conceive, how it is poffible, that they should be made obvious to any other sense, but that of seeing.

HENCE it comes to pass, that the man wholly illiterate, who has no other ideas of language, but what he has obtained thro' his ear, always uses a variety of tones in speaking, fuch as are customary in his country; according to the fenfe of the words, or the emotions of his mind. On the contrary, the deaf man, when taught to speak, (as many have been) always delivers his words in one uniform tone, without the leaft variation. In an intermediate ftate between these, the reading men, in proportion to the attention which they give, to the one kind of language or the other, either approach nearer to the monotony of the deaf man, or the variety of the illiterate. On this account it is, that the most bookish men are generally remarkable for the worst delivery: as reading therefore by means of the prefs, is become almost universal amongst us; and as the chief errours and defects of our delivery, arise from a faulty manner of reading; there can not be a matter of more importance, than to explain fully, how this faulty manner, muft neceffarily prevail, not only from the unfkilfulness of mafters, but also from the imperfect state of the art of writing itself, until a proper remedy be found.

FOR this end, let us confider the purposes which may be anfwered by reading. They are chiefly three. The acquifition of knowledge; the affifting the memory to treasure up this knowledge; or the communicating it to others. The first two, may be done by filent reading; the last, requires reading aloud. Let us now examine how far the art of writing, (under which head I include printing,) is in its prefent ftate fitted to answer the feveral purposes, and how far, and in what refpects it is deficient.

WITH regard to the first point, that of conveying knowledge, it is plain enough, that the written language is in a sufficient state of perfection, as any one who is once master of it, can read an author who writes clearly, fo as fully to comprehend his meaning, with almost the same celerity that his eye can take in the words. And the fame must also be allowed with regard to the fecond use of written language, that of affifting the memory. To answer these two necessary ends there has been fufficient care taken in the structure of written language; but as the third, that of reading aloud to others, was by no means a neceffary object; on the contrary, as every purpose to which that is applied, might be much better answered, by giving due attention to the second use of writing, that of imprinting words on the memory, fo as that they might be delivered without any use of notes, there has been no manner of regard paid to it in the whole art of writing; which does not contain one single vifible mark, that can give us any affiftance, in the most important articles of a good delivery, as I shall presently shew.

THE Greeks and Romans made use of this art only to anfwer the two first purposes; that of filent reading, and that of affifting the memory; for we never hear of its being used amongst them in public reading, as all their studied orations, poems, &c. were recited from memory; confequently, they had no occafion to carry the art of writing farther than was neceffary to answer those ends. When therefore we, who have taken the model of our written language from them, would apply it to a third use, for which it never was intended, and to which it is not by any means adapted in its nature, shall we be surprised if it fails to answer that end, and wonder that reading aloud should in general be fo ill performed ?

Το prove that our written language is by no means calculated to answer this third purpose, of reading aloud, it will be only neceffary. to fhew, that it contains no visible marks, of articles, which are the most important of all others, to a juft delivery. A juft delivery confifts in a diftinct articulation of words, pronounced in proper tones, fuitably varied to the fenfe, and the emotions of the mind; with due obfervation of accent; of emphasis, in its several gradations; of refts or pauses of the voice, in proper places and well measured degrees of time; and the whole accompanied with expreffive looks, and fignificant gefture. Now of all these ingredients, not one of which can be fpared from a good delivery, there are but two, that are at all regarded in the art of writing; and those are, articulate founds or words, which are marked by letters; and ftops, or pauses of the voice, which are marked by little figures and tittles. And even in these points, much greater regard, has been paid to the two first uses of written language than to the last; to the filent reader, than to him who is to read aloud to others; as may be feen by examining, in the first instance, in what manner words are spelt; in which the derivation and meaning of the words is often more confidered, than

any direction of the proper founds refulting from the arrangement of the letters. In this refpect indeed, we are fo exceedingly loose and irregular, that even where no end can be answered by it, the words in general, as presented to the eye, would be so far from producing the true founds, that if they were pronounced exactly as they are written, we should not know them to be of our language. And as to the second article, that of points or stops, I shall presently shew that they are by no means fitted to the natural refts and pauses of difcourse; and, as they are managed, have proved the chief cause of some of our greatest imperfections in reading. But with respect to the other articles of tones, accent, emphases, and gesture, there are no visible marks to ferve as guides in these. And as these latter, must

be

be allowed to be the fources, of every thing which is pleasurable, or forcible in delivery; and to contain in them, all the powers of ftrongly impreffing the mind, captivating the fancy, rouzing the paffions, and delighting the ear; it must alfo be allowed, that the most essential articles to a good delivery, have been wholly left out of the graphic art.

IT may be faid, that there is no occasion to have any marks for these, as the view of the words on paper, will excite in the mind the ideas for which they ftand; and of course, all the acceffary circumstances of delivery, which are usually affociated with those ideas in the mind: and that as foon as we perceive by the help of the eye, the full meaning and import of any fentence, we shall be able to express that meaning to others, in the fame manner, and with the same propriety and force, as if it proceeded from the immediate fentiments of our own minds. It were to be wished indeed that this af sertion could be made good, for in that cafe, there would be few bad readers in the world; but the abundance of thofe, which are every where to be found, sufficiently refutes this opinion. And indeed by examining the process of fuch, as are most expert in the art of reading, we shall be fully convinced that the opinion is erroneous: every one of whom will allow, that he cannot deliver any piece of written compofition, so well at fight, or on the first reading, as on the fecond; nor on the fecond, as on the third; and fo he continues improving in his manner, every time, as the words grow more familiar to him. Nay he will allow that he can not approach nearly to the manner of delivering them, with the fame propriety and force, as he would his own fentiments, 'till they as it were become his own, by being fo perfectly impreffed on the memory, that the mind may be wholly at liberty to attend only to the delivery; without being called off to another office from any difficulty of recollection.

The lefs the mind is diftracted by attention to different operations, the more it can collect all its vigour to difplay any one. We may every day see that the person who attempts to repeat things which he has not perfectly by heart, has his faculties fo abforbed in the act of recollection, that he can not attend to the manner of his reciting, which becomes proportionally defective. And in extemporaneous fpeaking, they who have a fluency of expreffion, and an eafy command of words, have proportional advantages in point of delivery, over those who are obliged to hefitate, ftop, and suspend their difcourse, whilst the mind is, as it were, fent out of the way, upon another office, that of fearching for proper words and phrases, which ought to have been ready at a call.

WERE it requifite to enter into a philofophical examination of the nature of reading, it would appear, that there are so many, and fuch fo various acts of the mind, neceffary to perform that office, as would fufficiently fhew us, that it is impoffible fuch a portion of attention can be given to the manner of delivery, as it ought to have, to anfwer its end, if we confider it as the fubftitute of extemporaneous fpeaking. For in that cafe, as it is neceffary that it should be performed in the same space of time as the other, how is it poffible this can be done, when there are so many more actions of the mind, requifite to the one, than to the other? And tho' we should allow, that thro' skill and habit, a reader, by the quick motion of his eye, may comprehend the full meaning and import of the words, and even have just ideas excited, of the manner in which they ought to be delivered, in the fame space of time only, that would be taken up in speaking those words, yet it by no means follows that his execution should answer his conceptions, or that the exact tones, and other accompaniments of discourse, should be ready at his will. For tho' they fpontaneously start forth, when we fpeak our own concep