- , 
 
 ~
 
 t* y ^ 
 ' 
 
 AN 
 
 INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 
 
 AKD OF THE 
 
 MECHANISM OF VERSE, 
 
 MODERN AND ANTIENT. 
 
 BY WILLIAM .MITFORD, ESQUIRE. 
 
 THE SECOND EDITION, 
 WITH IMPROVEMENT AND LARGE ADDITION. 
 
 TO rav avtyuiruv iirinovov 
 *va7rau>ag TE avlotf TUV novuv eralarro raj TUV lopruv a/twjs 
 M,y.i Mcvaaj IwEOpraraf tJb(7av. -Ta /XEV oi/v aXAa fwa owx 
 tXfiv cuafaffiv TOJV iv T?5 mvYi<re<ri T|EWV dy^f araliaiv, off Ji 'Pwfijttof 
 Si'O/xa xaj 'Ap/zov/a' W/AIV JE EOW; 55wxoTaf TTJV "Evfufoov rs 
 Hat 'Evctfpoviov aitrbwiv. Plat, de Leg. I 2, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by Luke Hanfard, near Lincoln's-Inn Fields, 
 FOR T. CAPELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRANIJl, 
 
 1 1804.
 
 TO 
 
 JOHN GILPIN, ESQUIRE, 
 
 HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY** VICE-CONSUL FOR THE STATK 
 OF CONNECTICUT AND RHO BE-ISL A N O. 
 
 DEAR SIR, 
 
 THE book which I fend you acrofs the 
 Atlantic, it was long my purpofe to addrefs 
 to your late excellent Father ; unable to fore- 
 fee that delay in the completion of it, which 
 has extended beyond the term of a life, to the 
 great gratification of his friends, and exten- 
 five benefit among mankind, allowed by 
 divine Providence to be full of years. But, 
 in considering you as fucceflbr to his claim, I 
 do not reckon that I am paying you any great 
 compliment ; knowing that I mould have had 
 to apologize to him, not for infcribing my 
 book to him, but for having written it ; not 
 perhaps for its defects fo much as, if it might 
 have any, for its merits. I will therefore, for 
 apology to you, tell you how I came to write it. 
 \Vhen, now near half a century ago, I 
 was taught by my invaluable friend, your 
 
 A 3 Father, 
 
 1Q 
 -i~A*- * -i:O
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 Father, to fcan the meafures of the antient 
 claffical poetry, and at the fame time to 
 believe that, in our univerfities and principal 
 fchools, more importance was given to the 
 ftudy than it deferved, his authority would of 
 courfe have fufficed to eftablifh the tenet in 
 my mind. It was however no light confirm- 
 ation to find my Father's opinion concurring ; 
 which I was prepared to reckon of the higher 
 authority, as he had pafTed through the dil- 
 cipline of Eton, where the ftudy is peculiarly 
 inforced, to that of Oxford, where it has al- 
 ways been in very high eftimation. When 
 neverthelefs I found them agreeing alfo in 
 aflerting that fome acquaintance with the 
 mechanifm of claffical poetry was necefTary 
 to the fcholar; when they added that, tho 
 the works of the Greek and Latin poets 
 muft be looked to for the Standard of fine tafle, 
 yet that, to the Englim fcholar, an acquaint-* 
 ance with Englim poetry was not lefs ne- 
 cefTary ; when, proceeding in the courfe thus 
 pointed out, I found that to follow the Greek 
 and Latin rules, for the mechanifm of Greek 
 and Latin verfe, in writing was eaiy, but to 
 comprehend the ground, to fee the reafon, 
 and to underftand the application, fb that 
 6 the
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 the voice might follow as well as the pen, 
 and the ear might acknowlege its perform- 
 ance, not only was beyond me, but, as far 
 as I could difcover, beyond all teachers ; 
 when farther I obierved that for the very 
 different harmony of Englim verfe no rule 
 could be obtained, and yet the mechanifm, 
 under direction of the ear alone, was of 
 eafy execution, thefe contradictions ingaged 
 my thought. Faffing to Oxford, the intereft, 
 once excited in the fubjecl, was likely to be 
 kept alive, by the ordinary courfe of purfuits 
 there, and common topics of converfation. 
 However 011 entering the world as a man, it 
 was difiipated by the new glare of things and 
 a view to higher interefls ; and it might never 
 have been recollected but for an accidental 
 occurrence. It is now five and thirty years 
 ago, that, in my way from London to Ex- 
 bury, paffing through Southampton, I called 
 jpon my friend Mr. Pye, of Faringdon- houfc 
 in Berkshire, fince reprelentative of that 
 county in Parliament, and now poet-laurcat, 
 who was then refiding there for the benefit of 
 bathing. I found him with a book before 
 him, confuting of Potter's and Galley's trea- 
 tifes on Accent and Quantity, bound together. 
 A 4 With
 
 DEDICATION". 
 
 With the warmth of youth, on the impulfe of 
 the moment, I exprefled my wonder that he, 
 a votary of fancy and the mufes, could find 
 patience for fuch dull and, I fuppofed, unin- 
 terefting controveriy. He anfwered that the 
 intereft in the fubjecl, fo warmly and exten- 
 fively taken of late among men of letters, had 
 excited his curiofity, which had been gratified 
 by elucidation of the fubjecl itfelf, interefting 
 inasmuch as it materially concerns the theory 
 at leail of verification ; but he had found 
 farther gratification from an account, in 
 Potter's work, of the Greeks who, on the 
 overthrow of the Conftantinopolitan empire, 
 fpred their language and learning over weftern 
 Europe. Thus my curiofity was excited, and 
 the refult was that I borrowed the book. 
 
 Among my oaks on the coaft of Hamp- 
 fhire then was revived that intereft in the 
 fubjecl, which had originated while I was a 
 boy under your Father's care on the verge of 
 the Surrey downs. The information collected 
 in Fofter's book from Greek and Latin writers, 
 concerning Greek and Latin verification, 
 gratified me highly ; his miftakes concerning 
 Englifh verification, hurt me. It prefently 
 occurred that the former furnifhed no incon- 
 
 fiderable
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 liderable afiiftance for detecting and even cor- 
 recting the latter. A young mind, not then 
 directed by any commanding intereft to other 
 purfuits, was thus eafily ingaged : and four or 
 five years after, was published the firfl edition 
 of the treatife on the Harmony of Language ; 
 a work, however, of which I foon learnt to 
 fee the imperfections fb ftrongly, as to ceafe 
 to defire that it mould fpread in the world. 
 
 Neverthelefs I had the gratification to find 
 that, tho lent abroad without a name, my book 
 crept into fome credit with thofe with whom 
 I moft defired it mould have credit, thofe 
 who could beft fee and appretiate its defects. 
 Hence I was induced, as matter occurred, 
 to note, with a view to future leifure, what- 
 ever might contribute to its improvement. 
 And looking to your Father's practice, who 
 did not fcruple occafional remiflion of feverer 
 ftudies to write on the painter's art, I thought 
 myfelf not without warrant, from his example, 
 to give fome of my time to inquiry concern- 
 ing a lifter art, which may furely claim the 
 firfl dignity in tre fiiterhood. The fubject 
 indeed, to be completely treated, would re- 
 quire labor in no fmall amount, and qualifi- 
 cations perhaps haidly to be found in one 
 
 man.
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 man. For thoie who have fufficient book- 
 learning, rarely poflefs any adequate knowlege 
 of fpokcn languages ; and where thefe ac- 
 quifitions may meet, it can fcarcely fail that 
 purfuits more interefting will deny the ne- 
 ceffary leifure, and perhaps the necefiary in- 
 clination. In myfelf, I know, book-learning, 
 acquaintance with living tongues, leifure, 
 and industry, are all deficient ; and yet I think 
 it poffible that more of all together may not 
 foon meet in another. Hence I have been 
 led to imagine that by profecuting improve- 
 ment of my early work, I might ferve the 
 caule of Englifh letters : and thus it has at 
 length been brought to the ftate in which it 
 
 D O 
 
 now pafTes to you. 
 
 In the caule of Englifli letters, the new 
 empire with which you have connecled your- 
 felf, and in which you hold an official iitua- 
 tion under the government of the mother- 
 country, is interested equally with the mother- 
 country itielf. The people of both countries, 
 by the favor of divine Providence, flourishing 
 and fpreading, are extending the ufe of their 
 common language, already perhaps the richeft 
 of modern tongues in excellent works in every 
 branch of litterature. With their profperity, 
 
 the
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 the intereft of the topics I have treated of 
 courfe extends. Nor are the humblefc offices 
 always the leaft important, but often the 
 moft ufeful and mod neceflary. That my 
 book however mould invite extenfive reading, 
 is out of question ; it is only among the more 
 diligent cultivators of Eno;lim letters that it 
 
 O O 
 
 mufl look for confederation : but if it finds no 
 favor with them, the failure will be owing, I 
 think, to its own deficiency and not to a total 
 insignificancy in its fubjecl. Such as it is I 
 truft you will accept it kindly, as a pledge of 
 my refpect for your late excellent Father and 
 of friendship for yourfelf. 
 
 I am, dear fir, 
 with much efteem and regard, yours, 
 
 WILLIAM MITFORD. 
 
 Exbury, June 1804.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Caufe of deficient Explanation of the Harmony of Language. 
 Divifion of Language under two heads. Origin of Verfe.-i- 
 Origin of Melody. Definitions. Origin of Meafiire. 
 Principles of the Harmony of Language, to be inveftigatcd 
 only in living Speech _-----_--. page i 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Survey of the Sounds of Englifh Speech, and of the Manner of 
 reprefenting them by written Characters - - - - p. 13 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of Quantity, or Menfuration of the Time of Sounds, in 
 Englifli Speech ----------. p. jg 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of Tones or Accents, and Emphafis in Englifh Speech, and 
 of their connection with the Time or Quantity of Syllables 
 
 p. 51 
 
 SECTION V. 
 Of Rhythmus, or Cadence l-.-- n -..p. 71 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Of the Mechanifm of Englifli Vcrfe: Epic; Lyric; Dra- 
 matic -.-....---.-..p. %A 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Of the Hiftory of Englifli Verfification - - - - - p. 130 
 
 SECTION
 
 XIV . , CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 Hiftorical View of the Greek and Latin Languages - p. i8i 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 Of the Articulation of the Greek and Latin Languages p. rS8 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Of the Orthography, Quantity, and Accent of the Greek 
 and Latin Languages __-_-_- . . p. 2O2 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 Of the Rhythmus or Cadence of the Greek and Latin 
 Languages ------------ p. 225 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Lofs of the Latin as a Living Language: Origin of the Dif- 
 putes, among the modern leained, about the Accent and 
 Quantity of the Latin Language ------p. 235 
 
 Appendix to the twelfth Section - - ' - - - p. 246 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Of the Difputes about the Accent and Quantity of the 
 Greek Language -----------p. 248 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 Qf Means, for Approximation toward a juft Expreffioq of the 
 Harmony of the Greek and Latin Languages - - p. 263 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 Of the Principles of Harmony and Mechanifm of Verfe in fome 
 modern Languages. 
 
 ARTICLE i. 
 Of the French Language - - ------ p. 284 
 
 ARTICLS
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 ARTICLE 2. 
 Of the Italian Language ---- .-...p. 293 
 
 ARTICLE 3. 
 Of the Spanifli, Portuguefe, and Romanefk Languages p. 312 
 
 ARTICLE 4. 
 Of the modern and middle-aged Greek - - - - - PS 1 ** 
 
 ARTICLE 5. 
 Of Oriental and Celtic Verification ------p. 344 
 
 ARTICLE 6. 
 
 Of the Change of the Mechaniirn of Verfe, from that of the 
 Latin to that of the modern Languages derived from the 
 Latin ------------ --p. 348 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 Of Euphony and Cacophony --.-...p. 356 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 Of Grammar - .-.-.-_--. p. 375 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 M'fcellaneous obfervations on Analogy in Language ; Or- 
 thography ; Competition of Words ; Effeft of Monofylla- 
 bles ; Mufical Time ; Dialers ------ p. 403 
 
 APPENDIX ----------p. 431
 
 EKIOXI re BI CORRECT**, 
 
 fagc 75. lint 12. for like voice, ttadlikc the voice, 
 
 76. 14. /er yet r. but. 
 
 103. 29. /or neither r, either. 
 
 jzi. penult. /or cource r. courfe. 
 
 J7I. 1O. /or if r. of. 
 
 17Z. 5. /r Biheore r. Bi heore. 
 
 176* t. after irregularity, efface thi c ontma* 
 
 391. *i./ir i r. is. 
 
 398. 19. /or prnk.iviruvt r. prtbaverunt. 
 
 342. 20. /or if r. of. 
 
 463. a. for Seftion VII. r. Seftton XIV. 
 
 491. 10. aftf words injtrt i.f Teutonic origin, 
 
 306. X*. /or vede r. vedi. 
 
 313. laft. /sr ita.v,aTta.eru r. vto.viaifa.3-t 
 
 329. a note beloHg : ng to this page will be found in t) 
 
 appendix at the end of the book. 
 
 3*5. jz. / fing r. fung.
 
 INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 P 11 I N C I P L E S 
 
 OP 
 
 II A RJNI O N Y IN LANGUAGE, 
 
 AND OF THE 
 
 MECHANISM OF VERSE, 
 MODERN AND ANTIENT. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Caufe of deficient Explanation of the Harmony of Language. 
 Divifion of Language Under two heads. Origin of Verfe. 
 Origin of Melody. Definitions. Origin of Meafure. Prin- 
 ciples of the Harmony of Language, to be inveftigated only in 
 living Speech. 
 
 WHAT conilitutes that Harmony which 
 is felt, more or lefs, by perhaps all the 
 races of mankind, in their refpedlive languages, 
 and which is exprefled, throughout Europe, by 
 nearly the fame word, adopted from the mother- 
 tongue of fcience and fine tafte, has ingaged in- 
 quiry among all cultivated people. In our own 
 countiy, efpecially of late years, publications, of 
 which it is either the principal or an incidental 
 fubje<5t, have been numerous. Difagrecment a- 
 mong them indeed has abounded ; but evidently 
 much owing to a want of definition of terms, 
 and much, or perhaps all the reft, to a deficiency 
 
 B of
 
 2 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 of preparatory analyfis. For the very familiarity 
 of thofe objects, the founds of common difcourfe, 
 among which the harmony of fpeech muft be in- 
 veftigated, and the appearance of fimplicity, 
 which, to a tranfient view, they exhibit, have 
 diffuaded that fcrupulous examination which the 
 real intricacy of their conftituent parts required. 
 To difcufs minutely what is obvious to obferva- 
 tion for all, within reach of the mod ordinary 
 talents, and almoft of the lowed fcholarfhip, was 
 a tafk, of the needlefsnefs of which hope would be 
 the more readily entertained, both as the execution 
 would be irkfome to the writer, and as the fear 
 would be reafonable, of diiguft from it to the ge- 
 nerality of readers. In truth, a particular curi- 
 ofity only, with confiderable refpect and love for 
 one's native language, can make the fubje<5t in- 
 viting. Nor will the praife of genius reward the 
 befl fuccefs in treating it. For no fplendid ta- 
 lents are wanted, but patient diligence, and care- 
 ful obfervation ; none of the higher and more 
 brilliant powers of eloquence, but fludious choice 
 of clear and clofe expreflion. 
 
 Neverthelefs the cultivation of that harmony, 
 whofe principles remain yet fo deficiently explain- 
 ed, has begun, we find, among all nations, in an- 
 tiquity beyond tradition, and never ceafed. Every- 
 where the firil efforts of literary genius have been 
 directed to the adorning of language, by an ar- 
 tificial arrangement of words, in meafured order, 
 
 cha-
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 
 
 characteriftically differing from the flow of com- 
 mon difcourfe : and fo great has been the eftima- 
 tion of this tneafured arrangement, and fo extenfive 
 its ufe, that it forms one of two heads, under 
 which all compofition of words is divided ; what- 
 ever has an obvious regularity of meafure, being 
 called Poetry, and whatever has it not, being dif- 
 tinguifhed by the name of Profe. a 
 
 Poetry, or rather the mechanical part of Poetry, 
 Verfe, has apparently originated from a double 
 purpofe, to pleafe the ear, and to imprefs the 
 memory. While letters were unknown, and 
 while, long after their introduction into fome ufe, 
 materials for the ready and extenfive employment 
 of them were undifcovered or fcarce, the afliftance, 
 which the artificial, meafured arrangement of words 
 in verfe, afforded the memory, was of high va- 
 lue. Verfe then furnifhing the beft means known 
 for retaining knowlege, as well as a lure to the 
 labor of acquiring it, fcience was taught, hif- 
 tory was preferved, and even laws were promulgat- 
 ed in verfe. 
 
 Everywhere then, and in the earlieft ages whence 
 accounts have been tranfmitted, Poetry has had 
 connection with Mufic. According to Lucretius, 
 the wild melody of the woods, the fong of birds, 
 
 gave 
 
 * Poetry, rioi^txn, means a made and ftudied arrangemenf, 
 a manufacture of words ; Profe, nigh AE*K, a walking difcourfe, 
 as if in oppofition to the meafured and ftudied movements of 
 dance. B a
 
 4- INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 gave origin to the fong of men. h But the fong of 
 birds, delightful by its melody, is without meafure. 
 The fong of men, wild as that of birds, might pleafe, 
 but would want its moft important uie ; for its 
 melody, without meafure, would load rather than 
 aflift the memory. The Melody then of the fong 
 of men may have been fuggefted by the fong of 
 birds ; but whence hath its Meafure come ? 
 
 For this inquiry it may be advantageous to de- 
 fine fome terms, the ufe of which will be requifite 
 in the courfe of it. 
 
 Of the articulated founds of which language is 
 compofed, the fmallefl integral, or portion which 
 can exift as a whole by itfelf, is what we call 
 a SYLLABLE. Of the unarticulated founds which 
 conftitute Mufic, the fmallefl integral is what we 
 call a NOTE. Among the properties of fyllables 
 then we mufl feek the principles of the harmony 
 of language, as thofe of the harmony of mufic 
 among its notes. 
 
 A mufical note exifts only in its fpecific tone. 
 By TONE we mean found, as it is characterized, 
 not by any varieties of articulation, but by thofe 
 indicated by the terms loud, foft, high, low, 
 (harp, flat, ilirill, deep. c Among our gramma- 
 
 rians, 
 
 b At licjuidas avium voces imitarier ore 
 Ante fuit raulto quam laevia carmina cantu 
 Concelebrare homines poflent, aureifque juvare. 
 
 LUCRET. 1. 5. v. 
 
 e Thus I would confipe the import of the word, tho it i$ 
 
 fometimes
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 5 
 
 rians, mftead of the word TONE, derived from 
 the Greek, the word ACCENT, derived from the 
 Latin, is in common ufe. 
 
 SYLLABLE exifts by articulation ; with which 
 tone, or accent, is neceffarily co-exiftent, but not 
 a fpecific tone. Any among the numerous varie- 
 ties of tone, may co-exift with any among the 
 innumerable varieties of fyllable. 
 
 Varying tones, or accents, in pleafmg fuccef- 
 fion, equally in mufic and in language, conftitute 
 MELODY. 
 
 The TIME employed in pronouncing a fyllable, 
 compared with the time employed in pronouncing 
 other fyllables, at the fame rale of deliver} 7 , is 
 called, in grammatical phrafe, the QUANTITY of 
 the fyllable. The fame thing, in fpeaking of a 
 mufical note, is called fimply the TIME. 
 
