heaven' we laud' and 
 magnify thy glorious name' evermore praising' 
 thee' and saying' Holy' holy' holy' Lord God 
 of hosts" Heaven and Earth are full of thy 
 glory'" Glory be to thee' O Lord mostHigh= 
 
 THEN SHALL THE PRIEST SAY, 
 
 We do not presume to come to this thy ta- 
 ble' O merciful Lord' trusting in our own 
 righteousness 7 but in thy manifold and great 
 me rcies'" We are not worthy so much as to 
 gather up the crumbs under thy table" but thou 
 art the same Lord' whose property is' always 
 to have mercy" Grant us' therefore' gracious 
 Lord' so to eat the fle sh of thy dear Son Jesus 
 Christ' and to drink his blood' that our sinful 
 bodies' may be made clean by his body" and 
 our souls washed through his most precious 
 blood'' and that we' may evermore dwell in 
 hi'm' and he' in u s= 
 17* 
 
190 ON READING 
 
 PRAYER OF CONSECRATION. 
 
 All glory be to thee' Almighty God' our 
 heavenly Father' for that thou of thy tender 
 me rcy' didst give thine only Son' Jesus Christ' 
 to suffer death upon the cro ss for our redemp- 
 tion" who made there (by his one oblation of 
 himself once offered) a full' perfect' and suf- 
 ficient sacrifice' oblation' and satisfaction' for 
 the sins of the whole world" and did institute' 
 and' in his holy gospel' command us to con- 
 tinue a perpetual memory of that his precious 
 death and sacrifice' until his coming again'" 
 For in the night in which he was betrayed' he 
 took bread" and when he had given thanks' he 
 brake it' and gave it to his disciples' saying' 
 Take' eat' this is my Body' which is given for 
 you" Do this' in remembrance of me'" Like- 
 wise' after supper' he took the cup" and when 
 he had given thanks' he gave it to them' say- 
 ing' Drink ye all of this" for' this is my Blood' 
 of the New Testament' which is shed for you' 
 and for many' for the remission of sins" Do 
 this' as oft as ye shall drink it' in remembrance 
 of me" 
 
 Wherefore' O Lard' and heavenly Father' 
 according to the institution of thy dearly be- 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 191 
 
 loved Son' our Saviour Jesus Christ' we' thy 
 humble servants' do celebrate' and make here 
 before thy divine Majesty' with these thy holy 
 gifts' which we now offer unto thee' the memo- 
 rial thy Son hath commanded us to make" 
 having in remembrance his blessed pas'sion' 
 and precious death' his mighty resurrection' 
 and glorious ascension" rendering unto thee 
 most hearty thanks' for the innumerable bene- 
 fits procured unto us by the same'" And we 
 most humbly beseech thee' merciful Father' 
 to hear us" and' of thy Almighty goodness' 
 vouchsafe to bless and sanctify' with thy Word 
 and Holy Spirit' these thy gifts and creatures 
 of bread and wine" that we' receiving them 
 according to thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's 
 holy institution' in remembrance of his Death 
 and Passion' may be partakers of his most 
 blessed Body and Blood" And we earnestly 
 desire thy fatherly goodness' mercifully to 
 accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanks- 
 giving" most humbly beseeching thee to grant' 
 that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus 
 Christ' and through faith in his blood' we' and 
 all thy whole Church' may obtain remission 
 of our sins' and all other benefits of his pas- 
 sion'" And here' we offer and present unto 
 
1 92 ON READING 
 
 thee' O Lord' ourselves' our souls and bodies' 
 to be a reasonable' holy' and living sacrifice 
 unto thee" humbly beseeching thee' that we' 
 and all others who shall be partakers of this 
 holy Communion' may worthily receive the 
 most precious Body and Blood of thy Son 
 Jesus Christ' be filled with thy grace and hea- 
 venly benediction' and made one body with 
 hi m" that he may dwell in them' and they in 
 him" And although' we are un worthy' through 
 our manifold sins' to offer unto thee an y sacri- 
 fice" yet we beseech thee' to accept this' our 
 bounden duty and service' not weighing our 
 merits' but pardoning our offences" through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord" b N y whom' and with 
 whom' in the u mty of the Holy Ghost' all ho- 
 nour and glory be unto thee' O Father Almigh- 
 ty' world without end"' 
 
 DELIVERING THE SYMBOLS. 
 
 The body of our Lord Jesus Christ' which 
 was giVen for thee' preserve th y body and soul 
 unto everlasting life'" Take' and eat this' in 
 remembrance that Christ died for thee' and 
 feed on him in thy heart' by faith' with thanks- 
 giving= 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 193 
 
 The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ' which 
 was shed for thee' preserve thy body and soul 
 unto everlasting life" Drink this' in remem- 
 brance that Christ's blood was shed for thee' 
 and be thankful= 
 
 THE THANKSGIVING. 
 
