104 • Modem Languages. 



quiries, he found Orthoepy in a most chaotic con- 

 dition. In his Principles of the English Language, 

 he did much towards reducing the chaos to order, 

 and laid down the principles of a just and regular 

 pronunciation. But by treating the subject in a 

 way not calculated to be popular; and by endea- 

 vouring to make an extravagant and ill-judged re- 

 form in the orthography of the language, he lost 

 that portion of credit with the public, to which his 

 merit entitled him; and his labours were less use- 

 ful than they ought to have been. After Mr. El- 

 phinstone, Dr. Kenrick appeared as a teacher 

 and reformer in pronunciation; and his Rhetorical 

 Dictionary may be regarded as a very respectable 

 and useful contribution for this purpose. Next to 

 him came Mr. Sheridan, who carried his im- 

 provements on this subject still further; and in his 

 Dictionary, gave to the public a standard of pro- 

 nunciation much superior to any thing that had 

 been offered by his predecessors. He was suc- 

 ceeded by Mr Nares, who, in his Elements of 

 Orthoepy, treated the subject in a new and inge- 

 nious manner, and introduced yet greater im- 

 provements. The last distinguished writer on this 

 branch of English Grammar, is Mr. Walker. 6 

 This gentleman, in his Critical and Pronouncing 

 Dictionary, seems to have united the different ex- 

 cellences of those who went before him; to have 

 avoided many of their mistakes; to have supplied 

 a large portion of their defects; and, on the whole, 

 to have furnished the republic of English literature 

 with the best standard of pronunciation which the 

 language affords.' 



k Since the publication of Walker's work, a pronouncing dictionary 

 has been presented to the public by Mr. Jones, also of Great-Britain. It 

 is believed that the best judges consider this work as containing little if any 

 real improvement on that of Walker. 



/ See preface to Walker's Critical and Pronouncing Dictionary. 