 The term MEASURE, derived from the Latin, 
 or METER, as we often call it, from the Greek, 
 means meafure of time, or quantity, as it is indi- 
 cated by one note, or by a combination of notes 
 in mufic, compared with other notes or combina- 
 tions of notes, and by one fyllable, or by a com- 
 bination of fyllables in fpeech, compared with 
 other fyllables or combinations of fyllables. 
 
 For notes and fyllables to indicate meafure of 
 
 time 
 
 fometimes ufed in a more extenfive fenfe, including the diftinc- 
 tions of harfh and fweet, difngreeable and pleafifig; as we fay 
 the tone of an inftrument, which the Italians better exprefs fcjr. 
 their word voce, the voice of the inftrument. 
 
 B 3
 
 6 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 time, their proportions to each other, as the mu- 
 fician performs and the fpeaker utters, muft be 
 obvious to the ear. If notes or fyllables, heard in 
 feries, are all equal in length, or nearly fo, their 
 equality, or approximation to equality, will be 
 readily perceived. If fonie are double in length 
 to others, or nearly in that proportion, their dif- 
 ference will be readily perceived. Other proportions, 
 whether approaching equality more than two and 
 one, as three and two, or differing more than two and 
 one, as five and two, will not readily impre> their 
 character upon the ear. Mufical notes may be 
 protracted and divided without other limitation 
 than thofe of the compofer's judgement and the 
 performer's powers ; but the proportionate meafure 
 of fyllables is fixed, in many cafes, by the nature 
 of fpeech, and in mod others by the cuftom of 
 fpeaking. Syllables, therefore, to give obvious 
 meafure, muft be equal, or without ftriking ine- 
 quality ; or they muft differ as one and two, or fo 
 nearly in that proportion, as to imprefs the ear 
 with the idea of that proportion and no other. 
 
 But a repetition of equal meafures can produce 
 no new character, and for wan}: of variety, will 
 prefently fatiate the ear. The two meafures, one 
 double in length to thq other, are therefore necefiary 
 for all compofition of meafure. Syllables, dif- 
 fering from each other in the proportions of one 
 and two, are found fufficient for all purpofes of 
 compofition in fpeech ; tho mufic wants more vari- 
 ety.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. <J 
 
 ety. Two notes or two fyllables, one double in 
 length to the other, will form a compound mea- 
 fure, the contraft of whole parts will fo mark it, 
 that the ear will readily catch and retain its cha- 
 racter. Equally alfo three notes or fyllables, if 
 one be equal to both the others, will have a de- 
 cided character. Thefe compound meafures are 
 what the Greeks diftinguilhed by their term 
 RHYTHMUS, which the Latin writers adopted. 
 The former they called the DOUBLE RHYTHMUS, 
 becaufe one of its conflituent parts was double 
 in quantity to the other. The latter they called 
 the EVEN RHYTHMUS, becaufe readily refolvedinto 
 two equal parts, one compofed of one fyllable, the 
 other of two. If we have a word familiarized in 
 our language, any received ufe of which may 
 juftify its employment to denote the fame thing, 
 it is CADENCE/ 
 
 But thefe two characters of rhythmus or cadence, 
 are each capable of varieties. In the former the 
 fhort fyllable may either precede or follow the long 
 one, and in the latter the two fhort fyllables may 
 either precede or follow the long one. In either 
 
 rhythmus, 
 
 d The word Cadence, feems to have been ufed by Bacon, ac- 
 cording to the example quoted by Samuel Johnfon, in his Dic- 
 tionary, to fignify what, in mufic, is now called a clofe, which 
 Shakefpear called zfall. But if the word cadence has now any 
 determinate meaning in our language, it feems to be that aptly 
 enough illuftrated by Johnfon in a quotation from the Farrier's 
 Di&ionary : " Cadence is an equal meafwe or proportion, which a 
 <f horfe obferves in all his motions, when he is thoroughly ma- 
 ' naged." B 4
 
 8 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 rhythmus, whichever arrangement be taken, the 
 quantity of time marked will be the fame, but 
 the character will be very different. This difference, 
 produced by the different difpofition of quantities, 
 within the fame cadence or rhythmus, is what the 
 antients diftinguifhed by the term FOOT. Thus, 
 whether a long fyllable preceded a fhort one, or a 
 fhort fyllable preceded a long one, the rhythmus 
 was the fame, but the foot was different. 6 
 
 Moreover, tho equal notes, and equal fyllables, 
 can, of themfelves, imprefs no character of com- 
 pound meafure, yet they may carry on an im- 
 preffion given. Thus, feet compofed of two long 
 fyllables, filling the meafure of the rhythmus in- 
 dicated by one long and two iliort fyllables, may 
 foe interwoven with feet compofed of one long 
 and two fliort, fo as fully to carry on indication 
 of the meafure ; and a foot compofed of three 
 fhort fyllables, being commenfurate with feet com- 
 pofed each of one long and one fhort, may alfo, with- 
 out lofs of the impreffion, be interwoven with them. 
 In antient poetry we find the two principal cadences 
 admitted each three varieties of feet. To the even 
 rhythmus belonged the dactyl, anapefl, and fpon- 
 dee; to the double rhythmus, the trochee, iambic, 
 and tribrachys. Thence the former was called 
 fometiiTies the dactylian, fometimes the anapeftic 
 rhythmus, the latter fometimes the trochaic, fome- 
 times the iamb 
 
 By 
 
 ' Occafion will occur in the feqnel to fpeak further of this 
 '4iftinion, which is clearly and fully dcfcribed by Qninftilian.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 9 
 
 By various competition then of thefe variously 
 compounded meaiures, called feet, other larger 
 meafures were formed, called VERSES ; of which 
 hereafter. 
 
 HARMONY, in language, is the refult of a 
 happy combination of meafure and melody. In 
 its original tongue, the Greek, the word harmony 
 bore the fame meaning when applied to mufic -, 
 but modern ufe has, for that fcience, diverted it 
 to another, or rather reftrained it to a narrower 
 fignification, for which modern practice wanted 
 a diftinguifhing name. 
 
 EUPHONY means fweet or pleating found, and 
 CACOPHONY haffh or unpleafing found, both ab- 
 ftracledly from any confederation of melody or 
 meafure. 
 
 MELODY is elTential to Music. The mono- 
 tonous variations of a drum, however artificially 
 and pleafingly varied, are ftill below mufic, They 
 may ailift occationally ; but, to make mufic, there 
 mud be variety of TONE. 
 
 MEASURE is not effential to mufic, as the fong 
 of birds may prove. Nevertheiefs, meafure is fo 
 highly and fo obvioufly advantageous to mufic, 
 that probably the mufic of a cultivated people ne- 
 ver remained without it. Concurrence in fong, 
 tho but of two voices, can only be effected 
 through meafure, or, in mufical language, KEEP ING 
 TIME. Without meafure of time, obvioufly, 
 time cannot be kept. Inftrumenfal mufic, more- 
 over, has been very antiently, and very extenfively, 
 
 almofl
 
 10 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 almoft univerfally, aflbciated with fong j but with- 
 out meafure they can hold no aflbciation. 
 
 From earliefl antiquity then, and in the moft 
 uncultivated Hate in which we find or read of 
 nations, fome meafured action of the body, fuch 
 as we call DANCE, has been familiar; generally 
 affociated with mufic, and fometimes with fong. 
 Meafure is perhaps not abfolutely effential to 
 dance, any more than to mufic ; but to a con- 
 currence in dance, equally as in fong, and to the 
 aflbciation of dance with mufic, meafure is indif- 
 penfable. 
 
 It feems then- to have been the gratification ari- 
 fing ) from concurrence in fong and in dance, and 
 from the affociation of inftrumental mufic with 
 both, that has given origin to Meafure. Thus 
 introduced for its ufe, meafure has been found 
 grateful, to the ear in mufic, to the eye in dance, 
 and fo altogether has gained the confideration 
 which it has held among all nations. 
 
 But as fong and dance and inftrumental mufic 
 might be exhibited feparately, and each afford 
 ilill its proper gratification ; fo fong, diverted of 
 its mufical melody, might be recited with the 
 tones only of ordinary fpeech, and, diftinguifli- 
 ed ftill from ordinary fpeech by its meafures, 
 would pleafe by its own peculiar powers. It is 
 not the way of human invention always to begin 
 with the fimple, and proceed, in the courfe of im- 
 provement, to the complex, but often the con- 
 ^> trary
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. u 
 
 trary. Accounts of antient times, in different 
 countries, accordingly, mark the early, and per- 
 haps original connection of poetry with mufic, and 
 their late feparation. In our own language, the 
 word SONG remains yet, in poetical ufe, a term 
 fynonymous with poetry. Modern practice in profe, 
 confining that word to a narrower fignification, 
 but a fignification ftill nearly co-extenfive with 
 its antient import (beyond which antient lan- 
 guage had no want) has formed from the Greek 
 and Latin, for modern purpofes, the words POE- 
 TRY and VERSE. 
 
 Diftinctions of TONE and of TIME, in fyllables, 
 being the fources of MELODY and MEASURE, and 
 confequently the efficients of HARMONY IN LAN- 
 GUAGE, thofe diftinctions muft be the objects 
 of investigation for whoever would become ac- 
 quainted with that harmony. But fuch inveftiga- 
 tion would be vainly attempted in a language whofe 
 living pronuntiation were not perfectly familiar 
 to the inveitigator, and vainly explained to thofe 
 not perfectly acquainted with the living pronun- 
 tiation of the language in which the explanation were 
 communicated. The writer indeed will hardly fuc- 
 ceed on fuch a fubject, whofe native fpeech cannot 
 bear him through it. Fortunately, the Englifli,as op- 
 portunity will be taken to (how, is favorable ; and, 
 with whatever difadvantages, perhaps, among lan- 
 guages now fpoken in Europe, altogether the moil 
 favorable for the purpofe. 
 
 Propofing
 
 12, INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Proposing then to inveftigate the principles of 
 harmony in human fpcech among the founds of 
 the Englifh language, and to explain them through 
 the EngliQi language, it will be neceflary not only 
 to furvey its founds carefully, but alfo to con- 
 fider attentively the modes in ufe for commu- 
 nicating ideas of them by writing ; without which 
 it were impoffible to be fecure againft being 
 widely mifunderftood. For, tho Engliih fpeech 
 is favorable, yet Engiifh orthography is the mod 
 difadvantageous of any ufed among European 
 nations. Nor will the labors of thofe who, of 
 late years, have employed much ability, with 
 painful diligence, in the endeavor to mark, among 
 the anomalies of that orthography, the proper 
 found of every word, avail me fo far as to fuper- 
 fede all neceflity for my toiling after them on the 
 fame ground. Profiting gratefully from affiftance 
 they afford, I find my own arrangement neceflary 
 for my own purpofe ; which fortunately requires 
 far lefs than their extent of detail. Neverthelefs 
 it puts me under one peculiar difadvantage ; for 
 I muft requeft the reader's purfued attention to 
 a kind of lexicographical matter. With my 
 utmofl endeavors therefore to obviate for him the 
 difguft of fuperfiuous, as well as the difappoint- 
 ment of deficient explanation, I {hall have to put 
 his patience (at leaft I cannot but apprehend it 
 for fome not wholly incurious on the fubjecl:) to 
 a fearful trial.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Survey of the Sounds of Englifh Speech, and of the Manner 
 of reprefenting them by written Charafters. 
 
 THE purpofe, of alphabetical writing is to repre- 
 ient language to the eye, by the figns of elementary 
 founds. For the reprefentation to be perfect, 
 there mould be a fign for every elementary found 
 of the language to be reprefented, marking that 
 found only. But a complete alphabet of any 
 language is unknown. Before the art could reach 
 perfection, cuftom has everywhere fixed the prac- 
 tice ; and, for common convenience, an afcertained 
 practice, however imperfect, being preferable to 
 the variation neceflary for attaining perfection, 
 what arbitrary cuftom had once eftabliflied, fcience 
 has generally feared afterward to alter. Unfor- 
 tunately for the Englim language, cuftom, dif- 
 tracted between two widely differing idioms, the 
 Anglo-Saxon, and the Norman- French, has, in 
 fixing its orthography, not only neglected fcience, 
 but allowed capricious ignorance to riot. Hence 
 it will be neceflary, with ftricter care, to furv.ey the 
 eftablifhed reprefentation of the founds of Englilh 
 fpeech by written characters ; to unfo d its per- 
 plexities ; to difcover, among its anomalies, what 
 may pafs for rules j and to fix upon a mode of 
 pointing out to the reader, with certain precifion, 
 
 any
 
 14 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 any found of the language, of which there may be 
 occafion to treat. 
 
 In our language, and in moft or perhaps all 
 others, the name LETTER is, in ordinary fpeech, 
 equally given to the elementary found, and to the 
 character reprefenting it ; fimple terms failing to 
 diftinguiih things fo different. The words ELE- 
 MENT to fignify the found, and CHARACTER to 
 flgnify its reprefentative, are often of advantageous 
 ufe, but not fo appropriated as 'to be, on all occa- 
 fions, fufficiently difcriminating. Care therefore 
 will be requifite to prefent thofe two defcriptions 
 of things always clearly feparated to the reader's 
 view. 
 
 Among the elementary founds of fpeech, divided 
 into VOWELS and CONSONANTS, the vowels hold 
 a great preeminence. A vowel alone may ftand 
 as a fyllable ; without a vowel can be no complete 
 articulation ; all fonoroufnefs, all fweetnefs in lan- 
 guage arife from vowels. 
 
 The SIMPLE VOWEL-SOUNDS, clearly and flrong- 
 ly diftinguifhed in Englifh fpeech, are SEVEN; 
 but the VOWEL-CHARACTERS of the Engliih 
 alphabet are, in effect, only FIVE, a, e, /, 0, u; for 
 w and jy, as proper vowels, are meer duplicates of 
 u and /. 
 
 But the defects in the reprefentation of the 
 vowel-founds, confiderable from real want of dif- 
 tinguiming characters, have been made very much 
 
 greater
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. I 
 
 greater by perverfe life of the characters we pot- 
 fefs. 
 
 The feven vowels of Englifh fpeech, to ftate 
 them in the order mofl in ufe among our gramma- 
 rians, are, 
 
 Firft, the open or broad found of A, heard in 
 wan, warreu, call, falling : 
 
 Secondly, the middle found of A, in can, fal- 
 low, father, example: 
 
 Thirdly, the clofe, or flender found of A, in 
 tale, famous : 
 
 Fourthly, the found of E, in he, evil: 
 
 Fifthly, the found of o, in fo, rofy : 
 
 Sixthly, the open found of u, in dull, running, 
 
 Seventhly, the clofe found of u, in bull, fully, 
 truly. 
 
 But, befide thefe feven varieties of fimple vowels, 
 there are, in Englifh fpeech, four proper diphthongs. 
 Borrowing, in part, Walker's definition, I would 
 call a diphthong, " a compound vowel, requiring 
 " more than one conformation of the organs for 
 " utterance ;" but, I would proceed, " the dou- 
 " ble conformation producing two diftinguifhable 
 " founds, yet fo Hiding one into the other as to 
 " offer no difcernible point of feparation." 
 
 Of the four diphthongs of Englifh pronunti- 
 ation, two are reprefented by fingie, and two by 
 double characters. 
 
 Firft, the found of i> in final : 
 
 Secondly,
 
 l6 'INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Secondly, the found of u, in due, ufual : f 
 Thirdly, the found of or, in coin, toil/ome : 
 Fourthly, the found of ou, in out, abounding. 
 Y and W, for their diphthongal, as for any fimple 
 vowel-found, are but duplicates of I and W, and ib 
 OY and ow are but duplicates of 01 and ou. The 
 notations EU, E\V, IEU, LEW, and ui, reprefent no 
 other founds than are commonly indicated by u 
 alone. Thus brute differs from fruit, and few from 
 view, only in the found of the firft letter ; and we 
 write indifferently fewel or fuel. The other diph- 
 thongal notations of Englifh orthography, ai, ay, ait, 
 aw, ea, ei, eo, ey, ia, ie, oa, mark no diphthongal pr^- 
 nuntiation, (the affirmative ay forms a fmgle excep- 
 tion) nor reprefent any found in Engliih fpeech, 
 different from thofe, already noticed, which are 
 commonly reprefented by fmgle vowel-characters. 
 As reprefentatives of fimple vowels, they will de- 
 mand future attention. 
 
 The diftinct varieties, then, of VOWEL-SOUNDS 
 in Englifh fpeech, are no lefs than ELEVEN ; be- 
 ing feven fimple vowels, and four proper diph- 
 thongs. 
 
 But befide thefe varieties of found, there is a 
 a variety arifmg from difference of TIME em- 
 ployed in the enuntiation of the fame found. 
 
 Six 
 
 f Thefe founds of I and u, have been reckoned among diph- 
 thongs byWallis, one of the earlieft and the moft learned, and by 
 Sheridan and Walker, among the moft eminent of the later Eng- 
 lifh grammarians. That they are truly diphthongal, muft, I think, 
 be obvious to any ear fairly attending to them.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 17 
 
 Six of the feven vowels of Engliih fpeech have, in 
 fome fyllables a longer, in others a (horter TIME, 
 or, in the grammatical word, QUANTITY, ap- 
 propriated to them. Nor is the difference fmall 
 or unimportant, but, on the contrary, fuch as to 
 give to each decidedly its own character, fo that 
 the diftinction is of the eflence of the language. 
 No Engliih voice fails to exprefs, no Eaglifh ear 
 to perceive, the difference between the long found^ 
 for inftance, of the fecond vowel, the middle a, 
 in father, pajfing, example, and the fame found, 
 fhort, as the cuftom of fpeech requires, mfathom t 
 pajfive, ample. Were one ufed for the ottier, we 
 fhould riik to mifunderftand the words ; we mould 
 certainly condemn the pronuntiation. No col- 
 loquial familiarity or hurry will fubftitute the 
 fhort proportion of vowel-found for the long ; 
 nor will any folemnity of occafion warrant the 
 ufe of the long proportion for the fhort. In 
 Scottilh pronuntiation indeed, often^ the Eng- 
 li(h long vowels are fhort, and the fhort long; 
 and this is not leaft among the caufes' of difficulty, 
 for fouthern Englifhmen, to underftatnd their own 
 language in the pronuntiation of the northern 
 part of the iland. To fpeak Engliih properly, 
 and to be intelligible, the eftablifhed proportions 
 of the long and fhort vowels, whatever be the rate 
 of delivery, mufl be obferved. In juft delivery 
 thofe proportions will be found as two to one, 
 or as nearly fo as any menfuration (a matter 
 
 C which
 
 1 8 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 which will occur to be further fpoken of in the 
 fequel) can afcertain. 
 
 That fuch difference of length in- the vowel- 
 founds of a language mud be of great importance 
 to its harmony, is obvious. Toward the inveftiga- 
 tion therefore of that harmony, it will be ne- 
 cefTary- to obferve, with fome care, how> in the 
 irregularity of Englifh orthography, the long and 
 the fhort vowels are varioufly repreiented by letters. 
 Common, or rather univerfal, as we find, a- 
 mong languages, the want of diftinguifhing figns 
 for long and fhort vowels, and faulty as Englifh 
 orthography now is, yet its better fpirit, in early 
 times, had a difpofition to fupply the want, and 
 found means often actually to mark for the eye 
 the different lengths of vowel-founds in pronunti- 
 ation. Even yet ,fome relics of the advantageous 
 practice remain, fortunately fixed by the cuflom 
 of writing; not all of equal value, but all requir- 
 ing fome notice. 
 