 Almighty and everliving God' we most 
 heartily tha nk thee' for that thou dost vouch- 
 safe to feed us who have duly received these 
 holy Mysteries' with the spiritual food of the 
 most precious Bo v dy and Blood of thy Son our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ" and dost assure us 
 thereby' of thy favour and goo'dness towards 
 us" and that we are very members incorporate 
 in the my'stical body of thy Son' which is the 
 blessed company of all faithful people" and 
 are also' heirs through hope' of thy everlasting 
 kingdom' by the merits of the most precious 
 death and passion of thy dear Son'" And we 
 most humbly beseech thee' O heavenly Father' 
 so to assist us with thy grace' that we may 
 continue in that holy fellowship' and do all 
 such good works as thou hast prepared for us 
 to walk in' through Jesus Christ our Lord" 
 to whom' with thee and the Holy Ghost' be all 
 honour and glory' world without end" 
 
1 94 ON READING 
 
 GLORIA IN EXCELSIS. 
 
 Glory be to God on high" and on earth' 
 peace' good will towards men'" We praise 
 thee' we bless thee' we worship thee' we glo- 
 rify thee' we give thanks to thee for thy great 
 glory' Lord God" Heavenly King" God the 
 Father' Almighty'" 
 
 O Lord' the only begotten Son' Jesus 
 Christ" Lord God' Lamb of God' Son 
 of the Father' that takest away the si ns of the 
 woiTd" have mercy upon us"' Thou' that 
 takest away the sins of the world' have me rcy i 
 upon us" Thou that takest away the si ns of 
 the world' receive our prayer" Thou that 
 sittest at the right hand of God the Father' | 
 have me rcy upon us'" 
 
 For' Thou only art holy" Thou only art the | 
 Lord" Thou only' O Christ' with the Holy ; 
 Ghost' art m5st high' in the glory of God the 
 Father= I 
 
 BENEDICTION. 
 
 The peace of God' which pa sseth all under- 
 standing' keep your hearts and minds in the 
 knowledge and love of God' and of his Son 
 Jesus Christ our Lord'" And the ble'ssing of 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 1 95 
 
 I God Almighty' the Father the So v n' and the 
 I Holy Ghost' be amongst you' and remain with 
 i you always= 
 
 THE COLLECTS. 
 
 Assist us mercifully' O Lord' in these our 
 
 I supplications and prayers" and dispose the way 
 
 1 of thy servants towards the attainment of ever- 
 
 ! lasting salvation" that among all the changes 
 
 and chances of this mortal life' they may ever 
 
 be defended by thy most gracious and ready 
 
 help' through Jesus Christ our Lord= 
 
 Grant' we beseech thee' Almighty God' that 
 the words which we have heard thi s day with 
 our outward ears' may' through thy grace' be 
 so grafted inwardly in our hearts' that they 
 may bring forth in us' the fruit of goo'd living' 
 to the honour and praise of thy name' through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord= 
 
 Direct us' O Lord' in all our doings' with 
 thy most gracious favour' and further us with 
 thy continual help' that in all our works' be- 
 gu n' continued' and ended in thee' we may 
 glorify thy holy name'' and finally' by thy mer- 
 cy' obtain everlasting life' through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord= 
 
196 ON READING 
 
 Almighty God' the fountain of all wisdom' 
 who knowest our necessities before we ask' 
 and our ignorance in asking'' we beseech thee 
 to have compassion upon our infirmities" and 
 those things which' for our unworthiness' we 
 dare not' and for our blindness' we cannot 
 ask'' vouchsafe to give us' for the worthiness 
 of thy Son' Jesus Christ our Lord= 
 
 Almighty God' who hast promised to hear 
 the petitions of those who ask in thy So n's 
 name' we beseech thee' mercifully to incline 
 thine ears to us' who have now made our prayers 
 and supplications unto thee" and grant that 
 those things which we have faithfully a sked' 
 according to thy will' may effectually be ob- 
 tained' to the relief of our necessity' and to the 
 setting forth of thy glory" through Jesus Christ 
 our Lord= 
 
 I shall not enter into any particular remarks on this 
 part of the service, as it would only be repeating ob- 
 servations already made on similar passages : yet there 
 is one part of it, where the bread and cup are distri- 
 buted to the communicants, which I cannot pass over, 
 and which is capable of great improvement, merely 
 by the force of a different emphasis. It is usually thus 
 delivered — c The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 which was given for thee, preserve thy bo'dy and 
 soul to everlasting life. Take and eat this in remem- 
 
