1801. | 
born children, and feeding them until they 
are provided with nurfes.. This de- 
pofit of infants, to the number of fifty or 
fixty, who are all in their cradles, ranged 
in lines, and fucceffively fed from a fuck- 
ing-pot by ten or twelve nurfes, forms a 
moft fingular fpeftacle. One of the civ 
devant filers of La Charilé (a religious 
order, celebrated for their active humanity 
in relieving the fick) is at the head of this 
department. I was forry to obferve, that 
the children are ftill wrapped in fwaddling- 
cloatht, in order to diminifh the neceflary 
number of attendants. 
The country nurfés, who are much 
more numerous than thofe that are.. fta- 
tionary, are fpread over. the country to 
the diftance of thirty or forty leagues from 
the capital. They are chofen and engaged 
by a fet of people in the pay of the infti- 
tution, called conveyors (meneurs) becaufe 
they convey-the children to the nurfes: 
they are likewife appointed to fuperintend 
their treatment, by vifiting them from time 
to time. 
The conditions on which thefe poor 
little abandoned creatures are confided to 
the care of the country nurfes are very 
fingular. They are allowed five fhillings 
and ten-pence per month, during the firt 
year; five fhillings during the fecond and 
following years till the child has attained 
the age of feven; and only four fhillings 
arid two-pence per month from the age of 
feven to twelve. From that period they 
receive (I believe) no other emolument 
than the profit which arifes to them from 
fuch fervice as the child is able to perform, 
At the age of 16 the child is completely 
emancipated, and the nurfe liberated from 
her engagements. During the courfe of 
this education the nurfe receives, gratis, 
for the child feven complete fuits of cloath- 
ing, but, after adding that expence to that 
ot the board, the maintenance of every 
child cofts the efiablifhment no more (every 
thing included)’ than the fam of 1017 
livres Tournois, or about 42]. fterling. 
Having attained the age of 16,.and be- 
coming perfect mafters of their aétions, 
thefe young people frequently choofe to 
remain with their adoptive mothers: It 
fometimes happens, that the rea] parents 
claim their children from the inftitution 
before the term of emancipation ; but: un- 
Jefs both the child and the nurfe confent to 
part, the parents are nct informed of the 
place of its retreat, and it is not often 
that they fucceed in recovering the chil- 
dren which they have abandoned. As. 
foon as theie unfortunate beings have com- 
pleted their fixteenth year, they prefent 
MONTHLY MAG, NO, 72. 
Mr. Carey on Greek Pronunciation. 
313 
themfelves at the office of the infitution, 
to be informed of the name of their parents, 
and to obtain a certificate of their birth. 
Ee 
Lo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
Vs reply to a remark of your inge- 
nious correfpondent Mr. Robinfon in 
page 113 of your Magazine for March, 
I beg leave to obferve that I am very far 
from fuppofing that the Greek was not, 
like every other polifhed language, read 
and pronounced with ftriét attention to a 
regular fyftem of accentuation: and, were 
it poffible at the prefent day to afcertain the 
true nature of the ancient Greek accent, 
I fhould be among the foremoft to ftudy 
and practife it. But there lies the diffi- 
culty: by the Englith method of applying 
modern accent to the ancient languaces, 1 
fee the known and indifputable guaxtity of 
fyllables utterly perverted—long fyllables 
contracted into fhort—fhort extended into. 
long-——in a word, the harmony of at leaft 
ninety-nine verfes in every hundred totally 
deftroyed. » Such indeed will invariably be 
the café with every reader who attempts 
to apply the accent to Greek or Latin 
words inthe fame manner as he does to 
Englith. On this fabject, let me quote 
the obfervation of a diftinguifhed prelate 
who has lately publifhed a learned treatife 
“< On the Profodies of the Greek and Latin 
Languages.” 
“* It is a peculiarity of the Enelith Jan- 
“guage, that. quantity and accent always 
“‘ go together; the longeft fyllable, in 
*¢ almoft every word, being that on which 
<* the accent falls. By the habit of our 
‘* pronunciation, we generally lengthen the 
“* found of the accented fyllable, and the 
“voice runs rapidly. ower all the other 
‘* fyllables of the word: and we have ne 
“* other rule of quantity, but to lengthen 
“‘ the found of the accented fyllable.” 
(page 4.) In the fubfequent page, the 
right reverend author adds—** According 
“to the genuine pronunciation of our 
** language, to which there are ftill but 
“< few exceptions, acutenefs of tone and 
*« length of time generally coincide, and 
‘<¢ never are feparated.” . 
Admitting the truth of thefe remarks, 
which I fee no reafon to conteft, it evident- 
ly follows that our mode of accentuation ig 
widely different from that of the ancient 
Greeks, fince they could lay the acute 
accent on fhort fyllables without making 
them long—at leaft, if we can place any 
dependence on the accentual marks that 
have been handed dewn to us with thofe 
Sf 
Greek 
