to what Extent, and how most readily attainable?’ 405 
quire an incredible command of organ, and a justness of taste 
which will amply repay him for his trouble, by enabling him sub- 
sequently to excel in the delivery of his native tongue. 
The necessary process for this attainment, or at least that sim- 
ple process which I successfully adopted in my experiments on 
the SprakeER, will appear in my ensuing letter ; and in the mean 
time it may not be impertinent to present the inquiring reader 
with a statement of those combinations to which the recital— 
first of Hexameter and afterwards of ancient prose, must as it were 
intuitively familiarize his ear. 
To begin then with Yexameter. The reader must not imagine, 
in common with Mr, Sheridan*, and others who have superfi- 
cially viewed the subject, that its combinations are simply and 
solely confined to the Dactyl and Spondee. This order of feet has 
certainly been prescribed ; but, as well may they insist that in 
* God save the King’”’ no other combinations can be acknow- 
ledged than those of the Molossus | f f P| and imperfect Cretic 
oe |; whereas the Trochee eae lambus bale Spondee Plt 
Amphibrach f f°, and Bacchic ff fare equally the characte- 
ristics of this song. For the more perfect elucidation therefore 
of our Hexameter, let us analyse its properties in the following 
series, without any further reference to ‘* Hope thou Nurse”’ or 
even “ God save the King,’ which are more limited than Hex- 
ameter in their combinations. 
HEXAMETER combinations in dissyllable and trisyllable feet. 
[The various combinations of any given series obtrude them- 
selves more constantly and prominently on the ear in speech than 
in song ; every trifling pause which sense or perspicuity requires, 
producing, by the disjunction of the members of the series, a new 
and independent effect on the immediately succeeding syllables. ] 
Series for Analysis. 
Dieaelily sac lblon: sort 
or or or or f rf 
rol hddtsaes b et _ 
but this imperfection appears for the most part too trivial in the delivery of 
Grecian prose (not poetry) to justi’y, in these instances, any matcrial de- 
parture from our habits: By giving such due length as common sense and 
our newly-acquired taste shall authorize, to the jira, autya, diphthongs, and 
circumflexed sy!lables—and sounding every syllable fully, which is certainly 
no violation of our present usage, the orations of Demosthenes will be found, 
with respect to quantity, as perfect as the best-formed ear can reasonably 
desire. 
* Mr. Mason, Mr. Sheridan, and several others who have written on pro- 
sody, entertained a most curious notion of time or quantity. Melody and 
a thump of the Low, were with these gentlemen synonymous. 
Cc3 Con- 