 The long founds of vowels are indicated, in> 
 Englifh orthography, in four different ways : 
 
 Firft, by a very advantageous and unexcep- 
 tionable method, the duplication of the letter, as 
 in meet, proceed, feemly, door, floor. 
 
 Secondly, by a diphthongal notation,, very in- 
 conveniently replete with confufion, as in rain,, 
 break, meat, rein, deceit, broad, road, foul, bowL 
 In the two laft examples the fifth long vowel is 
 reprefented by the proper reprefentatives of the 
 
 fourth
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 19 
 
 fourth diphthong. But for our knowlege of the 
 words we ihould luppoie the fourth diphthong in- 
 dicated, as in foul and howl. Formerly, indeed, 
 the pronuntiation of mod of thofe words proba- 
 bly was diphthongal, as of fome of them; in fome 
 provincial diale&s, it flill remains: 
 
 Thirdly, a filent E, following a confonant which 
 follows a vowel, indicates that preceding vowel to 
 be Ions;. This method has been introduced into 
 
 O 
 
 our orthography with French words, ending with 
 what the French grammarians call their feminine c. 
 Reaibnable in the French, which requires a repre- 
 fentative fign of its feminine e y the practice in ouf 
 language, which neither has nor Ihould delire to 
 have fo imperfedt and half articulate a vowel-found, 
 is irrational enough, and ftands only by cuftom. 
 Neverthelefs> as often as our filent E indicates the 
 length of a preceding vowel, in the want of other 
 indications warranted by cuftom, it is not without 
 value. The notation may indeed be confidered 
 as diphthongal, with the reprefentative marks di- 
 vided ; the e being written after the confonant, 
 under arbitrary controul of the cuftom of ortho- 
 graphy) to be pronounced before it. The method 
 however, with its irrationality, has alfo its practi- 
 cal inconveniencies. At the end of words, E is 
 fo commonly filent, that a mark is wanting where 
 it is to be pronounced, and fuch a mark is not 
 yet agreed upon. In the middle of words it is 
 commonly omitted, on account of the confu- 
 c 2 jfion
 
 2O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fion it would there produce ; and flill the omifliort 
 produces confufion : it is but the choice of the 
 leffer evil. Thus, in forming from fame, Jloade, 
 late, mode, the words famous, fhady, latifh, tnodi/J^ 
 difmifling the e, which mould indicate the length 
 of the preceding vowels, we leave nothing to mow 
 their fuperior length to that of the fame vowels, 
 reprefented by the fame chara&ers, in the words 
 famine, fliadoiv, Latin, model, 
 
 Fourthly, we find an anomaly perhaps not lefs 
 unreafonable, a filent confonant-charader indicat- 
 ing the length of a preceding vowel ; as in climb, 
 comb, half, talk, night, refign. The latter of the two 
 concluding confonants in- the two firft words, and 
 the former in all the others, wholly unpronounced 
 as confonants, perform the office, ufeful to thofe 
 acquainted with it, of indicating that the pre- 
 ceding vowel is long. The duplication of a con- 
 fonant fometimes does the fame bufinefs, as in 
 tall, fall, roll, grafs, crofs, tofs. 
 
 But, unfortunately, there is too little certainty 
 in thefe. indications. Ufeful as the moft anoma- 
 lous of them might be, were its powers clearly 
 defined, perverfe cuftom has made that which is 
 the moft completely founded in reafon and analo- 
 gy, fometimes fallacious. Even the doubled vowei- 
 letter too often reprefents a fhort vowel-found, 
 as in took, book, flood, food. The lefs rational in- 
 dications of courfe will not be found more truft- 
 worthy, the filent g alone excepted, which r where- 
 3 ever
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 21 
 
 ever it is eftablifhed by antient cuftom in our or- 
 thography, indicates length in the preceding vowel.* 
 But even this is not the moft perplexing irre- 
 gularity in .our orthography, for thofe who would 
 ipeak intelligibly of that important conftituent' of 
 harmony in fpeech, the quantity of fyllables. In 
 other languages, generally, the vowel-character, 
 reprefenting indifferently a long or a fhort found, 
 reprefents yet the fame found, long or fhort. A 
 contrary .method is peculiar to Englifh orthography. 
 With us, the fame vowel-found, long and fhort, 
 is rarely reprefented by the fame character ; but, on 
 the contrary, according to the general rules of our 
 orthography, each character reprefents the long 
 found of one vowel, and the fhort found of ano- 
 ther. This really odd anomaly, through its famir 
 liarity, is apt to pafs unregarded among ourfelves ; 
 and the more readily, on account of the regularity 
 with which it is conducted ; but to all foreiners 
 it is flriking, and, in learning our language, not 
 a little perplexing. h On every account it will be 
 
 requifite 
 
 s t know no exception but in the words cognifance and re- 
 cogni/ance, into which the g has been abfurdly obtruded of late 
 years ; thofe words being derived from the French cannnjjance 
 and recmnoijfancc, or rather from the Norman conufancc. 
 
 h It has not efcaped the acute obfervation of Samuel 
 Johnfon, who, however, avoiding the trouble of any expla- 
 nation on the fubjeft, has contented himfelf with this re- 
 mark: *'That is eminently obfervable in /, which may be like- 
 " wife remarked in other letters, that the fliort found is not the 
 ' long found contracted, but a found wholly different." Gram- 
 mar prefixed to Johufon's Dictionary.
 
 SIX INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 requifite for our purpofe to examine, in fom<? detail, 
 the manner of repreienting long and fhort vowel- 
 founds in Englifh orthography. 
 
 i. The firft letter of the alphabet. A, as we 
 have already obferved, reprefents, in Englifh or- 
 thography, not one, but three different vowel- 
 founds. It is not, however, the only reprefenta- 
 tive of them all. On the contrary, what we have 
 noticed as its firft, its broad or open found, where 
 it has a LONG quantity, is much more decifively in- 
 dicated by the diphthopgal notations, au and aw. 
 When we find the letter a in the words all, call- 
 ing, fatten, alter, we know that it is to have the 
 long, broad found, only becaufe the words arc fa- 
 miliar to us. Jn words occurring for the firft time, 
 we fhould not hefitate rather to give it, fo com- 
 bined, the fecond found of a, and fhort, as in cal- 
 lous, fallow, altitude, and in the J_,atin word alter. 
 But wherever, in a word not before feen, we found 
 the diphthongal notations au, or aw, we fhoulcj 
 give them the firft vqwel^found of our lift, and 
 that found long, as what they properly reprefent. 
 
 We find however the fame Jong found other- 
 wife reprefentcti, and in various ways. Jn fdme 
 particular combinations it is commonly indicated 
 by the fourth vowel-chara&ef ; as in off, offer, 
 lofty, lofs, loft, pro/per, cloth, froth. In fome pre 
 terits and participles, it is reprefented by the 
 diphthongal notation ou, or rather by the bar- 
 barous combination ougk, unknown to our Saxon 
 $ anceftors,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 23 
 
 anceftors, and introduced into our orthography 
 by the grofs tafte of the middle ages The 
 merit of that notation feems to confift in uniting 
 the anomalies of a filent confonant, a ufelefs 
 afpirate, and a mifufed diphthongal character; 
 .all together, indicating, as in fought, bought, ne 
 more than the fimple found of the firft long a, 
 In broad and abroad, the fame found is reprefented 
 by oa, and in gone, by Q alone, with length indi- 
 cated by the filent final E. It will be obvious to 
 the Englifh reader, that if the pronuntiation of 
 all thefe examples were not familiar to him, the 
 orthography would lead him to a different pro- 
 nuntiation ; whereas were the words written 
 <iufer, praujper, clauth, faut, brand, gann, and fo 
 forth, though he had never feen them before, he 
 would not fail to fpeak them properly. We need 
 not therefore apparently hefitate to reckon the 
 diphthongal notation an, the regular reprefentative* 
 in Englifh orthography, of the firft long vowel. 
 
 The fame vowel-found, with a SHORT quantity, 
 is of very frequent occurrence in Englilh fpeech, 
 but never reprefented either by the firfl vowel- 
 character, or by any of the diphthongal notations. 
 Its regular and almoft only reprefentative is the 
 fourth vowel-charater ? as jn of, body, folly, aftonifh, 
 majority. 
 
 2. The SECOND vowel, the middle A, alone has 
 
 its found, when long and when fhort, regularly 
 
 reprefented by the fame character. In a very few 
 
 c 4 words
 
 24- INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 words only it is reprefented by any other ; when- 
 long, by the diphthongal notation ai(, as in 
 laugh, draught ; and when (hort, by the letter e 
 before the confonant r, in the fmgle word merchant, 
 befkle a few proper names, Derfy, Hertford, Berk- 
 Jhire y Berkeley, 
 
 3. The THIRD vowel, the flender or clofe A, 
 when long, is regularly reprefented by the diph- 
 thongal notation at, or ay ; which never have a 
 diphthongal enuntiation, but in the fmgle inftance 
 of the affirmative ay, 
 
 But the protraction of the third vov/el is alfo 
 very frequently indicated by the filent e following 
 an intervening confonant ; which never happens 
 to the fecond, and in a fingle inflance only to 
 the firft, where it is reprefented by the fourth vowel- 
 charafter, in the word gone. 
 
 Far out of the way of all analogy, then, the 
 long found of the third vowel is fometimes repre- 
 fented by the diphthongal characters ea, ei, ey t as 
 in bear i heir> grey ; and, in two or three familiar 
 words, by ?, with length indicated by a filent e foU 
 lowing an intervening r, as in tfore, vvhere^ ere. 
 
 The exacl: found of the third long vowel, the 
 clofe or flender A is never fhortened in Englim pro- 
 
 nunti- 
 
 1 A fafhion has been growing to pronounce the word mer- 
 chant, (formerly written as fpoken, marchant, from the French 
 marchand) as if it were written murchant. Here, as in fome 
 other inftances, the corruption of orthography has tended to the 
 corruption of pronuntjation.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 2 
 
 ijuntiation. But the fhort vowel-found, regularly 
 reprefented by the fecond vowel-character e, in 
 men, met, merry, approaches it To nearly, that, with 
 a referve for nicer difcrimination where occafion 
 may be, they may perhaps be moft advantage- 
 oufly clafled together; fo that the found repre- 
 fenced by <?, in men, met, merry, may be confidered 
 as the fhort found of the third vowel, which is 
 heard long, under the reprefentation of the letter 
 a, in mane, mate, Mary* 
 
 The fame fhort found is too often moft anoma- 
 loufly reprefented by the diphthongal notation ea ; 
 as in head, bread, ready, heaven, endeavor. 
 
 4. Our orthography poffefles a moft advanta- 
 geous and unexceptionable reprefentative of the 
 Jong found of the fourth vowel in the duplication 
 of the fecond vowel-character, found in the words 
 feet, feen, feeling,, needy, proceeding. This however 
 is very far from having obtained the extent of ufe 
 that it deferves. 
 
 In a few words only we find the fame long found 
 j-eprefented by the fame character fingle, as in the 
 firft fyllables of lever, evil, Eden, Peter. Practice 
 alone can give us to know that the fame character 
 reprefents another, and a fhort found in the firft 
 of ever, never, level, bevil, very. 
 
 But 
 
 k The familiar contraction of the long found of the third 
 vowel, in the \vordsfaiJ and again, by the pronuntiation fed 
 and agen, and the extenfion of the fliort found, when, bv 
 poetical licenfe, the word ever is reduced to one fyllable e"tr t pro- 
 nounced as air, ftrongly mark their clofe affinity.
 
 26 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 But the juft reprefentative of the fourth long 
 vowel-found, the doubled e, is too often fuperfeded 
 by the irregular ufe of diphthongal characters, ut- 
 terly uncertain in their indications ; as in tear, re? 
 ceive y belief. It will be obvious to the English 
 reader that the orthography of the firft of thefe 
 examples does not inform him either how he is to 
 pronounce, or how to understand the word ; there 
 being, in familiar ufe in the language, two words 
 fo written, of very different found, and very dif- 
 ferent import. From the context indeed the 
 meaning will, generally, be readily difcovercd ; 
 otherwife it would be neceflary to (late whether 
 the pronunciation is intended as tecr^ or as fair, 
 and then no ambiguity would remain. 
 
 Often alfo the fourth vowel-found has length 
 indicated by the filent E following an intervening 
 confonant, as in here,, convene., concede. This, as we 
 have before remarked,, is, in effcft, a whimfical 
 kind of diphthongal notation ; the fecond e being 
 placed after the confonant, to be pronounced before 
 it. Would the law of orthography allow it its 
 proper place, the found would have its regular re- 
 prelentation, as in beer,feen,fuccecd. 
 
 In a few French words, deficiently naturalized in 
 our language, the third vowel-charafter, aflifted by 
 the filent e following an intervening confonant, indi- 
 cates the fourth long vovyel-found, as in machine. 
 
 The fhort found of the FOURTH vowel is regu- 
 larly reprefented by the third charader, I, as in 
 
 bid,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 27 
 
 6!d 9 filling, giddy, if any ear have been fo mif- 
 led or puzzled by the eye, as to doubt at firft, 
 if the vowel in thofe words be really the fourth 
 of our lift contracted, it may receive fatisfaction 
 in various ways. Let the voice lengthen the 
 vowel iii the words bid and filling^ and the ear 
 will perceive, not the words bide, and _/?//, where / 
 reprefents the firft diphthong, but precifely the 
 words bead and fee/ing. The common contraction 
 of ee, in the familiar pronuntiation of the word 
 teen, will alfo be a good example. To direct 
 the voice to that contraction, we muft write, not 
 ben, which would indicate quite another found, 
 that of the third fliort vowel, but bin. 1 Often, 
 neverthclefs, the found of the fourth fhort vowel 
 in medial fyllabies, before a (ingle confonant, and 
 in a lituation to be fcfs forcibly offered to the ear (a 
 circumftance to be hereafter more particularly no- 
 ficed) is reprefented by the fecond character E, 
 and in the conclufion of words "by the fuperfluous 
 vowel -character Y. The words enemy, remedy, ex- 
 hibit, in their firft fyllable, the third ihort vowel- , 
 found; in their fecond and laft fyllables equally 
 th.e fourth fhort vowelrfound. For the vowel- 
 found 
 
 1 In the Weftern Provincial dialed the pronuntiation is ten ; 
 but that is in juft analogy with the general pronuntiation of the 
 vowels in that dialed, in, which they are not the a, e, /, o, , as 
 in the polite language, but nearly as in the Italian pronuntiation, 
 ah, ay, cc, o, p; and fuch, till of very late years, was the ap- 
 proved pronuntiation of Latin in Winchefter College.
 
 i8 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 found of the fecond fy liable of thofe words, the 
 third vowel-character, would be as good a guide as 
 the fecond. In the words verily, lenity, we are led 
 by the letter /, to precifely the fame found as in 
 the fecond fyllable of the words enemy, remedy, by 
 the letter e . 
 
 5. The LONG found of the FIFTH VOWEL is, with 
 mod certainty reprefented in our orthography by 
 the diphthongal character op, which never has, in 
 polite fpeech, a diphthongal enunciation. 
 
 The combinations, on, fometimes, and ow, often, 
 quit their proper diphthongal office to reprefent 
 the fame fimple vowel, as in foul, controul, low, 
 bowl. The filent E, following a confonant, is, by 
 'retroactive indication, alfo among the affiftants to 
 mark the length of a preceding o, as in more, tone, 
 lonely. In three words only of our language, door, 
 floor, moor, the fifth long vowel- found is indicated 
 by the doubled letter, which, were analogy regard- 
 ed, mould be its conftant reprefentative. Some- 
 times a fingle o does the office, as \n.both, poft, only. x 
 The SHORT found of the FIFTH VOWEL is repre- 
 fented only by the fourth character, o, which we 
 have obferved to be alfo the only reprefentative of 
 the mort found of the firft vowel. 
 
 But it is to be obferved, that, in Englifh pronun- 
 tiation, the mort found of the fifth vowel never 
 occurs in a. fyllable ftrongly offered to the ear; 
 3, jcircumftance which may come ' under future no- 
 tice, 
 
 6. The
 
 HARMONY Itf LANGUAGE. 29 
 
 6. The LONG SOUND of the SIXTH VOWEL, fo 
 cuftom wills, is with moft certainty indicated by 
 that duplication which, as we have remarked, ought 
 to repreient the fifth long vowel. The fifth vowel* 
 character, /;, is alfo among its admitted reprefen- 
 tatives, and thus we write indifferently choofe and 
 chufe. But the duplication of the fourth character, 
 oo, is by far the more certain indicant of the fimple 
 vowel-found ; the fifth character, u, being more ap- 
 propriated to the reprefentation of the complex 
 found of the fecond diphthong of our catalogue. 
 In a few inftances.the fixth long vowel is more 
 anomaloufly reprefented by a fingle o, followed by 
 a confonant and the retroactive final e> as in move 
 lofe. When the word acquires an additional fyllable 
 beginning with a vowel, the e is rejected, as in mo- 
 ving, lofing 
 
 The SHORT SOUND of the SIXTH vowel, not 
 of very frequent occurrence in our language, is 
 reprefented, like the long found, either by the fifth 
 character lingly, as in put, full, bifid ; or very 
 anomaloufly by a duplication of the fourth cha- 
 racter, as in good, book, footing-, or by the diphthongal 
 
 notation on, as in coidd, would. 
 
 7. -The 
 
 m Tho our alphabet is more irregular than that of any other 
 European language, yet anomalies and deficiencies analogous to 
 fome of its anomalies and deficiencies, are found among the 
 moft perfeft. We may have occafion hereafter to advert to 
 the mixed and interchanged ufe of the characters u and o, in 
 the Greek, Latin, and Italian, and to the analog? between the 
 combinations oa, ao, and oo t in Greek and in Englifh.
 
 ^O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 7. The feventh vowel has* in Englifh fpeech,- 
 a fliort quantity only. The fifth vowel-character, #, 
 is its general reprefentative, as in but* dull, ni/Jsingt 
 cunning. But in feveral inftances the office is fup- 
 plied by the fourth vowel-character o j as infon,tno- 
 ther, coming $ and in others, with wider anomaly, by 
 the fame character, with a filent E following an 
 intervening corifonant j as in done, love, come^ In 
 this cafe the e has no retroactive power; it repre- 
 fents no found, and in truth indicates nothing ; the 
 found of the preceding vowel being fhort, precifely 
 as, where no e follows the confonant* mfon, ton. In 
 too many inftances the diphthongal character, ou, 
 is the anomalous reprefentative of the fame fimple 
 fliort vowel-found ; as in rough, young., country, jour- 
 ney ', and in a few the doubled 0, as in blood, flood. 
 
 This vowel is uttered with lefs effort of the 
 organs than any other in our pronuntiation. It 
 wants nothing of the protrufion of the lips necef- 
 fary for the fixth. Commonly reprefented by 
 the fame character, the wide difference in found 
 and in manner of enunciation, between the fixth 
 and feventh vowelSj has too much efcaped the 
 notice of our grammarians. The feventh re- 
 quires an opener mouth, not only than the fixth, 
 but even than the fifth, and in found it approaches 
 perhaps as nearly to the fifth as to the fixth ; 
 whence, apparently, the letter o is fo often its 
 reprefentative. 
 
