56 Philosophical Society of London. 



tlie same words, would have been tinctured wiih llie exist- 

 ing passion, and his oratory liave sufftrt-d from the alloy, 

 and so passed l)y nnhreded. But if all tlie c(M7imon and 

 iHcesfarv^ nitu-cmcnts for the purposes of life are performed 

 by men in « straight or plain lines,' all the polished fcel- 

 inrrs, all the brilliant energies of the soul, are represented 

 by them in the graceful and ornamental movements of 

 curve lines." The honie'y action of Corporal Trim would 

 never suii " the unconstrained view" (^f ^kensidc 

 •' throuch mountains, plains, throufrh empires black wilh 

 shade. 



Notwithstanding the celebraicd dictum of Pope, that 

 " (i'.ose move easiest who have learnt lo dance," Mr. 

 ^Vright gives a decided preference to the use of the foil, 

 'ihough v.'e presume he will not, with Sir .loshua Reynolds, 

 say th.1t "all awkwardness comes I'rom the dancing- 

 master," yet he maintained that, ihough the limbs might 

 attain supplcinessm the school oi: Terpsichore, n)ore grace 

 and elegaHce, more ease combined withenergv, are dif- 

 fused over the fiame from the practice of fencing. " The 

 reason (he savs) is obvious; all the iniellcctual functions are 

 in action beh)re an adversary in a fencing assault, and this 

 is discoverable from the expression of the intellectual nms- 

 cles. — In dancing, we have only to lake notice of the 

 vacant stare of the minuet-dancer, to convince us all is 

 inanity, and ' not a hreath of thought is seen to move.' " 

 In preiacing his observations on the pronuncia- 

 tion of some simple sounds of our tongue, the lecturer 

 look occasion lo express an elegant and respectful tribute 

 to (he character and attainments of Mr. Walker ; for whose 

 indefatisable industry and nice discernment he professed, 

 notwithstanding his dissent in some fundamentals of the 

 science, the highest estimation. 



" Words (continued Mr. Wright) may be divided into 

 simple, couipound, and imitative: the first and second, 

 connected tosTcti.tr in discourse, belong peculiarly to the 

 elements of elocution, the third to the philcsophy of feel- 

 ing. But as the tlifee plasses of woids, taken individually, 

 suffer from aiTccted or negligent articulation jaid inlltxion, 

 . — as the intciidcu passion cannot easily arise bv mincing 

 or confining the vov/el sounds, by accentuating the sylla- 

 bles contrary to the best usage and authority, injudiciously 

 vocalizing or aspirating the consonants ; a few remarks on 

 some particular sounds, and on the disputed umdes of jiro- 

 nouneing certain words, cannot be considered ii relative to 

 niy present pbjecl. 



* Mit 



