( '27 ) 
from that time, therefore, it was ufelefs to 
attend to what they had already learnt."-^ 
Hence it comes to pafs, that fo many of our 
Clergy read a chapter in the Bible no better 
than a Charity-boy. 
The requiiltes in a good reader or a good 
fpeaker, are diftin6l articulation, proper 
pronunciation, proper emphafis, melody and 
pitch of voice, energy, animation, graceful 
attitude and action. Now, though Nature 
may have beftowed fome of thefe requifites 
on a few favoured individuals, yet thefe in- 
dividuals are thinly diftributed; but we have 
the fatisfaction to know, that, with due aU 
tention and affiduity, thefe requifites may 
certainly be acquired. 
Diftinffi articulation is to be acquired by 
frequently reading aloud and flowly; at firft, 
very flowly. 
Proper pronunciation depends principally 
on a critical attention to the proper found 
of all the vowels in our language. I know 
a Clergyman, who has defervedly the repu- 
tation of a good preacher,- whofe preaching, 
neverthelefs, is, to a nice ear, extremelydif- 
gufting; becaufe, from a provincial habit, 
in his pronunciation he mif-fpells almoft 
every word he utters; his a is an e, his e is 
an 