 Facility of enunciation feems to have recom- 
 mended
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 3! 
 
 mended this as a fubftitute occasionally for all the 
 other vowel-founds ; fo that, in fyllables lefs ftrongly 
 offered to the ear, every vowel-character may be 
 found reprefenting it. Before the rough confo- 
 nant r, even in fyllables the moft forcibly uttered, 
 the fecond and third characters, E, and i, are, 
 in a manner, its regular indicants 3 as in err y defer^ 
 'fir, fnr. 
 
 Such are the fimple vowel-founds ofEnglilh 
 fpeech, and their reprefentatives in Englifh writing. 
 The compound founds, cr DIPHTHONGS, , have 
 no variation of quantity, nor, except the fecdhd 
 of our lift, as already noticed, any variety of repre- 
 fentatives. Neverthelefs, even in their reprefenta- 
 tion there are uncertainties which muft be noticed ; 
 for tho, excepting the fecond, each diphthongal 
 found knows only one reprefentative character, yet 
 the characters are not confined to the indication o* 
 the diphthongal founds. 
 
 i. We have already feen the firft diphthongal 
 character, I, the regular reprefentative of the fourth 
 fhort fimple voweMbund. Combined with a fol" 
 lowing confonant, it generally indicates that found, 
 as in pin, bit. An added final e bears the retroac- 
 tive indication of length, and at the fame time of 
 change to a very different found, that of the firft 
 diphthong, as in pine> bits. The fame effects preciiely 
 are produced by the introduction of CH, or of c 
 alone, before the confonant. Thus/g- and^/*/, in- 
 dicate
 
 32 INQUIRY INTO THZ PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 dicate exa&ly the fame combinations of founds, as 
 Jine, and fite, whole articulated cortfcnants are no- 
 other than thofe of Jin and fu ; greatly as thefe 
 differ in vowel, both for articulation and length. 
 
 But, in fome particular words, even before two or 
 three confonants, under no rule but the law of 
 cuilom, i reprefents the firft diphthongal found ; as 
 in child, wild, mildly, mindful, kindly. It is how- 
 ever before thefe confonants only, which, as we 
 (hall obferve prefently, have their peculiar charac- 
 ter among confonants. 
 
 2. The letters, already mentioned as the moft 
 ordinary reprefentative of the fecond diphthong, 
 we have alfo fecn the ordinary reprefentative of 
 three fimple vowels 5 the feventh, as in but and 
 dull; the fhort fixth, as in put and full ; and the 
 long fixth, as in rue, rude, ruler : in due, pupil, fu- 
 ture, it reprefents the fecond diphthong. Combined 
 with a following confonant in the fame fy liable, un- 
 lefs where a retroactive E is added, it always in- 
 dicates a (hort found ; but which of the two (hort 
 founds, no rule can tell. When reprefenting a long 
 found, whether that long found mall be the fimple 
 or the diphthongal, feems to depend on the charac- 
 ter of the preceding confonant, a matter which will 
 come (hortly under notice. When a preceding con- 
 fonant forms a part of the fyllable, the habit of 
 Englifh fpeech always prefers the diphthongal enun- 
 ciation. Nor do thefe rules differ if, inftead of the 
 fmgle letter, a diphthongal character is the indicant. 
 
 Thus
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 33 
 
 Thus blew and blue, have equally the fimple long 
 found ; deiv and flue, the diphthongal : euphony, euhgy, 
 ufe, unit, unite, utility, all equally begin with the 
 diphthong. 
 
 3. The nobleft diphthong of Englifh pronun- 
 tiation, the THIRD, is unfortunately the rareft ; and 
 ill habit, patronized by the poets, to f icilitate the 
 production of rime, has gone far toward reducing it, 
 in fome familiar words, for carelefs mouths, to the 
 lefs open found of the fir ft ; as \ujoin, point, appoint. 
 Still, however, in folemn delivery, the full enun- 
 tiation of the proper found is required, and among 
 the beft fpeakers it obtains on all occafions. We 
 may therefore reckon the compound character oi 
 the reprefentative of the third diphthong only ; 
 and in this fimplicity of employment it ftands fin- 
 gular among the reprefentatives of vowel-found in 
 Englifh orthography. 
 
 4. The .combination ou, the only reprefentative 
 of the FOURTH diphthong, has already been noticed 
 as the uncertain indicant of other founds, long 
 and fhort ; nor will anything but ufe tell where it 
 is in its proper office of reprefenting the diph- 
 thong. 
 
 The VARIETIES of VOWEL -SOUND in Englifh 
 fpeech, we find then really no lefs than SEVEN- 
 TEEN, ftrongly diftinguilhcd, either by articulation 
 or by quantity; the LONG founds being fix fimple 
 and four diphthongal, in all TEN, and the SHORT 
 
 SEVEN. 
 
 D We
 
 34 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 We proceed now to confiderthe CONSONANTS, 
 of which, however, fortunately our fubject will 
 require fax lefs length and intricacy of examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Incapable of any clear articulation by themfelves, 
 and therefore contributing neither fonoroufnefs 
 nor fweetnefs to language, CONSONANTS are never- 
 thelefs of great, and perhaps eflential importance, 
 through their power of feparating the flowing 
 founds of vowels, by ftrong boundaries, obvious to 
 the ear ; of adding force and expreffion, and of 
 furniOiing means for ufeful varieties and pleafing 
 contrail. It is in their office of feparating vowels^ 
 principally, that the confonants will require our 
 confideration here. 
 
 CONSONANTS are divided by grammarians, ac- 
 cording to the organs of utterance which give 
 them their feveral characters, into Labials, Dentals, 
 Palatals, and Nafals> to which, in fome languages, 
 are added Gutturals, to Englifli pronuntiation 
 happily unknown. Confonants are otherwife di- 
 vided under two heads, whofe diftintflions are more 
 important for our prefent purpofe, SEMIVOWELS, 
 and MUTES 5 fo called, the former becaufe capable 
 of an obfcure articulation without any accompany- 
 ing vowel ; the latter, becaufe, unaflbciated with a 
 vowel, they cannot be articulated at all. In our 
 alphabet thefe two kinds of confonants are com- 
 modioufly diftinguifhed by their names ; thofe of 
 the mutes beginning with the confonant whofe 
 
 name
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 35 
 
 yiame is to be exprefled, and ending with a vowel; 
 thofe of the femivowels (V and J excepted) begin- 
 ning with a vowel and ending with the confonant. 
 Four of the femivowels then, L, M, N, R, on ac- 
 count of their faculty of coaiefcing in articulation 
 with other confon..nts, are further diftmguifhed 
 by the name of LIQUIDS ; and three of the mutes, 
 K, P, T, capable of no other found from the moil 
 forced vociferation than from a whifper, are dif- 
 tinguifhed as PURE MUTES, from the others, which 
 are called IMPURE or SEMIMUTES. 
 
 Confonant -founds, produced, not as vowel - 
 founds, by modulation of the breath among the or- 
 gans of fpeech, but by fome determinate action of 
 thofe organs, bringing them together, or feparating 
 them, have their feveral characters marked by more 
 obvious boundaries; and being lefs liable to be 
 miilaken, are alfo lefs liable to be mifreprefented* 
 Neverthelefs irregularities in the reprefentation of 
 confonant-founds are found* Thofe in Englifh. 
 orthography, principally requiring notice here, are 
 thefe : 
 
 Firft, the employment of confonant-characters 
 to denote vowel-found ; of which mention has 
 been made in treating of vowels : Secondly, the 
 aflbciation of a vowel-character with a confonant- 
 charafter, to denote a confonant-found different 
 from that which the confonant -character alone 
 would indicate; of which the word ajjbciation affords 
 two examples, in the d and in the ft: Thirdly, 
 
 D a the
 
 36 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the intrufion of a confonantrcbarader indicating 
 no found ; as in debt, receipt, foreign, ought, bough, 
 i/land; where the b, p, g, gh, and s are perfectly 
 filent : Fourthly, the employment of ibrne charac- 
 ters, c, g, s, t, to indicate, on different occafions, 
 two different founds ; as in ceafe and cafe, giant and 
 giddy, rife the 'noun, and rife the verb, afting and 
 action : Fifthly, the employment of different cha- 
 racters, c and k, c and s and /, s and z-, to denote 
 the fame found : Sixthly, the employment of com- 
 pound characters, ch, tch, gh, ph, sh y th, dg, ng 9 
 to reprefent fimple confonant-founds. 
 
 There is yet a found in our language, requiring 
 notice, tho wholly unreprefented in our modern 
 orthography. Nearly refembling that half-articu- 
 late vowel, which the French call their feminine E, 
 it is, in our fpeech, an appendage only of mute con- 
 fonants, fo obfcure that it has gone generally un- 
 obferved. Nowfuch is the nature of the mute con- 
 fonants, that articulation cannot flop with them. 
 In fpeaking the words rob, neck, bad, big, look, fup f 
 not, no voice can make them perfect monofyllables : 
 the louder found indeed ceafes with the flroke of 
 the organs producing the final confonant, and the 
 fyllable is there completed; but articulation, in 
 fpite of effort to flop it, will follow, making an 
 imperfect fecond fyllable, in a whifper. If the 
 whole word be whifpered, this involuntary fecond 
 fyllable, tho of no very clear articulation, will 
 be as clearly perceptible by the ear as the firfl. 
 
 Hence
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 37 
 
 Hence our forefathers wrote robbe, rocke, and fo 
 forth : and perhaps modern criticifm has been 
 fometimes a little rafh in animadveriion upon de- 
 fecls in their verification, imagined only in the 
 want of due attention to the neceflary exiftence of 
 a fy liable, which they may have pronounced fuller 
 than modern cuftom would warrant. 
 
 In the view here taken of the reprefentatives of 
 founds in Englifh fpeech, fome anomalies, found 
 only in one or two words, are unnoticed ; and 
 efpecially thofe Gallicifms with which the depraved 
 fafhion of the prefent day is adding to our lan- 
 guage deforr^ities not yet become completely con- 
 ftitutional. Without them we have already, I fear, 
 more than enough to juftify the obfervation of 
 the Italian, Barretti, in his Englifh grammar pre- 
 fixed to his dictionary : ' And here,' he fays, 
 
 * is the explanation of the Englifh alphabet com- 
 ( pleted i which, I hope, will not frighten the 
 ' Italian reader, tho it prefents to his view, I mufl 
 
 * confefs, a craggy mountain, of molt difficult 
 
 * afcent." 1 
 
 * Ed ecco la fpiegazione dell' alfabetq (Inglefe) finita; che, 
 foero, non ifpaventeni il leggitore Italiano, quantunque prefenti* 
 a luoi occhi, diro cosi, una montagna fcabra, e di malagevolif* 
 lima falita.
 
 38 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Of Quantity, or Menfuration of the Time of Sounds, in 
 Enghfh Speech. 
 
 THE foregoing furvey of the elements, however 
 tirefome, appeared preparation indifpenfable for 
 treating intelligibly the fubjecl: propofed. In pro- 
 ceeding, it may ftill be neceflary, tho it is hoped 
 no longer in equal degree, to befpeak the reader's 
 patience. 
 
 From the elements we advance to the integrals 
 of fpeech, the loweft order of which, as already 
 defined, is that called a fyllable. 
 
 HARMONY in language then, being, in our de- 
 finition, the refult of a happy combination of 
 jneafure and melody ; MEARURE, meaning menfu- 
 ration of time, made feniible to the ear in the flow 
 of fpeech; ,and MELODY, a pleafmg fucceflion of 
 varying toq^s exhibited in the flow of fpeech, to 
 become acquainted with the mechanifm of that 
 harmony, we muil obferve how meafures and tones 
 exift and vary in the loweft order of the integrals 
 of fpeech, fyllables. 
 
 A vowel, pronounced alone, is at the fame time 
 an element and an integral ; and, tho not within 
 the etymological import of the word fyllable, is 
 completely of the order of things indicated by that 
 ame. 
 
 Without a vowel can be no fyllable j and two 
 
 vowels
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 39 
 
 vowels cannot coexift in a fyllable, unlefs com- 
 bined in a diphthongal found. Wherever two 
 vowels are feparately heard, there are two fyl- 
 lables. 
 
 But the aflbciation of a vowel or diphthong 
 with one conionant, or with more conibnants, to 
 any number that the voice may combine in articu- 
 lation with one vowel, will form but one fyllable : 
 accumulation, or ill combination of confonants, 
 may produce cacophony and indiftinctnefs > but, 
 till a fecond vowel is heard, there can be no fecond 
 fyllable. 
 
 But vowels, fingly conftituting fyllables, are ca- 
 pable of all varieties of time or quantity, from 
 themeereft point of found, to any length to which 
 the fpeaker's breath can hold j and their founds 
 may be fo melted by the voice into each other, 
 that, not only the differences of their quantities, 
 but the limits of their feveral founds may be 
 hardly, or not at all, perceptible. . 
 
 Thefe inconveniences, in the combination of 
 vowel-founds, are remedied by the introduction of 
 confonants. Produced by a kind of flroke of the 
 organs of fpeech, the effect of confonants on the 
 ear is quick and decifive. Incapable of lengthened 
 found, the mutes wholly, the femivowels with 
 any advantageous refult, they unite, infbantaneoufly 
 on utterance, with a following vowel, or inftanta- 
 neoufly ftop the found of a preceding vowel, and 
 in the fame inflant ceafe themfelves. The time, 
 
 04 or
 
 40 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 or quantity, of a fyllable then depends principally, 
 upon its vowel ; but is mod readily afcertained, 
 when the limits are marked by the ftrojte of the 
 organs which produces a confonant. For illuftra- 
 tion therefore of the length of vowels, hitherto, 
 fyllables have generally been chofen whofe vowel 
 is followed by a confonant, either within the fame, 
 or, which equally anfwers the purpofe, beginning 
 a fucceeding fyllable. 
 
 With fuch fyllables for examples, we have feen 
 that, among the vowel-founds of Englifh fpeech,two 
 meafures of time or quantity, ftrongly diitinguiihed 
 from each other, are found among circumftances 
 eflential to the language. Of the feven fimple 
 vowel-founds, fix have, on fome occafions, a longer, 
 on others, a fhorter enuntiation, fo that the long is 
 about double in time, or quantity, to the mort ; 
 the feventh has the mort only, and the four diph- 
 thongs only the long quantity. 
 
 Such fyllables then, wherever we find them, 
 with fuch differences, obvious to the ear in ordinary 
 Englim fpeech, as in the examples cited, will be 
 commodious ftandards of quantity, by which to 
 meafure the length of fyllables otherwife compofed. 
 Our firft rule of quantity then may (land thus : 
 A SYLLABLE WITH A SHORT VOWEL, FOLLOWED 
 BY A SINGLE CONSONANT, HAS THE JUST MEA- 
 SURE OF A SHORT SYLLABLE; as the firft of 
 fathom: A SYLLABLE WITH A LONG VOWEL FOL- 
 LOWED BY A SINGLE CONSONANT HAS DOUBLE 
 
 THE
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 41 
 
 THE TIME OF THE SHORT SYLLABLE, AND FILLS 
 THE JUST MEASURE OF A LONG SYLLABLE ; as 
 
 the firft of father. 
 
 If found be added to a given found, the TIME of 
 utterance, or the QUANTITY, mutt neceflarily bein- 
 created. A iyllable, therefore, with a confonant be- 
 fore as well as after its vowel, muft be longer than a 
 fyllable compofed of the fame elements, with the 
 omiflion of the h'rll confonant. Thus, if the fyl- 
 lable or has the juft meafure of a fhort quantity, 
 the fyllable for mould have more than the juft 
 meafure of a fhort quantity. It is however not 
 what may be difcovered by analyfis and ftudied 
 comparifon, but what is flriking to a good ear, 
 in the flow of fpeech, that makes a difference 
 eflential to harmony. The time of a confonant, 
 preceding a vowel within the fame fyllable, tho 
 unqucflionably a particle of quantity, is too much 
 of a point, to be taken into any account of rhyth- 
 mical meafure in the flow of language, by the 
 moil fcrupulous ear. 
 
 Not fo when two confonants meet. Of thefe 
 each muft have its own adion of the organs ; 
 which muft be either feparated, or clofed, or 
 both, for the diftinct articulation of each. Thus 
 an interval neceffarily has place, with a delay of 
 enuntiation, not minute, and evading obfervation, 
 
 The claffical reader, who has given any attention to thefe 
 matters, will recoiled the obfervation of Dionyfius of Halicar- 
 pafliis on the words Z&>?, pahs, rooj. 
 
 but
 
 42- INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 but large and (hiking to the ear. Let the words 
 banifli, baron-, venom, living, body, punifo, be com- 
 pared with J?-&iter, barter, vender, lifting, bodkin, 
 pungent ; the firil fyllables in each fet are the fame, 
 but the difference of time neceffarily employed by 
 the voice, before it can give the fecond fyllable to 
 the ear, is ftriking. The firft fyllables are not of 
 themielves long, in the fecond fet of examples 
 more than in the firft fet ; but the two confonants 
 requiring feparate articulation, the voice is necefla- 
 rily delayed by the double operation ; and before 
 the fecond fyllable ran be heard, a time elapfes 
 equal to what would be requifite for the pronun- 
 tiation of a long vowel inftead of the mort one, 
 provided only a fingle confonant followed. Let 
 the words farther, lifting, order, godly,, fulfome, be 
 compared with fat her, leaving, author, gaudy, foolijb, 
 and the ear will not readily decide of the firft fyl- 
 lables which are the longer. Thofe of the former 
 fet, of themfelves Ihort, are made long, in the 
 compofition of fpeech ; employing double time 
 and therefore rhythmically long j not by increafe of 
 
 vowel-found, but by duplication of confonant- 
 found. p 
 
 It is obvious that if two confonants follow a 
 long vowel, not an uncommon circumftance in Eng- 
 lifli pronuntiation, as in alter, needlefs, bolder, the 
 
 P The claffical reader may find, in the obfervation of this 
 fimple difference, full explanation of fome paflages among the 
 antient writers, Cicero particularly, which appear to have puz- 
 zled fome of the moil le a rned amon-j the moderns. 
 
 7 meafure
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 43 
 
 jneafure will be beyond the ftandard of a long quan- 
 tity. But the proportionate increafe is not the 
 fame after a long vowel, as after a ihort vowel ; the 
 quantity is not doubled, in the former as in the 
 latter cafe ; and the difference has been found fuch 
 as not to require, for rhythmical purpofes, a new 
 denomination of meafure. 
 
 An exception, however, to the rule of doubled 
 confonants will require notice : A liquid, follow- 
 ing a mute, may be fo combined with it in pro- 
 nuntiation as fcarcely to delay the voice more than 
 a fingle conibnant. In the words reply, reprefs, the 
 the confonants pi and pr, unconnected with the 
 firft fyllable, mix wholly with the fecond ; fo that 
 the firft, having a (hort vowel, has a fhort quantity. 
 But the voice, with the power of combining, has 
 alfo the power of feparating them. In the pro- 
 per names Ripley, Mapley^ the p is pronounced with 
 the firft fyllable, the /with the fecond ; and through 
 this feparation of the two confonants, the voice is 
 neceflarily retarded, as in the pronuntiation of 
 any other two confonants ; fo that, tho the vowel 
 of the firft fyllable be mort, the rhythmical meafure 
 is long. 
 
