The intonation of voice, used by the precentor in our Protestant churches, where the changes are not made on syllables, but on words or sentences, by notes, and where no accent of speech is ever heard, has also its monotonous advocates.

EXAMPLES.

Lord! have mercy up- on

us!

It is hard to believe that the author of the Philosophy of Elocution was not taught in this school, and that he is a very accurate scholar.

The above line ought to be read in this manner:

Lord! have mercy up- on us !

If these examples do not afford sufficient proof, that nothing can be more absurd than to introduce monotones, or the notes of song, into spoken language, then with such amousoi, neither ocular nor auricular demonstration need be attempted.

When Accents, approaching to Monotones, are admissible in reading and speaking.

When the mind is calm and serene; when there is a composed sublimity of thought; when it is deeply impressed with awe, sublimity, and grandeur-nature, always uniform and harmonious in her operations, dictates a similar correspondence of tone of voice, suitable to the tone of feeling, in order that the external expression of our ideas may be in unison with our internal emotions.-The more lofty,

grand, and sublime the language which we use, whether in prose or verse, though more frequently in the latter--the more uniform the modulation, and the accents are less varied in their degrees of acuteness and gravity.

This slightly marking of the accents, with the deep grave tone, which is generally necessary in such passages, has, from ignorance of the speaking tones, been called, in vague language, monotone. But a proper knowledge of the melody of speech proves, that monotony, correctly speaking, never can occur in spoken language: the utmost that can be said of such accents, is, that they are, comparatively, monotonous when contrasted with the lively playfulness of the acute and grave in familiar colloquial speech.

There is one, and but one, species of public speaking, where this monotonous pronunciation, that is, varying the degrees of acute and grave extremely little, should uniformly prevail, viz. in all addresses to the Deity in the form of prayers; which is the most important and solemn part of divine worship. The delivery of all prayers ought to be in this manner :- -The voice should, as to modulation, be pitched a little below the middle tones; it should be deep, grave, and solema; the movements extremely slow; the and distinctly marked; the degrees of acute and grave varying as little as possible, but without allowing the voice to dwell, so uniformly, on any note or syllable as to produce the tones of song.

How very different from this is the manner in which prayers in public are generally pronounced!!

Our best speakers have always been distinguished for their judicious application of this mode of delivery. The great Garrick was celebrated for it: but, was it ever said that Garrick was a monotonous speaker, using tones that are called perfect monotones, or notes of song? No: Garrick never sung when be spoke. In this manner he delivered Hamlet's soliloquy on life and death, viz. with hardly any distinction of piano and forte, or soft and loud, the accents very slightly marked, and something below the ordinary force, or what a musician would say, sotto voce, or sempre piano.

There is a species of monotony in public speaking which I shall merely mention. We often hear such ex

pressions as, he has a great deal of monotony in his delivery; and, he is a very monotonous speaker. The vulgar usage of these phrases is pretty generally correct. They are applied to those speakers, and lo! how numerous are they! who pronounce every sentence, not only in the same pitch of voice, and with the same degree of force, but with the same inflexions or accents of voice. In this delivery, if it deserve the name, there is not one syllable pronounced in perfect monotone : every syllable is accented, but the monotonous part is this, that every sentence is accented in the same way; and, on this account, and not that individual syllables or words are in monotone, is the delivery said to be mono

tonous.

There is no fault more common, in every kind of public speaking, than this; there is none more tiresome to an audience, because it is a gross violation of nature, which requires that the changes of tone, accent, &c. should always keep pace with the changes of feeling and sentiment.

REMARKS ON RECITATIVE.

There are many who are so ignorant of the human voice, as to maintain, that recitative is a species of music between the accents of melody of speech and the notes of song. We are told, also, that "the difference between verse and prose resembles that between song and recitative-sometimes they approximate so nearly as scarcely to be distinguished.”

Such learned critics must be informed, that the human voice can produce no sounds but those of speech or of song.

Modern recitative is mere song, though many of our musicians are of a different opinion. It differs as much from the ancient genuine Italian recitative, as the notes of song do from the accents of speech. As a proof of this, when it is performed by their best actors, it comes so near the common melody of the Italian language, that the musical accompaniment has no other effect upon the

audience than to give an additional force to the sentiments intended by the words. And it is remarkable, that the most pleasing and most affecting parts of the modern recitative, are those which come nearest to the ancient, that is, such as are spoken exactly with the same accentuation, or inflexion, and with the same energetic expression with which a good actor would have delivered them, if he had been speaking without any musical accompaniment; but to which that accompaniment, properly suited, gives a most exquisite relief. But when the recitative, as formed for the Italian speech, and fitted to it, is applied, by ignorant imitators, to other languages, whose melodies, in their natural accentuation or inflexion, are very different from that of the Italian-such awkward adaptation becomes ridiculous, and is the reason why recitative, even in the Italian, is disagreeable to the taste of those who do not understand that language.

The ordinary Italian recitative seems to be an endeavour, under some obscure traditional hints, the memory of which is now lost, to continue the ancient manner of accompanied declamation: the basis of which being generally by a tasto solo on a ground or single note, seems, according to our system, to countenance this conjecture; but for the rest, the moderns having no proper idea of the ancient chromatic or enharmonic genera, and none at all of the melody or vocal slides of speech, write the cantus of their recitative in the chromatico-diatonic, which, until our ears are debauched into a customary liking, sounds unnatural and disgusting.

However the moderns, whether English or Italians, may burlesque recitative, by making it mere song, it is, in fact, when properly performed, nothing more than a happy accommodation of the powers of accent and movement to the tones and proportions of our feelings the melody of theatrical declamation performed on an instrument accompanying the speaker: this is the recitative which was the delight of a people who were the most refined judges in literary elegance of whom we have any historical knowledge.

The expressions of piano and forte, of qualities, staccato and sostenuto, of accents, alto and basso, of emphasis and and of measured pauses, are the musicak

materials of speech, reducible to rules of art;-if, by the proper application of these, we can not only recover the ancient, elegant, and simple recitative, but distinctly communicate the manner in which a speech ought to be delivered, something, it is presumed, is gained; for then a Garrick may live as long as a Shakespeare.

It was formerly observed, that music, in its original purity, was used as a mode of conveying or enforcing sentiment; it was either the substitute or support of language. How, it may be asked, is it so degenerated at present as to have a share in neither?

CHAP. XII.

Monosyllables-their pliability in Language-distinction of Syllables-how they differ from one another-Verse and Prose contrasted-Prosaic Rhythm Exercises.

AN essential part of style, is the proper arrangement of the heavy syllables, and their falling at proportioned distances.

whe

Whether the composition be verse or prose, ther intended to be spoken loud or soft, the heavy syllables should be so placed that they may be easily pronounced without any violence to the received and fixed poize of the language.

A writer must have very little skill, or a bad ear, who cannot always effect this, since almost all the monosyllables with which our language abounds, are so pliant as readily to submit to be case may require; and many of them long or short.

or, as the

may be either

Such of our monosyllables, as our, hour, borne, lyre, fire, &c. are so long, that any one of them,