alter the tone of their voice, though they do not attend to it. It rifes, finks, and has various inflections given. it, according to the prefent ftate and difpofition of the mind. When the mind is calm and fedate, the voice is moderate and even; when the former is dejected with forrow, the latter is languid, and when that is inflamed by paffion, this is elevated.

It is the orator's bufinefs, therefore, to follow nature, and to endeavor that the tone of his voice appear natural and unaffected. And for this end, he must take care to fuit it to the nature of the subject; but still so as to be always grave and decent. Some perfons continue a difcourfe in fuch a low and drawling manner, that they can fcarcely be heard by their audience. Others again hurry on in fo loud and boisterous a manner, as if they imagined their hearers were deaf. But all the mufic and harmony of voice lies between thefe extremes.

Perhaps nothing is of more importance to a speaker, than a proper attention to accent, emphafis and cadence. Every word in our language, of more than one fyllable, has at leaft one accented fyllable. This fyllable ought to be rightly known, and the word should be pronounced by the fpeaker in the fame manner as he would pronounce it in ordinary converfation. By emphafis, we diftinguifh thofe words in a fentence which we esteem the most important, by laying a greater ftrefs of voice upon them than we do upon the others. And it is furprising to obferve how the fenfe of a phrase may be altered by varying the emphasis. The following example will ferve as an illuftration.

This fhort queftion, "Will you ride to town today?" may be understood in four different ways, and, confequently, may receive four different anfwers, according to the placing of the emphasis.

If it be pronounced thus; Will you ride to town to-day? the answer may properly be, No; I fhall fend my fon. If thus; Will you ride to town to-day? Anfwer, No; I intend to walk. Will you ride to

town to-day? No; I fhall ride into the country. Will you ride to town to-day? No; but I fhail to-morrow.

This fhows how neceffary it is that a fpeaker fhould know how to place his emphasis. And the only rule for this is that he ftudy to attain a just conception of the force and spirit of the fentiments which he delivers. There is as great a difference between one who lays his emphafis properly, and one who pays no regard to it, or places it wrong, as there is between one who plays on an inftrument with a masterly hand, and the moft bungling performer.

Cadence is the reverse of emphafis. It is a depreffion or lowering of the voice; and commonly falls upon the last fyllable in a fentence. It is varied however, according to the fenfe. When a question is asked, it feldom falls upon the laft word; and many fentences require no cadence at all.

Every perfon who fpeaks in public, fhould endeavor, if he can, to fill the place where he speaks. But still he ought to be careful not to exceed the natural key of his voice. If he does, it will neither be soft nor agreeable; but either harsh and rough, or too fhrill and fqueaking. Befides, he will not be able to give every fyllable its full and diftinct found; which will render what he fays obscure, and difficult to be understood. He fhould therefore take care to keep his voice within reach, fo as to have it under management, that he raife or fink it, or give it any inflection he thinks proper; which it will not be in his power to do, if he put a force upon it, and ftrain it beyond its natural tone.

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The like caution is to be ufed against the contrary extreme, that the voice be not fuffered to fink too low. This will give the speaker pain in raifing it again to its proper pitch, and be no lefs offenfive to the hearers. The medium between thefe two is a moderate and even voice. But this is not the fame in all; that which is moderate in one would be high in another. Every perfon therefore must regulate it by the natural key of his own voice. A calm and fedate voice is generally

beft; as a moderate found is moft pleafing to the ear, if it be clear and diftinct. But this equality of the voice muft alfo be accompanied with a variety: otherwife there can be no harmony; fince all harmony confifts in variety.

Nothing is lefs pleafing than a difcourfe pronounced throughout in one continued tone of the voice, without any alteration. The equality, therefore, we are here fpeaking of, admits a variety of inflections and changes within the fame pitch. And when that is altered, the gradations, whether higher or lower, should be fo gentle and regular as to preferve a due proportion of the parts, and harmony of the whole; which cannot be done, when the voice is fuddenly varied with too great a distinction. And therefore it fhould move from one key to another, fo as rather to glide like a gentle fiream, than pour down`like a rapid torrent, as an ingenious writer has well expreffed it.