 More than one confonant cannot precede avow- 
 el within the fame fyllable, unlefs fo allotted that 
 they may pafs rapidly over the tongue, as if by a 
 iingle effort. The confonant/ is fingular in being 
 capable of articulation before any other confonant, 
 and alone can be pronounced before two others. 
 
 Afyl-
 
 44 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 A fyllable whofe vowel is followed by a vowel, has, 
 in Englifli fpeech, never more than the fhort quan- 
 tity. Even of the diphthongs, the third only has 
 neceflary extenfion of found fufficient, without the 
 fupport of a following confonant, to make a long 
 fyllable. Its fuperiority will be obvious to the ear 
 in a comparifon of the words dial, dual, fewer, vow~ 
 el, royal, joyous : the firfl fyllable of the two la'ft 
 words only is long. 
 
 We have now, I think, gone through all the 
 obfervation neceflary toward a general arrangement 
 of the iyllables of Englifh fpeech, under the two 
 heads of fhort and long ; provided we avoid the 
 error of fome very learned writers upon the fub- 
 jeft, who have allowed the eye fo to impofe 
 upon the ear, that they have eftimated the filent 
 written character as a real fpoken element. To 
 guard therefore againft fuch error, it may be pro- 
 per to advert to fome peculiarities and irregulari- 
 ties in our written reprefentation of language, 
 which have not yet come under notice. 
 
 We have feen that two confonants, excepting 
 often when the fecond is a liquid, make the fylla- 
 JD!C, formed with the preceding vowel, long. But 
 it muft be obferved that the ITERATION of a 
 CONSONANT-CHARACTER, in Engliih_orthography 5 
 generally indicates no additior^no^alteration, of 
 confonant-found^ In-tlje words manor and manner, 
 very and merry, literal and littering, confider and 
 for bidder, comet and common , Rudy and ruddy, the 
 
 fingle
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 41* 
 
 fingle and the doubled letters indicate exactly the 
 fame fingle found. 
 
 Neverthelefs, the duplication is not idle. Its 
 indications indeed are wide of all analogy in or- 
 thography,- and little confiftent even among thern- 
 felves ; but they are important. 
 
 For, as a general rule, the duplication of a con- 
 fonant -character indicates that the preceding vow- 
 el is fhort. When we fee the words baron, canon, 
 venom, critic, colic, puni/h, it is from ufe only we 
 know that the firfl fyllables are all to be pronoun- 
 ced (hort ; for analogy, fuch as our orthography 
 pofTeffcs, would rather intimate the vowels, and of 
 courfe the fyllables, to be long ; as in vary, caning, 
 venal, vital, folar, puny, tuning. But the duplica- 
 tion of the confonant-character marks the fhort 
 found decifively_for _all_yerfed in Englifh fpeHing ; 
 as in barren, cannon, berry, bitter, follow, running. 
 
 In direct contradiction however to this rule,, the 
 duplication of the confonant-characters L and s, 
 fometimes indicates, as we have already obferved 
 in treating of the alphabet, that the preceding 
 vowel is long; as in call, toll, pafs, falling, t offing, 
 crojjing, amajfmg. 
 
 It feems to have been the habit of deference to 
 written language, and a comparative difregard of the 
 fpoken, that have led fome very learned Englifh 
 writers to attribute the effect cf two confonant- 
 founds to the Englifh pronuntiation of a doubled 
 confonant-charadter. A very frnall acquaintance 
 
 with
 
 46 INQUIRY INtO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 f 
 
 with Italian pronuntiation, which always gives the 
 double iound for the doubled character, would 
 have guarded againft the error. q But we have, 
 within our own language, circumftances exactly 
 coinciding with the Italian practice, and which, as 
 exceptions, will afiift to illuftrate that general 
 rule of our orthography, that a doubled confonant- 
 eharacter is not pronounced as two, but as a fmgle 
 e tter. 
 
 The moft frequent exception to that rule is* 
 where the fame confonant-character which ends one 
 word, begins the next j as in learned dulnefs, com- 
 mon notions. Characters fo iterated are not pro- 
 nounced, as in the middle of words, as one letter, 
 but each has its diftinc~t articulation. The differ- 
 ence will be evident in a companion of the phra- 
 fes red deer, black cur,_ black cat, (the c k indicat- 
 ing no more found than either letter alone) with 
 the words redder and blacker , and the family name 
 Blacket. 
 
 A fecond exception occurs wherever, in words 
 
 * The French orthography, generally differing enough from 
 ours, agrees with it in regard to the indication of doubled con- 
 fonants : * Un regie general, and qui ne fouffre point d'excepti- 
 on, c'eft qne toute fyllabe, qui finit par une confonne, fuivie 
 4 d'une autre, eft longue; mais en Franqais, au contraire, le 
 * redoublcment de la confonne prefque toujours avertit que la 
 fyllabe eft breve.' The reafon of the rule is, that, in French j 
 the fecond confonant-chara&er is not pronounced, as in Italian^ 
 but filent, as in Englifli, with 'the fame rstroaclive indication 
 ior the meafure of the preceding vowel as in Englifli. 
 
 compounded
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 47 
 
 compounded with the negative particle nn y an 
 follows ; as in unnumbered, umteteflary, unnamed. 
 Each is diftinctly articulated (the words indeed 
 would otherwife be fcarcely underflood) and the 
 firft fy liable of thofe words of courfe is long. Care- 
 ful delivery will equally diftinguilh the two letters, 
 where words derived from the Latin have the 
 negative particle in followed by an #, and equally 
 where /, or r, fubftituted for , are followed by 
 / and r j provided the affirmative word be alfo 
 adopted into our language ; as in innumerable, ille- 
 gitimate , irresolute, irrevocable, in which the oppofi- 
 tion is to be marked to numerable, legitimate^ refo- 
 lute, revocable. But where the affirmative word 
 has not been received into our language, and that 
 which, in its original language, was of a negative 
 form, indicates in burs fomething pofitive, without 
 particular negation implied, as in innocent, the reafon 
 for the double confonant-found not exifting, the 
 practice of pronuntiation for fuch words has yielded 
 to the general bent of the language, and only a 
 Jingle confonant is fpoken. 
 
 A third exception is found in fome few other 
 words, as in wholly, formerly written ivholely; 
 which, were the iterated character not iterated in 
 pronuntiation, would be undiftinguifhable from 
 the very different word koly. 
 
 Among thofe irregularities which our alphabet 
 has in common with many others, it happens that 
 fome of our confonant-charac~tars repreient each 
 
 two
 
 48 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 two very different confonant-founds. Wherevefr 
 then fuch a character is fo iterated as to indicate 
 two different founds, there are really two different 
 confonants, and the fyllable formed with the pre- 
 ceding vowel will have a long quantity ; as in the 
 words accent., accident > accede. 
 
 On. the contrary, where different characters, 
 reprefenting the fame confonant-found, meet in 
 one word, the indication is no other than if the 
 more regular reprefentatiye of the found were 
 doubled i as in afcend, defcend, a/certain. Sc being 
 here pronounced as iffs were written, and a {ingle s 
 only being articulated, the firft fyliable of thofe 
 words, having a fhort vowel, has a fhort quantity. 
 
 Among the peculiarities of our orthography 
 then it muft be obferved, that the characters ng are 
 often combined to reprefent a found differing from 
 any reprefented by a (ingle character, yet ftill not 
 a double, but a (ingle confonant-found ; and never- 
 thelefs thofe characters alfo often meet, each bear- 
 ing its diftinct found. In the former cafe, if the 
 vowel preceding the two confonant -characters be 
 mort, the fyllable formed with it will be fhort ; 
 as in hang,Jing, long* hanger , finger , longing. In the 
 latter cafe the fyilable formed with the preceding 
 vowel muft be long, becaufe two confonants are 
 feparately pronounced after it; ^&\^ longer ^Jlrongejlj 
 anger i linger^ hunger , where the g has its hard found, 
 and equally in avenger, engine, tinging, longitude^ 
 pungent, where it has its foft found. 
 
 The
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 49 
 
 The combinations CH and SH, are reprefentatives 
 of fmgle confonant-founds, which, as well as the 
 fingle found of NG, were our alphabet perfect, 
 fhould have their peculiar reprefentative charac- 
 ters. The combination TCH is in effecl double 
 CH, and the combinations DG and DJ, are in effecl: 
 double foft c and double j. Like other doubled 
 confonant-charadters, they indicate generally that 
 the preceding vowel is fhort, and bear, no more 
 than others, any doubled confonant-found. Of 
 courfe the fyllable formed with the preceding 
 vowel is generally ihort ; as we find in matching 
 fatchel, adjeEl'ive, hedges, ridges, ak'idgingy lodging^ 
 cudgel \ whereas where the duplication is not found, 
 as in the proper names Ajax and Rachel, and the 
 words regent, obliging , cogent, the vowel, and of 
 courfe the fyllable, with exceptions that may 
 moftly be brought under rule, is long. 
 
 Moflof the fyllables hitherto felected for exam- 
 ples of quantity have been fuch as are marked in 
 pronuntiation by the moft diftinguifhing accent 
 of the word. The reafon for this choice, together 
 with the application of the rules to other fyllables, 
 will be more conveniently explained after we have 
 adverted to the nature of accent and emphafis in 
 Englim fpeech. For the prefent our remarks 
 upon quantity may be concluded here with fum- 
 ming up its rules thus : 
 
 i. Every fyllable with a long vowel or a diph- 
 thong, followed, whether within the fame, or in 
 
 E * the
 
 5O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the next fyllable, by a confonant, has a long quan- 
 tity. 
 
 2. Every fyllable with a fhort vowel, followed 
 by the diftindt articulation of two confonants, has 
 a long quantity. 
 
 3. Every fyllable with a (hort vowel, followed 
 by only one articulated confonant, has only a (hort 
 quantity. 
 
 4. Every fyllable with any vowel, or with the 
 firft, fecond, or fourth diphthong, followed by a 
 vowel or diphthong, has only a fhort quantity j 
 except in fome cafes where monofyllables are 
 lengthened by the power, hereafter to be noticed, 
 of emphafis.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Of Tones or Accents, and Emphafis in Englifh Speech, and 
 of their connection with the Time or Quantity of Syl- 
 lables. 
 
 IF! have been fortunate enough to lead my 
 reader through all my detail of explanation thus 
 far, not overwearied or difgufted, I (hall hope 
 that much of the intricacy, whence hath arifen 
 difagreement among modern writers on the har- 
 mony of language and the mechanifm of verfe, 
 is unfolded for him, and that, the perplexity, 
 likely to be the mod copious fource of difguft, 
 being removed, the way is advantageoufly pre- 
 pared for proceeding to a remaining part of the 
 fubjecl, of much importance and of no little 
 nicety, the TONES of fpeech. 
 
 That, in every fyllable, of every language, fome 
 TONE, ACCENT, or PITCH of the voice, mufl ac- 
 company articulation, is as evidently of natural 
 neceffity, as that fome portion of time mufl be 
 employed in it. 
 
 It is abundantly obvious then, that in the 
 Englim language, every word, not monofyllabical, 
 has one fyllable always made eminent by a diftin- 
 guiming tone, or accent. This fyllable is often 
 called the ACCENTED SYLLABLE, and its tone 
 THE ACCENT, and the other fyllables, in contra- 
 
 E 2 diftinction,
 
 2 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 diftinction, are called UNACCENTED ; a mode of 
 fpeaking which, if it have any occafional conveni- 
 ency, may perhaps be allowed, provided it be al- 
 ways remembered that the terms are fo ufed, by a 
 licence of fpeech, to fignify the more and the lefs 
 eminent accentuation ; accent, or tone, being that, 
 fome mode and degree of which muft always coc'x- 
 ift, that is, muft always be among the imprefiions 
 made by the voice upon the ear, with every fylla- 
 ble uttered. 
 
 Among forein modern languages, the general 
 character of the accentuation in the Italian, the 
 Spanim, and the modern Greek, is the fame 
 as in the Englifh. In all thefe, and I believe 
 I might add the Portuguefe, the German, and 
 thofe of the fame origin with the German, one 
 fy liable of every two or more in one word, is 
 made eminent by its tone. We are well affured 
 that, fo far at leaft, the accentuation of the antient 
 Greek and Latin, which will come under more 
 particular obfervation hereafter, agreed with that 
 of thefe modern fpeeches. It may be important then 
 to obferve, on account of the more extenfive fami- 
 liarity with the French than with any other forein 
 fpeech, in our owri country, and ftill much more 
 throughout the reft of northern Europe, that the 
 French language differs in this from all others of 
 which I have any knowlege. The French gram- 
 marians and critics univerfally hold that no fylla- 
 
 blc
 
 HARMONY" IN LANGUAGE. 53 
 
 ble of any word in their language is intitled to 
 any charac"leriflical accent. A confequence, obvi- 
 ous to thofe who have had any opportunity for 
 obfervation, is, that the accentuation of all the 
 other European languages has peculiar difficul- 
 ties for the French people. That of our own, 
 in particular, little among the difficulties for an 
 Italian learning our fpeech, is to a Frenchman, 
 after boyhood, unattainable. The French are, 
 beyond all other foreiners, diftinguifhed among 
 us by what is commonly called, and properly 
 enough, a forein accent/ 
 
 What then are the characleriftical qualities of 
 that accent which gives eminence to one iyllable 
 in every polyfyllabical word of theEnglilh language, 
 is a queftion which will require confideration. On 
 firft view it may feem that the anfwer fhould be 
 readily fuggefled by the ear: and it may appear 
 ftrange that opinions very wide of one another have 
 been held by very learned and able men, on a 
 matter fo open to the obfervation of every day 
 and almoft every moment. Still more ftrange 
 however furely muft feem the queftion, What is 
 the difference between the accent, tone, or pitch 
 of the voice, ufeJ in uttering a fyllable, and the 
 quantity, or time employed in uttering it ? or are 
 they not the fame thing? or if not abfolutely 
 
 r This is among fubje&s, which may occur for farther ex- 
 planation on future opportunity. 
 
 E 3 * ne
 
 54 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the fame thing, are they not fo blended and con- 
 founded in the nature of modern ipeech, that to 
 diftinguifh them is no longer poffible ? Yet thefe 
 are queftions which have agitated and difturbed 
 the republic of letters for centuries. But upon 
 juft inveftigation, it will be found that the parts 
 concurring to conftitute that fmall, and, it might 
 feem, fimple thing a fyllable, are fo many, fo 
 different, fo minute, and fo implicated, that, 
 when fairly exhibited, it may not perhaps ap- 
 pear wonderful if the critics and difputants have, 
 fome, overlooked, and, others, avoided, the labor 
 neceflary to fuch an analyfis, as alone could obviate 
 miftake about them in their compound form. 
 
 A fenfe of deficient comprehenfion of what 
 remains to us from various antient writers of the 
 higheft eftimation, concerning the harmony and 
 the mechanifm of verfe in the Greek and Latin 
 languages, has led many among the modern learn- 
 ed to fuppofe that the antients, and efpecially the 
 Greeks, had organs of fpeech and hearing much 
 more delicate and difcerning than men are now 
 commonly endowed with. From the extant writ- 
 ings of the antients however it may be gathered, 
 that their fuperiority has been lefs a gift of nature, 
 than an acquifition of ftudy and practice. In a 
 difcourfe on mufic by Plutarch, who wrote when 
 the doctrine of the harmony of his language, cul- 
 tivated for many centuries, was taught as a part 
 
 of
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 of grammar, among the early bufinefTes of educa- 
 tion, we find the following paflage : * Three very 
 
 * minute things, 1 he fays, * always neceflarily 
 
 * affect the hearing at once, TONE, TIME, and 
 ' SYLLABLE or LETTER.' (By fyllable or let- 
 ter he means the articulation of the elements, 
 confidered feparately from the tone and the time.) 
 
 * From the march of the tone the melody is dif- 
 ' covered ; from that of the time, the cadence ; from 
 ' that of the letter or fyllable, the words. Always 
 ' proceeding together, their impulfe upon the ear 
 
 * is fimultaneous. But it is evident that thofe 
 ' whofe hearing is not clear and quick enough to 
 ' diftinguifti them, fo as to have a feparate per- 
 ' ception of each, cannot poflibly follow them 
 
 * critically, and judge how far each is exprefled 
 ill or well." 
 
 Yet all that contributes to perplexity in the 
 found of fyllables, is not, even in this paflage, 
 unfolded. To make the analyfis complete, of 
 the three very minute things, mentioned by Plu- 
 tarch, two muft be fubdivided. For, tho TIME 
 
 yct;> va,yx,a.o Tfia iAapir<% eivctt rat 
 
 TS xa X >0> **' 
 
 it ix rn; pi xr <p(toyyoi> wogt? TO 
 rSj xara ^oon rov pvQpov, ix. Si rij? XT y^a/x/ita ^ 
 
 xuxstto ^a>tgo>, OT ov* 
 
 ovtiafji.fi/rtf T? oiff*iO'i.u$ XptV* 1 **ro Tut ttcijuttut, 9rg)c 
 TI ffvieiffQeu TOJ xaS sxar> ' o-uxo^ac TO 3 a.^.ot^T/x.to^i>or i 
 iv[at xai TO pn. Plut. de Mufica, p. 1 144. ed. Paris. 1624. 
 
 4 admits
 
 56 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 admits no variety but of length, TONES may differ 
 either in pitch, or in force, and SYLLABLES, in 
 all the ways in which elements may be combined 
 to form them. In every fyllable therefore at once 
 are offered to the ear, for its perception and judge- 
 ment, the quantity of time, the pitch of tone, and 
 the force of tone, together with the articulation of 
 the elements, which laft is ever and infinitely vary- 
 ing. Now for the ear to feparate all thefe things, 
 which imprefs it always together, fo that the mind 
 may form a diftind: judgement of each, will ob- 
 vioufly require fome attention. ^ 
 
 To proceed then with the confideration of the 
 firft of Plutarch's three things, Tone, or Accent. 
 The fuperior force of utterance, and confequent 
 loudnefs, by which one fyllable of two or more 
 in one word, in Englifh, and the other modern 
 European languages, French excepted,* is made 
 eminent, can efcape no ear pra<5tifed in thofe lan* 
 guages. The greater part of Englifh writers, on 
 the fubje6t, have conlidered the eminent fyllable 
 in Englifh fpeech as principally diftinguifhed by 
 acutenefs of tone, But fome have held this to be 
 a prejudice of learning, accuflomed to defer -to 
 Greek and Latin authority; the diftinguifhing 
 
 * It is not meant that no fyllable, in French polyfyllabical 
 words, is ever, in proper French pronuntiation, made eminent 
 by force of utterance; but only that -no one fyllable is, in 
 French, as in the other European languages, regularly and con- 
 ftantly intitkd to fuch preeminence. 
 
 accent
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 57 
 
 accent of Engliih fpeech being characterized by 
 Joudneis only. The queftion is not unimpor- 
 tant, at leaft to the juft reputation of the lan- 
 guage ; for tho variation of force in fpeech might 
 fuflice fir exprciiion, which however may be doubt- 
 ed, yet variation of tone is effential toward adding 
 the grace of melody. 
 