 1 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 197 
 
 brance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in 
 thy heart, by faith with thanksgiving.' — Now as this 
 is spoken in their turns to each communicant, the 
 latter part would have much more force if the empha- 
 sis were placed upon thee, as thus — c take and eat 
 this' in remembrance that Christ died for thee' — as it 
 would bring it more home to each individual. And I 
 would reserve this emphasis for the latter place, rather 
 than give it to the former, where it is said — ' The 
 body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was gi Ven for 
 thee, &c.' because there is something more affecting 
 and emphatical in the last expression — ' who died for 
 thee' — and two similar emphases in the two contigu- 
 ous passages, would not have a good effect. There is 
 another emphasis in the first part, which ought also to 
 be changed from the usual manner of delivering it — 
 { The bo'dy of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy 
 bo'dy and soul, &c.' Here the two emphases on the 
 same word, body, have a bad effect; and, therefore, 
 one of them should be changed, thus — c The bo'dy of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ' preserve th y body and soul, 
 &c.' But the emphasis on the word body, is to be 
 restored in the second part, where the cup is adminis- 
 tered, and only the blood of Christ mentioned ; as 
 thus — ' The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ' which 
 was she'd for thee' preserve thy bo'dy and soul unto 
 everlasting life.' — But in this also, I would preserve 
 the emphasis on the word, thee, in the latter part, thus 
 — c Drink this in remembrance that Christ's blood was 
 shed for thee' and be thankful.' 
 18 
 
1 9S 0N READING 
 
 Having now gone through those parts of the Church- 
 service which are in most general use, I shall leave 
 the remainder of the Liturgy to the particular investi- 
 gation of each individual, by the help of those general 
 lights which have been thrown out in the present work ; 
 and which, if due attention be paid to them, will be 
 found sufficient guides. I would recommend it to all 
 who are desirous to make themselves masters of the 
 other parts of the service, to follow the model here 
 laid down for them. That is, to write out such parts 
 as they wish to deliver properly, without any of the 
 usual stops; and after having considered them well, 
 to mark the pauses and emphases, by the new signs 
 which have been annexed to them, according to the 
 best of their judgment. But above all, I would have 
 them particularly attentive to the pauses, in the obser- 
 vation of which the generality of readers are chiefly 
 defective; as the clearness of the meaning, and the 
 solemnity of the service, so much depend upon them. 
 The different degrees of length in the several pauses, 
 must be left to every one's own judgment. To pro- 
 ceed thus far, will be sufficient to such as are content- 
 ed to discharge their office with due decorum, without 
 aiming at any thing beyond it. But to such of the 
 clergy as are men of true piety and devotion, and con- 
 sequently desirous of exciting them in others, I would 
 recommend it to go farther ; and as soon as they shall 
 have made themselves masters of the right manner of 
 reading, to deliver the whole from memory. For it is 
 difficult, if not .impossible, while the eye is on the 
 book, to have the fie^rt devoutly elevated ; and there- 
 
THE CHURCH SERVICE. 199 
 
 fore, no earnest and fervent prayers can be produced, 
 which alone can inspire the listening congregation 
 with true devotion. I once prevailed upon a clergy- 
 man, a man of real piety, to try this experiment ; and 
 I it is incredible what effects were produced by it. I 
 j have heard many of his auditors declare, among whom 
 ! were several respectable members of his own order, 
 ■ that they never knew what it was to have true devo- 
 ; tion excited, or to pray fervently in church, till they 
 1 heard him deliver the service in that manner. I know 
 \ that this will be attended with some difficulty at first, 
 as they who have been always accustomed to keep 
 their eyes fixed upon the book, may lose their presence 
 of mind, when deprived of that aid, and not be able to 
 repeat even what is perfectly rooted on the memory. 
 Like persons accustomed to swim with the help of 
 corks, who would immediately sink if they were de- 
 prived of them. Nay, I have known some clergymen 
 so exceedingly timid in that respect, that they never 
 could venture even to deliver the Lord's prayer, be- 
 fore the sermon, without having it written down. The 
 way to get the better of such apprehension, will be to 
 practise it first in private family duties; and when 
 they find they can perform it there, without difficulty, 
 they will be emboldened to do the same in public 
 worship also. But for their farther security, they may 
 turn over the leaves of the service, as they advance, 
 so as always to have the passage before them, which 
 they are reciting, to which they may have recourse, 
 in case they should at any timefi|A^:iemselves at a 
 loss. Every clergyman, u#<MtriaK : «l' find that this 
 
200 ON READING 
 
 change of mode will not only produce excellent effects 
 on the congregation, but will be the source of a per- 
 petual fund of satisfaction to himself. For as nothing 
 can be more irksome than the drudgery and weariness 
 arising from going over continually one and the same 
 settled service, in the usual cold and mechanical way ; 
 so nothing can cause greater inward satisfaction, than 
 praying from the heart ; as all must have felt, who pray 
 earnestly in their private devotions. How much more 
 pleasing must it be to a pastor, when he not only feels 
 in himself the delight arising from a pure and rational 
 devotion, but reflects that he is communicating sensa- 
 tions of the same kind, to his flock ; and by so doing, 
 takes the most effectual method to recover the strayed, 
 and conduct the faithful in the right way. 
 
 FINIS. 
 


 
 
 
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