But an affected variety, ill placed, is as difagreeable to a judicious audience, as the want of it, where the fubject requires it. We may find fome perfons, in pronouncing a grave and plain difcourfe, affect as many different tones, and variations of their voice, as if they were acting a comedy; which is doubtlefs a very great impropriety. But the orator's province is not barely to apply to the mind, but likewife to the paffions; which require a great variety of the voice, high or low, vehement or languid, according to the nature of the paffions he defigns to affect. So that for an orator always to use the fame tone or degree of his voice, and expect to answer all his views by it, would be much the fame thing as if a physician fhould propose to cure all distempers by one medicine. And as a perfect monotony is always unpleafant, fo it can never be neceffary any difcourfe.

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That fome fentences ought to be pronounced faster than others is very manifeft. Gay and fprightly ideas fhould not only be expreffed louder, but alto quicker than fuch as are melancholy. And when we press an

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opponent, the voice fhould be brisk. in a precipitant manner without paufing, till ftopped for want of breath, is certainly a very great fault. This destroys not only the neceffary diftinction between fentence and sentence, but likewife between the several words of the fame fentence; by which mean, all the grace of speaking is loft, and in a great measure, the advantage of hearing.

Young perfons are very liable to this, efpecially at first fetting out. and it often arifes from diffidence. They are jealous of their performances, and the fuccefs they may have in fpeaking, which gives them a pain till it is over; and this puts them into a hurry of mind, which incapacitates them from governing their voice, and keeping it under that due regulation which perhaps they propofed to themfelves before they began to speak.

And as a precipitant and hafty pronunciation is culpable, fo likewife on the other hand, it is a fault to fpeak too flow. This feems to argue a heaviness in the fpeaker. And as he appears cool himself, he can never expect to warm his hearers, and excite their af fections. When not only every word, but every fyllable is drawn out to too great a length, the ideas do not come fast enough to keep up the attention without much uneafinefs. Now, to avoid either of the two extremes last mentioned, the voice ought to be fedate and distinct. And in order to render it diftinct it is neceffary, not only that each word and fyllable should have its just and full found, both as to time and accent, but likewife that every fentence, and part of a sentence, fhould be feparated by its proper pause.

This is more eafy to be done in reading, from the affiftance of the points; but it is no lefs to be attended to in fpeaking, if we would pronounce in a distinct and graceful manner. For every one should speak in the same manner as he ought to read, if he could arrive at that exactnefs. Now the common rule given in paufing is, that we ftop our voice at a comma till we

can tell one, at a femicolon two, at a colon three, and at a full period four. And as these points are either accommodated to the feveral parts of the same sentence, as the first three; or different fentences, as the laft; this occafions the different length of the pause, by which either the dependence of what precedes upon that which follows, or its diftinction from it is reprefented.

It is not in our power to give ourselves what qualities of the voice we pleafe; but only to make the beft ufe we can of what nature has bestowed upon us. However, feveral defects of the voice are capable of being helped by care and proper means; as, on the other hand, the beft voice may be greatly hurt by ill management and indifcretion. Temperance is a great prefervative of the voice, and all excefs is highly prejudicial to it. The voice muft neceffarily fuffer, if the organs of fpeech have not their proper tone. A strong voice is very ferviceable to an orator, becaufe, if he want fome other advantages, he is, however, capable to make himself heard. And if at any time he is forced to strain it, he is in lefs danger of its failing him before he has finifhed his difcourfe.

But he, who has a weak voice, fhould be very careful not to strain it, efpecially at firft. He ought to begin flow, and rife gradually to fuch a pitch as the key of his voice will well carry him, without being obliged to fink again afterwards. Frequent inflections of the voice will likewife be of fome affiftance to him. But efpecially he should take care to speak deliberately, and cafe his voice, by allowing due time for refpiration at all the proper pauses. It is an extreme much lefs inconvenient for fuch a perfon rather to speak too flow, than too faft. But this defect of a weak voice is fometimes capable of being helped by the use of proper methods; as is evident from the inftance of Demofthenes, before mentioned.

Some perfons, either from want of due care in their. education at first, or from inadvertency and negligence