 To decide this queflion, as the ear only can 
 be the judge, not only we muft difmifs pre- 
 judice, but it will be advantageous to relieve the 
 ear, as far as may be, from whatever, in experi- 
 fnent, may perplex it. In a polyfyllabical word, 
 each fyllable of which is compofed of different 
 elements, and efpecially if with different vowels, 
 fome neceffarily to be fpoken with an opener, and 
 fome with a clofer mouth, the ear is liable to be 
 difturbed in its judgement of the tone, or pitch of 
 the voice, by the varieties in the articulation of 
 the elements. For eafy and fure decifion there- 
 fore, a word mould be found, or, in the want of 
 fuch, feigned, compofed of fyllables, fuch as are 
 commonly ufed in what is called humming a tune, 
 without variety of vowel-found. Let then the 
 fecond vowel of our catalogue, the middle A, be 
 taken, with any confonant after it, to form a fyl- 
 lable, and let it be repeated thrice, to form a 
 trifTyllabical word, as ALALAL. Let this be 
 fpoken as an Englifh word, with the ftrong accent 
 on either fyllable, or, on each, in repeating the 
 word ; and, no change of articulation diflurbing 
 
 the
 
 58 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the ear, it will be abundantly evident that, with or- 
 dinary Englifh pronuntiation, the STRENGTHENED 
 SYLLABLE has always the ACUTER TONE, or, in 
 mufical phrafe, the higher note. 
 
 But tho this is fo in proper Englifli pronuntia- 
 tion, it is not fo in all pronuntiation of the Englifli 
 language; and the exceptions will illuftrate "the 
 rule. It is the ftriking peculiarity of the Scottifli 
 dialect of the Englifh language, unknown, as far 
 as I have had opportunity to obferve, in any 
 dialect of any other language, that the diftinguifh- 
 ing accent of its words is a proper grave ; a lowei 
 note than is given to any other fyllable of the 
 word. In that dialect, if the penultimate be the 
 flrengthened fyllable, the concluding fyllable rifes 
 in tone considerably, fo that the word ends with 
 fomething approaching to a fqueak. To thofe 
 who, themfelves fpeaking proper Englifh, have had 
 opportunity to obferve the Lowland Scottifh pro- 
 nuntiation, this ftrong peculiarity cannot fail to 
 have been ftriking. 
 
 The difference, indeed, of the accentuation of 
 the rolite Englifh, and of all the fouthern pro- 
 vincial Engliih, from that of the Scottifh, with 
 which the northern Engiifh, to a great extent, is 
 congenial, requires no nice ear, or clofe obferva- 
 tion to difcern. It is, on the contrary, fo wide, 
 that almoft any voice may take a mean between 
 the two, through which the nature of each may 
 be ftill more flrongly illuftrated. After pro- 
 nouncing
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. rp 
 
 nouncing either the fictitious, or any real word, 
 with the Englifh and Scottifh accentuation fuc- 
 ceffively, the fame word may be fpoken without 
 any variation of note, or pitch of the voice, but 
 with one fyllable of the three, for example the 
 fecond, flrengthened and made louder than the 
 others. Such pronuntiation will be a kind of 
 half animated droning, deftitute equally of the 
 Englifh and of the Scottifh character, and wide 
 of all probable character of real language ; like 
 the found of a pipe, varied by flronger and weaker 
 inflation, without any alteration of flop. Such 
 monotony may have been obferved among children 
 learning to read; more tolerable than the com- 
 pleter monotony, alib to be heard among learners, 
 where no variation is made even of loudnefs, 
 but ftill utterly unfatisfactory in reading, and, in 
 fpeaking, never heard. 
 
 The account given by one of the earliefl 
 and mod learned writers on Englifh grammar, 
 Doctor John Wallis, of the actions of the organs, 
 which feverally produce loudnefs of found and 
 variation of tone in the human voice, may here 
 deferve notice. ' The breath,' he fays, ' which 
 
 * is as the material of fpeech, pafTes by the throat ; 
 ' and from its various collision with the parts 
 ' about the mouth, arifes all the variety of founds 
 
 * of the voice, both in tone and in articulation. 
 
 * Of this variety, however, nothing is produced 
 ' by the lungs ; which operate only to the extru- 
 
 * fion
 
 60 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ' fion of the breath with greater or lefs force ; 
 
 f whence, other things ecpal, the voice becomes 
 
 ' louder or fofter; the lungs having, in fpeech, 
 
 * preciisly the effect of the bellows in an organ. 
 
 ' The variety of tones, higher and lower, is 
 ' produced, in fome degree, by the trachea, or 
 ' pipe, but more by the larynx, or knot of the 
 throat. Where the pipe is narrower, the found 
 
 * will be Sharper; where wider, it will be deeper; 
 4 and thence the different pitch of voice of dif- 
 ' ferent perfons, and of the fame perfon at different 
 ' ages. But the feat of all the muiical modula- 
 
 * tion of the voice is in the larynx, adapted to 
 
 * inlarge or leffen the upper aperture of the throat, 
 
 * and fo to make the tone of the fame voice 
 ' (harper or deeper. 
 
 * from different affection of the fame parts, 
 
 * antes the difference of whifpering and fpeaking- 
 ( out. With greater force of utterance, the ten- 
 
 * fion of the trachea and larynx becomes greater, 
 ' at the fame time that the concuffion from the 
 1 lungs is greater, whence arifes the vibration 
 
 * which produces open fpeech. With fmaller 
 
 * force of breath, and lefs tenfion of parts, the 
 ' articulation pafles in a whifper.' 
 
 Wallis wrote in Latin, which I have endea- 
 voured to translate here with fcrupulous exactnefs, 
 His obfervations will have the more authority, 
 becauie he was much verfed in experimental phi- 
 lofophy. But any perfon, making experiment 
 
 with
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 6 1 
 
 with his own voice, will be more readily fenfible of 
 the operation of the tongue, jaws and lips, than of 
 what paffes fo far within the mouth as the larynx _; 
 and it will be obvious that, in the uttdance of 
 deep tones, the found feems to iffue from the 
 throat, pafling through a hollow mouth, with the 
 tongue kept down ; but that, in the utterance of 
 high, or fharp tones, the hollow of the mouth is 
 confiderabiy leflened, by the railing of the tongue, 
 and the found fecms produced between the, tongue 
 and the palate : in the highefl tones the roof of 
 the mouth is mcft affected by the ftroke of the 
 voice, which feems even to approach the nofe." 
 
 Now if any polyfyllable be fpoken monotonoufly, 
 lengthening only one lyllable, our fictitious word 
 in preference for example, the more forcible ex- 
 trufion of the breath, in fpeaking the louder fyl- 
 lable, will be felt only as producing a flronger 
 vibration in the lame parts in which the utterance 
 of the other fyllables produced a weaker. But 
 fuch monotonous pronuntiation will moft evidently 
 
 n In a learned and ingenious, and generally very judicious, 
 little treatife, on the Art of delivering written language, pub- 
 lifhed by Dodfley in the year 17751 the author uqnamed, it is 
 contended that the pitch of the voice is in no degree modu- 
 lated in the mouth; the aperture being fuppofed too large, 
 in comparifon with that of the throat, to have any other than 
 the effeft of the bell of a wind-inftrument. Jt appears to me 
 that the power of the tongue to vary the hollow of the mouth, 
 has not been there fufficiently confidered. 
 
 DOt
 
 6fc INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 not be properly Englifh. To produce the proper 
 Englifh intonation, the tongue mufb be raifed in 
 pronouncing the ftrengthened fyllable ; the vibra- 
 tion will be felt more about the palate, and the 
 tone will be acuter; it will be a higher note. To 
 produce the Scottish intonation, on the contrary, 
 the tongue, in uttering the fame fyllable, muffc 
 be lowered j the concuffion will operate nearer the 
 larynx, and the tone will be graver than that of 
 the other fyllables ; it will be a lower note. 
 
 But to give eminence to any accent, a ftrengthened 
 enuntiation is neceflary. It is force of utterance 
 that gives eminence equally to the acute in Englifh 
 pronuntiation, and to the grave in Scottifli. 
 
 Thus I trufl it has been mown that the emi- 
 nent accent of words, in Englifh fpeech, with 
 fuperior force, has alfo, by the indifpenfable law 
 of that fpeech, a higher tone, and is, what it has 
 been mod commonly called, an ACUTE ACCENT. 
 Without variety of tone, or, in mufical phrafe, 
 without various notes, tho there might be rhyth- 
 mus and meafure, there could be no melody in 
 fpeech. I have therefore been anxious to mow 
 the exiftence of fuch variety in Englifh fpeech, 
 by argument and example, tho perhaps for mofl 
 readers fuperfluous. To reduce the practice 
 to their theory, the theory of but few indeed, 
 but of fome whom I refpect, who have held 
 the eminent accent of Englifh words to derive its 
 
 character
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 63 
 
 character from force of utterance only, would be 
 infinitely injurious to the language. 
 
 But it will be obvious to all acquainted with 
 Englifh fpeech, that the longer polyfyllables have 
 more than one diftinguiflhing accent. One indeed is 
 always predominant ; fuperior in force, higher in 
 tone : it is properly called, by way of eminence, the 
 acute accent, or even fimply the accent. By its 
 fituation in the word, the fituation and the com- 
 parative eminence of inferior accents is directed. 
 In triffyllables, if the middle fyllable be acuted, 
 neither of the others has a diftins^iifbed character: 
 
 O 
 
 they will be equally grave, or what is often called 
 unaccented. But if the firft have the acute, the 
 third will be more diftinguifhed by accent than 
 the fecond ; it will be louder and (harper ; as in 
 energy^ confident. If the laft have the acute, the 
 firft will be more diftinguifhed by accent than the 
 fecond ; as in refugee, confidant. In both cafes the 
 middle fyllable will have the loweft tone, as well 
 as the leaft forcible tone. In words of four fyl- 
 lables there will ftill be but two of diftinguifhed 
 accent, as otherwife two acutes would meet in 
 one word; which the genius of Englifh pro- 
 nuntiation refufes. Under this reftriction, words 
 of five fyllables may have three, or only two dif- 
 tinguifhing accents, and words of multiplied fyl- 
 lables more in proportion. 
 
 But we have not yet gone through the whole 
 
 complication
 
 64 INQITIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 complication of circumftances in fpeech, whence, 
 through want, apparently, of fufficient patience 
 -,, in analyfis, controverfy hath arifen. EMPHASIS 
 remains to be confidered ; a matter of great im- 
 portance to the harmony of language as well as 
 to the import ; intimately implicated always with 
 accent, and, in Englifli fpeech, fometimes with 
 quantity. 
 
 The word EMPHASIS, etymologically confidered, 
 means SHOWING, POINTING-OUT FOR OBSERVA- 
 TION. As applied to fpeech, it means marking 
 by the voice any word in a phrafe or fentence as 
 more important than the reft. 
 
 The purpofe of Emphafis may be effected in 
 feveral ways ; by increafe of force, by variation of 
 tone, by extenfion-pf time inenuntiation, or by any 
 two or all of fhefe together. In the firft way Em- 
 phafis operates by fimple vociferation ; in the fecond, 
 by Accent ; in the third, by Quantity. 
 
 The offices of Emphafis and of Accent have, 
 a near analogy ; that of the former being to mark 
 for notice, and raife to eminence, words in fen-. 
 * tences, that of the latter, fyllables in words. Their 
 purpofes being thus analagous, fimilar means 
 ierve in a great degree for each, but they have 
 very material differences. Accent is allotted to 
 its fyilable by law of cuftom only, 'without rule 
 of reafon ; and there remains immoveable : Em- 
 phafis, fubject to no controul of cuftom, but 
 always obedient to reafon, may change its place, 
 2, with
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 65 
 
 with the fpeaker's meaning, through all the words 
 of a fentence. Wherever it alights, it combines 
 itfelf with the eminent accent of the word ; com- 
 monly adding to its force, often altering its tone, 
 never removing it from its place, and only fome- 
 times, where fome oppofition is to be marked 
 within the word, holding any very flriking con- 
 neclion with any other fyllable. 
 
 The operation of emphafis by quantity has place 
 principally in monofyllables ending with vowels ; 
 and even there it is, in Englifh fpeech, always 
 combined with operation by accent. Monofyl- 
 lables obvioufly can neither require nor admit dif- 
 tinvflion of accent within themfelves. They re- 
 ceive therefore, according to their greater or lefs 
 occafional importance among other words, precifely 
 fuch accent only as emphafis affigns them. When 
 monofyllables ending with a vowel require emphafis, 
 extenfion of quantity is commonly added to height 
 of tone and force of utterance, for increafe of 
 effedl. Thus the pronouns, and fome other fami- 
 liar words, as he^Jhe, me, we, you, do,fo, are acuted 
 and long, or grave and fhort, as emphafis may, 
 for the occafion, demand. 
 
 Extenfion of quantity has fometimes place in 
 polyfyllables, for -the purpofe of emphafis; in few 
 inftances however only, and under particular cir- 
 cuniftances, which evade rule, but may be illuf 
 trated by familiar examples. If one, fimply com- 
 manding another, fays go diretfly, he fpeaks the 
 
 F firft
 
 66 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 firft fyllable of direcily with a grave accent and a 
 fhort quantity ; exprefling the / by the fourth 
 fhort vowel -found, which is reprefented by / in 
 the firft fyllables of direSt and divide^ by e in the 
 firft fyllables of detefi and deride. But if, impa- 
 tient of delay, he would urge hafte, he will add 
 emphafis to the word direttly, by fubftituting, in 
 the firft fyllable, for the fhort found of the fourth 
 vowel, the found of the firft diphthong, which 
 will give the fyllable a long quantity; the pre- 
 dominating accent being ftill preferred to its proper 
 fyllable, the fecond, tho a change of tone infues 
 both in the firft and fecoiid. 
 
 Such extenfion of the quantity of a vowel, for 
 emphafis, can have place only where a vowel ends 
 the fyllable ; and there but in few inftances, ex- 
 cept at the end of a word, and efpecially in mono- 
 fyllables, where, as already obferved, it is familiar, 
 It will be obvious to the Englifh reader that no 
 purpofe of emphafis would warrant the extenfion 
 of the firft fyllable of divifionm denial. 
 
 But there are cafes in which, tho extenfion of 
 the VOWEL is utterly forbidden, the SYLLABLE 
 may be lengthened for the purpofe of emphafis, 
 by addition of confonant-found. If we fay go 
 immediately, we ordinarily fpeak the firft fyllable 
 of immediately fhort, giving to the / the fourth 
 mort vowel-found, and articulating only one m. 
 If we want to give more force to our expreflion, 
 we cannot lengthen the vowel, either by adopting 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. i 67 
 
 the diphthongal found, as in direftly^ or by pro- 
 trading the fimple vowel-found; the cuftom of 
 fpeaking fo forbids, that the effect, tho carry-* 
 ing the character of emphafis fo far as to point out 
 for notice, would excite notice only for ridicule. 
 But perfectly within the licence which the cuftom 
 of fpeaking makes respectable, we may dwell upon, 
 the firft M ; and then, articulating the fecond dif- 
 tinctly, as a feparate element, we give a long 
 quantity to the firft fyllable of immediately^ by 
 fuch duplication of confonant-found, as effectually 
 as to that of direElly by lengthening the 
 vowel. 
 
 All variations of the voice, indicating affirma- 
 tion, interrogation, admiration, furprize, indigna- 
 tion, complaint, or any other intention or affection 
 of the mind, are modes of emphafis, or pointing 
 out ; operating either by accent, or quantity, or 
 both, and therefore never indifferent to the har- 
 mony. 
 
 For examples of QUANTITY, hitherto, ACUTED 
 SYLLABLES have been generally offered; except 
 in the two laft inftances, where acuted fyllables 
 would not have ferved. The reafon in both cafes 
 is the fame. The cuftom of Englilh fpeech is 
 fmgularly jealout of the quantity of acuted fyl- 
 lables. It will neither allow the fhort vowel of 
 an acuted fyllable to be extended, as we have 
 obierved it permitting in the grave fyllable, the 
 firft of direftly, nor the confonant found to be 
 F 2 doubled,
 
 68 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 doubled, as in the firft of immediately: at no rate 
 will it allow an acuted fyllable to be contracted. 
 Wherever 'the acute falls, the. quantity of the 
 fyllable is decided for long or fhort ; no acuted 
 fyllable is of doubtful quantity. 
 
 But, for GRAVE SYLLABLES, the cuftom is not 
 fo exact. The vowels of grave fyllables are fel- 
 dom decidedly long: in the rapid delivery of col- 
 loquial intercourfe, almofh all are generally fhort. 
 But folemn elocution will often give them length, 
 where not followed by a confonant within the 
 fyllable; and for the purpofe of emphalis, as we 
 have feen, a fhort fyllable may fometimes become 
 long. Otherwife the rules of quantity are the 
 fame for grave as for acuted fyllables. A long 
 vowel, if fupported by a following confonant, will 
 make a long fyllable, with a grave, equally as with 
 an acute accent; and two confonants, diftinctly 
 articulated, tho the preceding vowel be fhort, 
 whether the accent be acute or grave, will make 
 the fyllable formed with that vowel, long. 
 
 The PL ACE of the EMINENT ACCENT inwordsi? 
 decided, for every language, by its own rules. For 
 the Latin, as we learn from the higheft authority/ 
 thofe rules were very few and funple; for the 
 Greek more various. The accentuation of Eng- 
 lilh fpeech has its laws, of which Johnfon, in his 
 grammar prefixed to his Dictionary, has given a 
 
 collection, 
 
 Quintil. de or.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 69 
 
 collection, yet it has with them much irregularity. 
 The moft methodical and completed view of its 
 rules and its anomalies, yet publifhed, is in Nares's 
 Orthoepy i apparently a juvenile work, yet of 
 great merit, and to which the author's revifion, in 
 maturer years, might give very high value. 
 
 The ACCENTUATION feems to be among the 
 circumftances of language lead liable to change. 
 When new words indeed are introduced from 
 another language, the accentuation of thole words 
 may be for ibme time uncertain. Thus, in Chau- 
 cer's time, words from the French, ending in 
 our, as honour, favour, admitted the acute on 
 the laft, where the convenience of riming poets 
 would have fixed it ; but the genius of Englifli 
 fpeech has long fmce given it irremoveably 
 to the penultimate. Thus alfo Spenfer pro- 
 nounced melancholy, with the acute on the ante- 
 penultimate, while Milton gave the acute to the 
 firft fyllable, where it remains eftablimed. An 
 affectation of forein idiom has of late years gone 
 far toward aboliihing the proper Englilh pro- 
 nuntiation of the word inviron, which had been 
 an EngliQi word at leaft from Shakefpear's age, 
 and fubftituting a French pronuntiation for it, 
 with curious abfurdity, adds the Englifh fign of 
 the plural, the s, which French pronuntiation 
 abhors. But inftances of fuch violent and power- 
 ful depravity in the fafhion of fpeech are rare. 
 Neverthelefs for the abundance of exceptions to 
 
 F 3 rules
 
 jQ INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 rules in Englifli fpeech, all modern compilers of 
 dictionaries, juftly weighing the importance of a 
 proper accentuation, have thought it neceflary to 
 mark, in every word, the place of the eminent 
 accent. * 
 
 1 In fome late publications, we find the mark of the acute 
 accent applied to indicate, not an accent, but the articulation 
 only of a final e. By this (no reafonable imitation of the 
 French, who, acknowleging no accent in their language, ufe 
 the fign of the acute to diftinguifli what they call their maf- 
 culine *.) the writers, or perhaps rather the printers, have been 
 ufing their ability, which however it may be hoped is not very 
 great, to add moft inconveniently to the exifling confufion and, 
 
 / f 
 
 Uncertainties of Englifli orthography.
 
 SARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 7! 
 
 SECTION V. 
 Of RHYTHMUS or CADENCE. 
 
 HAVING obferved what are the varieties of found 
 in Englilh fpeech, produced by articulation, and 
 Jiow reprefented in Englifh orthography, what the 
 proportionate meafures, or quantities of time re- 
 quired for a juft delivery of EngliQi fyllables, and 
 how far alfo indicated by orthography and what 
 the tones by which fpeech has the grace of me- 
 lody and energy of expreffion, we mould be pof- 
 felTed of all neceflary preparation for the inquiry, 
 What is the rhythmus or cadence of Englifh fpeech, 
 the foundation of order in the diftribution of ar- 
 ticulate founds, through the good or ill manage- 
 ment of which the flow of profe is pleaiing or of- 
 fenfive, and whereon refts the whole mechanifm of 
 verfe. 
 
 Among the antient writers, from whom anything 
 remains on the fubjetft, we find mufical and poeti- 
 cal harmony univerfally confidered as holding the 
 moft intimr.te connection, as being fundamentally 
 the fame thing. ' The doctrine of the harmony 
 * of language, even of profe,' fays one of the 
 ableft and moft elegant of the Grecian critics, 
 ' belongs to the fcience of mufic ;' and, accord- 
 ing to the chief of the Roman, c Grammar can- 
 F 4 * not
 
 7* INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 ( not be complete without mufic, as it muft treat 
 ' of rhythmus and meafures.' y If then modern 
 writers, and writers of great ability and great 
 learning, have been univerfally unfatisfactory in 
 treating of thofe fubjects, if the moft learned have 
 mown themfelves evidently at a lofs to underftand 
 much of what remains from the antients upon 
 them, it appears tome to have been owing, in fome 
 perhaps to a total ignorance of mufic, but, in all, 
 to a failure of duly confidering the neceflary and 
 intimate connexion of mufic with poetry, and 
 the identity of poetical and mufical meafures. 
 For the texture of mufical cadence, we find, is 
 readily comprehended by all of moderately accu- 
 rate organs, who give it any attention. The dif- 
 ficulties of poetical cadence, feem to arife moftly 
 from the perplexities of articulation, in the various 
 combinations of elementary founds in fyllables. 
 To begin therefore with confidering the nature 
 and differences of cadences in. mufic, and then 
 proceed to obferve the analogy which the cadences 
 of poetry bear to them, will be found, I think, the 
 
 ready, 
 
 y Mot><n)c>} y TK i/> ta* v TUV Trofarw.uiii hoyuv Itr^T^'^- Dion. 
 Hal. de ftruft. or. f. 1 1. Turn nee citramuficen grammatice po- 
 teft efle perfedla, cum ei de rhythmis metrifque dicendum fit. 
 Quintil. Inft. or. 1. i.e. 4. The intimacy of the original con- 
 necYion of mufic and poetry, whence the word Mov~w defcribed 
 both, will come under confideration in the fequel. In the 
 paflage above cited from Dionyfius, the meaning of that word, 
 as Dr. Fofter, in his Eflay on Accent and Quantity, has well 
 bferved, is limited to mufic by the context.
 
 HARMONY Itf LANGUAGE. 7 3 
 
 ready, tho, among the moderns, yet untrodden 
 way, to a juft perception of the principles of the 
 harmony of language, and of the mechanifm of 
 verfe. For this- the reader muft be prepared with 
 fome knowlege of mufic, without which indeed 
 to fpeak intelligibly to him of the principles of 
 harmony in fpeech, can hardly be pofiVble. But 
 a very fmall amount of mufical knowlege, the 
 meer rudiments of mulical grammar may fufHce. 
 To avoid fuperfluous detail therefore, it may per- 
 haps be allowed me to fuppofe information fo 
 commonly poffefled, and fo eafy for any to ac- 
 quire. 
 
 The cadences of that mufic which is now cul- 
 tivated throughout Europe, are familiarly known, 
 to all acquainted with its firft rudiments, by the 
 names of COMMON TIME and TRIPLE TIME: they 
 are in a degree known, even to thofe wholly un- 
 inflructed -, for there are few who, from the practice 
 of hearing alone, do not readily perceive the dif- 
 ference between the cadence of a march and the 
 cadence of a minuet, the only kinds of mulical 
 cadences effentially different; under which all 
 other varieties, and thofe but few, are comprized. 
 
 In the modern notation of mufic, the genus and 
 fpecies of the cadence, common time, with its 
 varieties, and triple time with its varieties, are 
 always indicated by their appropriate marks at 
 the beginning of the drain. Moreover, the limits of 
 every cadence arc diftinguifhed, by flrokes, called 
 
 BARS;
 
 74 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 BARS; a term which, by an ordinary, yet inconve* 
 nient, licence for inaccuracy in language, is alfo 
 employed to fignify what is included between thofe 
 ftrokes, namely the notes altogether conftituting 
 the cadence. 
 
 COMMON TIME is exhibited, in its fimpleft form 
 
 by two notes of equal length; TRIPLE TIME by 
 
 three notes of equal length. But in a feries of 
 
 jiotes, all of equal length, their time alone cannot 
 
 mark any cadence ; for fuch a feries can imprefs the 
 
 ear only as a repetition of fingle notes. To mark 
 
 cadence by meafure of time alone, there muft be 
 
 contraft of quantities of time, longer notes and 
 
 fhorter, fo differing that their proportions may be 
 
 obvious to the ear. If then, of two equal notes, 
 
 conftituting a bar or cadence of common time, 
 
 one be divided, and a feries be compofed of notes fo 
 
 combined, namely one longer and two fhorter, or 
 
 two fhorter and one longer alternately, the longer 
 
 equal in time to the two fhorter, the ear cannot 
 
 hefitate about the character of the cadence; com- 
 
 - mon time will be decidedly indicated. So alfo if, 
 
 of three equal notes conftituting a bar or cadence 
 
 of triple time, two be blended, fo that the feries 
 
 be compofed of notes alternately fhorter and longer, 
 
 or longer and fhorter, the longer double in time 
 
 ,to the iliorter, triple time will be clearly marked. 
 
 This, which we are fully allured was the principle 
 
 of the mechanifrn of Greek and Latin verification, 
 
 feems with fufficient certainty, alfo to have been 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. ^ 
 
 the principle of the Greek rrmiical cadences, which 
 would therefore be fundamentally the fame as the 
 modern. 
 
 But, without variation in the time of notes, 
 character of cadence may be indicated through 
 means of an affifting power, the regular return of 
 Something emphatical in tone. Modern mufic, 
 at lead the very modern, conftantly ufes the in- 
 ftrumentality of tone for the purpofe; and is not 
 confined to a fingle method of applying it. With 
 the voice, and with inftruments capable, like 
 voice, of ready variation in loudnefs and in man- 
 ner of found, the oeginning of every bar is com- 
 monly diftinguifhed by an emphatical note, fome- 
 times called, by writers on mufic, the ACCENTED 
 NOTE. The cadence is thus, efpecially in mufic to 
 accompany dancing, often very ftrongly marked. 
 With inftruments like the harpficliord. incapable of 
 variety in the manner of producing found, and in- 
 capable or unreadily capable of variety in loudnefs, 
 afliflance is derived from an under part or bafs. 
 If the bafs have a fhort and a long note alternately, 
 it will mark the character of triple time very ef- 
 fectually for an accompanying upper part com- 
 pofed of equal notes ; and if the bafs have a long 
 and two fhort notes alternately, it will mark com- 
 mon time for an accompanying upper part of 
 equal notes. If the bafs have only one note in 
 every bar, and that ftruck with the firfl note of 
 the upper part, whether in triple or common time, 
 
 the*
 
 ^6 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 then it will have the effect of giving ftrong em- 
 phafis to the firft note of the bar, and fo mark 
 the cadence powerfully. Nor is the advantage 
 fmall which modern mufic draws from thefe me- 
 thods of marking cadence; not only as a feries of 
 equal notes in the principal air may thus have 
 character of time clearly indicated, but further as, 
 in a feries of notes fo varied in length, or fo mi- 
 nutely fubdivided, as to bewilder the unaffifted 
 ear, the regular return of the emphatical note fuf- 
 fices to keep the character of the cadence clearly 
 exhibited. Hence then arifes opportunity both 
 for more fimpHcity in mufic, and for more variety, 
 than if the cadence were marked by quantity, or 
 meaiure of time, alone. 
 
 We have obferved that a feries of equal notes 
 can, by their time alone, mark no cadence. A 
 iingle note therefore, extended through the time 
 of a bar, cannot originally excite the idea of any 
 cadence. It wants that character, arifing from 
 obvious proportion of parts, which may inable the 
 ear to diftinguifh it from other meafure of time. 
 Yet, though incapable of originally exciting the 
 idea of any cadence, yet, occafionally intervening, 
 and not too often repeated, among more charac- 
 teriftical meafures, it may carry on the idea of a 
 meafure previoufly indicated. But, in any feries 
 of equal notes, the regular return of emphafis 
 will mark the character of time very decidedly. 
 If it occurs on every other note, common time 
 
 * will
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. f>j 
 
 will be indicated; if on every third, triple time; 
 if on every fourth, common time will be marked 
 aain ; it will be a kind of double common time. 
 
 O * 
 
 Five notes of equal length, however affifted by 
 emphafis, will be a meafure not readily diflin- 
 guifhed by the ear in the flow of mufic : its pro- 
 portions are too little obvious: in modern mufic 
 therefore it is unknown. But the meafure of fix 
 equal notes, affifted by the indication of emphafis, 
 will be fufficiently obvious, as a duplication of 
 triple time. If five notes are a combination per- 
 plexing to the ear, feven will be ftill more fo, and 
 eight can be but a reduplication of common time. 
 Of minuter divifions, ordinary in modern mufic, 
 our purpofe will not require any notice here. 
 
 The fundamental varieties of cadence in mufic 
 being then no more than the two fo generally and 
 familiarly known by the names of common time 
 and triple time, we may proceed to obferve what 
 there is in language, that may bear any analogy to 
 thofe mufical cadences. It will be obvious to all, 
 in any degree accuftomed to obferve language in 
 connection with mufic, how faftidioufly Englifti 
 ears require the coincidence of the mufical accent 
 with the orthoepical,of the firft or emphatical note 
 of the bar with the acute or ftrong accent of a juft 
 pronuntiation. Even the moft unlearned will take 
 offence where this coincidence fails. Hence it is 
 that foreiners, the ableft muficians, rarely fucceed 
 in fetting Englifh words to mufic. Handel, 
 
 tho
 
 fS INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 tho altogether wonderfully fuccefsful, has in 
 fome inftances fhown himfelf deficient in Englifh 
 accentuation; whereas hardly the loweft Englifh 
 compofers fail of producing the juft accordance 
 between the mufical and the orthoepical accents. 
 
 But, in regard to any agreement between mufi- 
 cal times and fyllabical quantities, a general indif- 
 ference is obvious. Here and there, indeed, we 
 may difcover, if we look for it, among the works 
 of the befl Englifh compofers, what indicates 
 fome feeling of quantity in fpeech; but, in general, 
 neither in the habits and prejudices of Englifh ears 
 (and full as little in thofe of any other modern 
 European people) nor in the practice of the beft 
 muiical compofers, is there any appearance of foli- 
 citude about it. Long fyllables are continually 
 fet to fhort notes, and fhort fyllables receive double, 
 triple, any length of time, if not with perfect fatif- 
 faction to a difcerning ear, attending not to the 
 mufic alone, but to the meaning of the fong, yet 
 without anything like the difguft fo ready and fo 
 univerfal, from offence to the orthoepical accen- 
 tuation. 
 
 If mufic, fome wild kind of mufic, originated 
 earlier, as Lucretius imagi ned, from the fong of birds, 
 yet a regular mufic, fuch as alone we fhould now 
 call mufic, feems to have had one birth with poetry. 
 The oldeft literary compofitions, among all nations, 
 are found to be fongs, in which a meafured flow 
 of language has been accompanied by a fimilarly 
 ^ meafured
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 79 
 
 meafured mufical melody. Profe is adverfe to 
 connection with mufic. Every cadence and 
 meafure, indeed, of which language is capable, will 
 occur in profe; but that regular arrangement of 
 cadences, which, in poetry cannot be for a moment 
 difpenfed with, in profe is no fooner perceived than 
 it offends. If, in modern times, profe has fome- 
 times been fuccefsfully fet to mufic, by Handel 
 with the higheft fuccefs, it has been through in- 
 genious ufe of the modern licence to affign any 
 length of note, and any number of notes, to any 
 fyllable. Thus the modern compofer has been 
 inabled to bring the orthoepical accents of the loofc 
 order of profe to that exact coincidence with the 
 meafured arrangement of the emphatical notes of 
 mufic, which, beyond all things, in the connection 
 of language with mufic, the modern ear requires. 
 But thus profe has no longer the flow of profe. It 
 acquires, through this forced connection with mu- 
 fic, the meafured ftep of verfe. Recited in fuch 
 regularly meafured time, with the tones of language 
 only, it would not be borne; whereas, on the other 
 hand, that freedom from all ftriking formality of 
 arrangement, which, in the delivery of profe the car 
 faftidiouily demands, is directly repugnant to any 
 alliance with mufic. / 
 
 According to Grecian tradition, the regularity 
 of ftroke by which two or three fmiths, beating on 
 one anvil, with hammers of different fizes, avoid 
 interference, and produce regular returns of varying 
 
 founds,
 
 80 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 founds, gave the firft idea of cadence. But the 
 human voice, and equally a pipe or flute, fup- 
 pofed the earlieft mufical inftrument, would be 
 obferved to have great advantage, by their power of 
 holding tones, not only over the hammers, but over 
 thofe ftringed inftruments, of very early invention 
 alfo, whole found is produced by a ftroke. The 
 fyllables of the Greek language then being ob- 
 ferved, in common fpeech, to- be fome longer and 
 fome fhorter, the longer generally double in time 
 to the ihorter, a regular arrangement of fuch 
 fyllables in fpeech was found, of itfelf, to produce 
 a cadence gratifying to the ear. With the flute 
 that cadence could be perfectly imitated ; but 
 with the hammers, or a mufical inftrument ftruck 
 with the finger or with a plectrum, the imitation 
 would be very imperfect ; the found, not indeed 
 of neceflity abfolutely ceafing, but finking and 
 becoming evanefcent in the moment after the 
 ftroke. The poetical meafures of the Greeks 
 therefore, and of their imitators the Latins, were 
 formed on the principle of mufical time-keeping, 
 with long and fliort notes, like the notes of a flute 
 Accordingly we find wind-inftruments were prin- 
 cipally ufed by them for accompanying recitative 
 on the ftage. 
 
 The cadence of the modern European languages 
 bears a much clofer analogy to the imagined 
 origin of the fifter arts. How it came to vary 
 from the cadence of thofe languages to which we 
 
 owe
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 8l 
 
 owe the beft principles of good tafte in all literature, 
 may be matter for future fpeculation. It may 
 fuffice to mention here, what will be fhown more 
 completely in the fequei, that the cadence of the 
 modern European languages is indicated, not by 
 the regular arrangement of long and fhort fyllables, 
 but by arrangement of the accents of fpeech in 
 coincidence with the ftrokes of the rhythmical 
 hammers ; the acute or ftrong accent correfpond- 
 ing with the fledge's blow. A regular, or nearly 
 regular divifion of time being ftill the object, yet 
 accent operating as the time-beater, the ear be- 
 comes fo ingaged with the effect of accent, that 
 exactnefs in the arrangement and expreffion of 
 quantities is lei's important ; irregularities, hidden 
 or difguifed, palling unregarded. 
 
 We have already remarked that, in modern 
 mufic, tho the arrangement of times, or, in gram- 
 matical phrafe, quantities, be ftrictly obferved, 
 ftill fomethingof an emphatical accent is important 
 as a time-beater. It fuffices then that the accent 
 of fpeech operate as a time-beater, to affaire the 
 ready affociation of modern verfe with modern 
 mufic. 
 
 It will be obvious to all who have any fami- 
 liarity with Englifh poetry, that a regularity in 
 the difpofition of accents is its moft ftrikino; cha- 
 ractcriftic. The far greater part of our poetry is 
 marked by the prevailing alternacy of an acute 
 
 G and
 
 82, INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 and a grave, or a ftronger and weaker accent ; as 
 in the firft lines of Pope's Effay on Man, 
 
 Awake | my Saint j John, leave } all meanjer things, 
 - To low | ambition and | the pride j of kings. 
 
 or thefe of Addifon, 
 
 When all j thy mdrjcies, 6 [ my God, 
 
 My rijfing foul | furveys; 
 Tranfporjted with | the view | I'm 16ft, 
 
 In wonjder, love, | and praife. 
 
 A far fmaller portion of it is diftinguimed by the 
 -return of the acute accent on every third fyllable. 
 -as in thefe of Swift, 
 
 And we 6r|der our fui>|jes of eVjry degree, 
 To belfeve \ all his ver|fes were writjten by mi. 
 
 or thefe of Shenftone, 
 
 With her mien | fhe inajmors the brave, 
 
 With her wit | fhe ingajges the free, 
 With her mojdefty pleajfes the grave : 
 
 She is ev'jry way pleajfing to me. 
 
 . If we proceed then to examine Englifh poetry 
 in combination with mufic, it will be found that, 
 by the former of thefe arrangements of the accents, 
 language is adapted to ready and intimate coali- 
 tion with mulic in common time, and by the 
 latter equally to coalition with mufic in triple time; 
 fo that the only two cadences known to our poetry, 
 are clofely analogous to the only two cadences 
 known in modern mufic, or, perhaps it might be 
 laid, are the fame with thefe mufical cadences 
 
 which
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 8j 
 
 which are called COMMON TIME and TRIPLZ 
 TIME. 
 
 Neverthelefs as even profe, through licence for 
 extending or curtailing the time of its fyllables, 
 may, with all its abhorrence of regularity, be 
 forced into coalition with mufical meafures, fo> 
 through the fame licence, by a more regular and 
 fyftematical violence, tho never without violence, 
 verfe of one cadence may be adapted to mufic 
 of the other ; examples of which will be readily 
 obvious to thofe in any degree familiar with mo- 
 dern fong. But the aptitude and tendency of 
 verfe of either CADENCE, is to coalefce with 
 mufic of the analogous TIME, and with that only. 
 
 Names are wanted for our poetical cadences. 
 To ufe, as too often we find practifed, thofe of 
 the antient metrical feet, iambic, trochaic, ana- 
 peftic, is to make a grofs and mofb inconvenient 
 confufion of terms. Analogy feems to indicate 
 the appellation of COMMON, or EVEN CADENCE, 
 for that which correfponds with the common time 
 of mufic, and TRIPLE CADENCE for that which 
 correfponds with triple time. 
 
 G 2,
 
 C4 INQUIRY" INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Of the Mechanifm of ENGLISH VERSE: Epic; Lyric; 
 Dramatic. 
 
 VERSE is diftinguifhed from profe by order in the 
 arrangement of founds. 
 
 Order, in a certain degree, a harmony, a fit- 
 nefs of parts to each other, is neceiTary to elegance 
 in everything; the flow of founds in common 
 difcourfe cannot be pleafing without it.* 
 
 But any obvious regularity in the flow of founds 
 in common difcourfe is offenfive. A rime, inci- 
 dentally dropping, feldom fails to appear ridicu- 
 lous : a feries of blank verfe, and ftill more a 
 feries of rimes, would appear grofsly abfurd. The 
 order of founds in profe, like the order of forms 
 in a beautiful landfcape, not to be decided by 
 rule and line, requires that art mould never mow 
 itfelf. But, on the contrary, the order of founds 
 in poetry, like the forms of a beautiful building, 
 muft be fo decidedly regular as to be obvioufly 
 artificial. 
 
 The analogical differences of profe and poetry, 
 and landfcape and architecture, farther purfued, 
 may farther illuftrate the fubject. Architecture, tho 
 refting on fo different a principle, not only may 
 
 * Tl^jrs l TO MeTgoy ex Qtov, per^a TO. rs 
 E>ocrp;xoTo?* A^fAoyi* yg TJ !r xo rot's 
 
 Longin. Fragtn. 
 
 be
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 8^ 
 
 be admitted in landfcape, but may greatly adorn 
 it. Its regularity, to a certain point, is highly 
 advantageous for contraft. Beyond that, it muft 
 be carefully difguifed. The exactnefs of the paral- 
 lelarity of its lines muft be leflened by perfpective : 
 their continuity muft be broken, by a tree eroding 
 them, or by throwing the building isto ruin. 
 So in profe, parts of verfes continually may and 
 muft be admitted : even a whole verfe often may 
 be ornamental : but its regularity rnuft be con- 
 cealed by the flow of founds preceding and fol- 
 lowing. The form of a verfe, even of a por- 
 tion of a verfe, cannot obtrude itfelf upon the 
 ear, in the flow of profe, without offence. Equally 
 offenfive then in architecture is the irregular 
 line of a clumfy workman, which may approach 
 in fome degree the picturefk, and in poetiy the 
 irregular meafure of the ill-eared verifier, of which 
 the common cenfure is expreffed by the word 
 profaic. In verfe and in architecture art muft be 
 evident j and, to fatisfy, it muft mow itfelf exquifite. 
 lloughnefs, indeed, well introduced, may pleafe ; 
 as, in a building, rufticated ftone-work ; yet any 
 difproportion, any perceptible inexactnefs, in up- 
 rights, parallels, angles, or the turn of arches, will 
 furely offend the eye. So, in poetry, tho there 
 are admired examples of rough found, yet any 
 obvious deficiency in that order, that fitnefs of 
 parts, which characterizes poetical harmony, will 
 furely offend the ear. 
 
 c 3 Order
 
 26 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Order is made obvious to the eye, in a building, 
 by the regular diftribution of contrafted, yet con- 
 necled forms ; as pillars of equal fizes, with their 
 equal intervals around a temple, connected by the 
 even pavement on which they ftand, and by the 
 fuperimpending intablature, parallel to the pave- 
 ment : in the fimpler form of a private dwelling, 
 by piers and windows, with a plinth below, and 
 a cornice above ; or meerly an eave will have its 
 effect. Order is, in analogous manner, made 
 obvious to the ear, in mufic and poetry, by the 
 regular arrangement of contrafted founds ; as time 
 longer and fhorter, or tone fliarper and flatter, 
 ftronger and weaker ; by which cadence is formed. 
 
 Rhythmus or cadence is the fimpleft combina- 
 tion, the loweft meafure, by which evident order can 
 be given to the found of either mufic or fpeech. 
 All prdfe may be analyzed into cadences, and all 
 verfe is formed by a regular arrangement of the 
 fame cadences. In common fpeech, or profe, a 
 mixture of cadences, fuch that regularity may 
 not be obtrufive, and art, if ufed, may be hidden, 
 is indifpenfable to the fatisfaction of the ear. In 
 verfe, on the contrary, as we have obferved in the 
 comparifon with landfcape and architecture, ca- 
 dences muft be difpofed with obvious regularity, 
 a regularity that cannot efcape the ear. : 
 
 But language difpofed regularly .in cadence, 
 without form or proportion beyond what cadence 
 alone can give, would foon become wearifome and 
 
 difguftinor.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 87 
 
 dlfgufting." Variety, as one of the mod elegant 
 of the antient critics has obferved/ is To neceilary 
 to a plealing flow of language, that the moil elegant 
 fymmetry of verfe cannot, in any lengthened feries, 
 atone for the want of it. To combine variety with 
 fymmetry has therefore been the great bufinefs of 
 the inventors of both poetry and mulic. With 
 this view was imagined the arrangement of cadences 
 in fmall combinations, holding relation to each 
 other, yet feparated each by fuch boundaries, and 
 having each within itfelf fuch form, proportion, 
 and felf-confiftency, that the ear, in perceiving 
 the relation of each to the others, would alfo ac- 
 knowlege each as a whole by itfelf. Such whole 
 or integral, in poetry, forming a larger profodial 
 meafure, we call a VERSE j the kind, in the abftracl:, 
 being defignated by the name verfe without the 
 article j as we call our 'own ipecies, in the abftracl;, 
 man, the individual a man. 
 
 In modern mufic, as the fmaller integrals, called 
 bars, have more regularity than the cadences of 
 modern poetry, fo the greater require generally 
 Jefs j tho perhaps not lefs than is allowed to that 
 commonly called Pindaric verfe. The greater in- 
 tegral, formerly termed a ftrain, rather wants a 
 name in modern ufe. In effect it is diftinguiQied 
 by the clofe [or fall, more or lefs complete, which 
 gives it termination. 
 
 b Rhythmi neque finem habent certum, nequc ullum In 
 contextu varietatem. Quinctil. Strudl. Or. 1. 9, c. 4. 
 
 c Dion. Hal. 
 
 04 To
 
 88 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 To difcover the mechanifm of verfe, and through 
 that mechanifm exemplify the principles of har- 
 mony in language, we muft analyze verfe. The 
 verfe of Englifti poetry may be confidered as di- 
 vided into Epic, and Lyric. Epic, in its etymo- 
 logy, meaning narrative, has its name from being 
 the verfe beft adapted to lengthened narration; 
 and, being for that reafon fitter for heroic poetry, 
 has obtained alfo the title of Heroic verfe. The kind 
 of mufic which we call Recitative, is that with which 
 it has mofl fitnefs to coalefce. Lyric verfe is fo 
 named from its fuperior aptitude for that richer and 
 higher wrought mufic which we call Air or Tune. 
 The Dramatic has lefs a diftinct character, yet may 
 require fome degree of diflinct confideration. 
 
 Pope has had extenfive credit as the laft refiner 
 of Engliftt verification, carrying it to a perfection 
 beyond which the language cannot go. The 
 firfl lines of his Eflay on Man, then, for the 
 fimplicity, as well as the acknowleged perfection 
 of their harmony, feem well adapted for a firft 
 example. I (hall divide the verfes into feet, and 
 mark both the quantities and accents of the fyl- 
 lables. For the grounds on which the quantities 
 are afligned, as the matter has never been treated 
 equally at large before, I muft neceffarily refer to 
 the obfervations in the foregoing fection on the 
 fubject. For the accents I (hall not differ from 
 the moft approved pronuntiation and the moil 
 approved dictionaries. To mark the quantities 
 I (hall ufe the characters in common ufe with 
 ^ grammarians,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 89 
 
 grammarians, a horizontal flroke for the long 
 quantity, a curved line for the mort quantity. 
 To mark the acute or flrong accent, I fhall 
 alfo ufe the character in common ufe with gram- 
 marians, namely, a {trait ilroke inclining from the 
 perpendicular to the right. We have noticed a 
 fecondary acute, or middle accent, as occurring oc- 
 cafionally in trifiylabical, and -always in longer 
 words: in the flow of fpeech, it frequently dif- 
 tinguimes monofyllables; and not feldom is the 
 principal accent of diflyllables. For this accent 
 I ufe the ftrait ftroke inclining from the perpendi- 
 cular to the left, being a mark unwanted for any 
 other purpofe. Where it may be requifite to de- 
 note Emphafis, thefe two marks united in a point 
 at top may ferve. Grave fyllables, commonly called 
 unaccented, will be fufficiently diftinguifhed by 
 being left unmarked. 
 
 Awike I my Saint j Jdhn, leave | all meanjer things, 
 
 To low | ambijtion and J the pride j of kings; 
 
 Let us, j since life | can litjtle more j supply 
 
 Than juft | to look | about | us and | to die, 
 
 Expajtiate free | o'er all | this fcene | of man, ^ 
 
 A migh|ty maze, | but n5t | without | a plan ; 
 
 A wild, j where weeds | and flowers { promlsjcuous fhoOt, 
 
 Or garjden, tempjtlng with J forbidjden fruit. 
 
 Togejthcr ler | us beat | this am|ple field, 
 
 Try what | the 6|pen, what J the colvert yield; i 
 
 The
 
 90 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 The lajtent trads, | the gid|cly heights | explore, 
 
 Of all j who bllnd|ly creep | or slghtjlefs foar; 
 
 it i i ^ 
 
 Eye najture's walks, | flioot foljly as | It flies, 
 
 And catch J the maujners livjing as | they rife : 
 
 X III 
 
 \ Laugh where | we muft, | be canjdid where | we can, 
 
 L - L _ ' 
 
 But vindicate | the ways j of God | to man. 
 
 In examining the quantities through thefe fix- 
 teen lines, we find them very varioufly difpofed. 
 Long fyllables predominate : but whether the fhort 
 fyllables be more or fewer ; whether they occupy 
 more the beginning of the verfe, or the middle or 
 the end ; whether the mort fyllable be the firft or 
 the laft of a foot, or both, or neither ; as far as 
 any fuch variations are carried in thefe fixteen lines, 
 the verfe is fo equally a good verfe, of that one kind 
 called epic or heroic, that to chufe between 
 the better and the worfe would be difficult. A 
 difference of effect indeed is obvious, and the 
 variety, far from objectionable, is pleafmg. But 
 it is a variety evidently not reducible to rule ; fo 
 that the difpofition of long and fhort quantities 
 cannot be the foundation of that order which con- 
 ilitutes the verfe. 
 
 Not fo of the accents. In the diftribution of 
 thefe we find a ftrict regularity. Alternate fyllables 
 bear the acute. Here and there indeed the acute 
 is of the weaker kind, and in three inftances, two 
 in the thirteenth line, and one in the fifteenth, 
 each fyllable of the foot has a flrong accent. 
 . Neverthelefs THE GENERAL RULE is here fuf- 
 
 ficiently
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 1 
 
 ficiently indicated, that, IN ENGLISH EPIC 
 
 VERSE THE ALTERNATE SYLLABLES ARE 
 
 ACUTED. We have obferved, in the preceding 
 fedion, how this difpofition of the accents produces 
 accordance between verfe of the even or common 
 cadence, and muiic in common time. 
 
 Proof of the rule then may be gained from ex- 
 periment in breach of it. The name SAINT- 
 JOHN, in the firft of thefe verfes, as the family 
 name- of the perfon to whom the poem was ad- 
 drefled, is always pronounced as one word, with 
 the firft fyllable acuted. The fame two fyllables, 
 equally as one compound word, bearing only one 
 acute accent, but on the laft fyllable, delignates, in 
 common fpeech, the apoftle and evangelift John. 
 It may perhaps be neceffary here to obferve, that I 
 reckon the accentuation of a juft delivery, and 
 not the ephemerid famion of orthography, the tefl 
 of a compound word : where two words are fo 
 joined that a juft pronuntiation allows them but 
 one acute accent, they become really one word. 
 Now the firft line of the EfTay on Man, with the 
 word Saint-John fpoken (for fo the poet intended) 
 as the family name, is a verfe fo clearly harmonious 
 that even children will perceive it ; and it is not 
 only harmonious, but it unites dignity with grace 
 in its ftep. Change the pronuntiation of the 
 name Saint-John only by the accent; move the 
 acute from the firft to the laft fyllable, as would 
 be neceflary to defignate Saint-John the evangelift, 
 and the harmony of the verfe is ruined. Nor does 
 
 it
 
 9$ INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 it thus become a good profe period: it is ftill 
 verfe, but of another kind ; its dignity is gone 3 
 its former grace is gone ; and if grace is ftill per- 
 ceptible, it is of another character j as in the 
 well known humorous fong, 
 
 A cobler there was, who lived in a flail : 
 or Swift's, 
 
 Next day, to be fure, the captain will come 
 
 At the head of his troop, with trumpet and drum. 
 
 Judgment. 
 
 Nor could thofe even who have been habituated 
 to confound accent with quantity, and to confider 
 all acuted fyllables as long, and all grave or weakly 
 toned as fhort, eafily avoid to perceive, in the 
 inftance of the name Saint-John, that the difference 
 arifes not from quantity (if quantity mean the 
 TIME employed in pronuntiation) but fimply from 
 tone or accent. For, not to fpeak of the paufe 
 requifite between the name Saint- John and the 
 following word, it is impoffible to articulate the 
 liquid confonant / after the liquid confonant 
 without moft evident delay of the voice, fo that 
 the time neceflarily to be employed in pro- 
 nouncing the fyllable JOHN, and proceeding to 
 pronounce the fyllable LEAVE, muft, in com- 
 parifon of the time necefTary if a vowel imme- 
 diately followed, be obvioufly long. 
 I Englifli Epic verfe then, requiring no certain 
 ' j diftribution of Quantities, requires a very exacl 
 
 arrangement
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 93 
 
 arrangement of Accents. Generally it will have 
 the acute on alternate fyllables; and rude, un- 
 tutored ears are found commonly incapable of 
 perceiving the harmony of verfe, where a per- 
 fect regularity in that difpofition of the accent 
 fails; fo that they would have the voice force 
 the tones to it, tho againfl the proper pronun- 
 tiation of words. But the formality of that dif-- 
 pofition, unvaried, foon becomes tirefomei and 
 better practifed organs readily difpenfe with it 
 in fome degree. Under what limitations it 
 will be neceflary to inquire ; but, as a prepara- 
 tory ftep, it may be advantageous firft to take 
 fome notice of two other matters, which co- 
 operate in giving variety and character to Englifh 
 verfe. 
 
 While the intricacies of accerrt and quantity 
 feem to have deterred fome of our ableft critics 
 from the inveftigation of their effect, another 
 incident of Engliili verfe, has ingaged their atten- 
 tion. In every epic verfe there is a critical 
 PAUSE. Far lefs important than either accent or 
 quantity, and of fo quiet and unobtrufive a nature 
 that it remained, till later times, unnoticed, the 
 paufe is however of confiderable power toward the 
 general effect of the verfe. Pope, in one of his pub- 
 limed letters, written in early youth, has named, for 
 the proper places of the paufe, the end of the fourth, 
 fifth, and fixth fyllables; and on judicioufly vary- 
 ing it among theie fituations, he has faid, much of 
 
 the
 
 94 INQUIRY 1 INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the merit of verification depends/ But, in ma- 
 turer age, it appears, he found that greater latitude 
 might be allowed. In the third line of the Efiay 
 on Man the paufe follows the fecond fyllable : 
 in the fourth it is after the feventh : in the 
 feventh line it occurs again after the fecond 
 fyllable, and in the eighth it follows the third. 
 Nor, as we may hereafter fee, is .it confined, by 
 Pope's own practice, -or by that of the beft of our 
 other poets, even to thefe additional fituations. 
 Generally indeed, according' to his firft rule, it 
 mould be found at the end of the fecond foot, 
 or in the middle of the third, or at the end of the 
 third ; but it may occafionally appear in any part 
 of the verfe. Like a fimilar paufe fometimes in- 
 troduced in mufic, which is confidered as extrane- 
 ous to the beaten time, and making no part of 
 the complement of the bar, this poetical pr.ufe is 
 extraneous to the 'cadence, and of confideration 
 only for its effect on the character of the verfc 
 altogether. 
 
 The other matter requiring notice is RIME ; an 
 ornament not of a quiet and unobtrufive character, 
 but, on. the contrary, fo forcing itfelf upon the 
 ear's notice, generally indeed, under good manage- 
 ment, agreeably, that, with fome of very grofs and 
 untutored perception, it Hands inftead almofl of 
 all other grace. By writers on verification it ha* 
 
 d Letters to and from Mr. Walfh. 
 
 been
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 9 - 
 
 been little confidered, but for its power of gratify- 
 ing the ear with accordance of found. It has how- 
 ever its obvious ufe, and a very important ufe, as 
 a time-beater. As Accent affifts the diftribution 
 of quantities, or fupplies the want of character in 
 the diftribution, to indicate the boundaries of the 
 primary profodial meafures, called cadences or 
 feet, ib Rime gives indication, not to be miftaken 
 or overlooked, 'of the boundaries of thofe larger 
 profodial meafures, compofed of feveral cadences 
 or feet, which we call verfes. For this purpofe 
 Rime is fo important, that, tho without analogy in 
 mufic, wholly unrelated to melody, and only in 
 its office of time-beater connected with meafure, 
 fcarcely caa any verfe in our language ftand with- 
 out it, except the epic, which indeed often difpenfes 
 with it moft advantageoufly. 
 
 To proceed then to the confideration of the 
 varieties allowed in the difcribution of accents, 
 afiifted by the paufe, in rimed and unrimed verfe. 
 
 The alternacy of a weak and a flrong accent, we 
 have obferved, is the regular indicant of the even or 
 common rhythmus. In the afibciation of the fitter 
 arts, the ill effect of a famenefs in the intonation of 
 the poetry is eafily obviated by the large and ready 
 powers of mufic. But when verfe is propofed for re- 
 citation without mutic, it behoves the poet to be 
 diligent and ingenious in the ufe of the fcanty re- 
 fources for variety, which the tones of common dif- 
 courfc afford. Accent however being not the con- 
 
 ftituent,
 
 96 INQUfRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ftituent, but the indicant only of meafure, he will 
 find that the force of the indication, once clearly 
 given, may in progrefs be occafionally remitted. 
 Ruder ears, indeed, as we have already obferved, are 
 apt to be difappointed by the failure of the ftrong 
 acute in its expected place : but the more practifed 
 organ, not wanting the continual return of the 
 more forcible time-beating, is relieved and gratified 
 by its occaiional and not unfrequent remifiion. 
 Accordingly the variety of freed allowance, in the 
 accentuation of verfe of the common cadence, is the 
 fubftitution of a weaker for the flronger acute. 
 
 The direct contrary of this, the ftrong accent on 
 each fyllable of the foot, is a variety alfo allowed oc- 
 cafionally, and with gratification to the ear. But 
 with acute or ftrong tone equal on each fyllable 
 of a foot, not lefs than with grave or weak tone 
 equal on each fyllable, that contrail fails, which 
 Ihould conftitute the time-beating, whereon the ear 
 is habituated to depend for indication of cadence. 
 No idea of cadence therefore can thus be originally 
 excited ; but the idea, once imprefled, will not be 
 deftroyed or even checked, for practifed ears, by 
 the occafional introduction of feet fo accented, 
 among feet which have the time-beating clearly 
 given. It is for the poet's judgement to beware 
 of an intemperate ufe of either of thefe fources of 
 variety; of the former efpecially in languages like 
 the Italian and Spanifli, abounding in words of 
 
 many
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 97 
 
 hiany iyllables ; of the latter in languages where 
 monoiyilables prevail, as in our own. 
 
 I have chofen my firft examples of verfe from 
 Pope, on account of the generally acknowleged 
 perfection of his verification. But the powers of 
 cadence may be more fairly offered to the judge- 
 ment of the ear, in verfe free from the overbearing 
 ornament of rime ; and mod fairly if alib without 
 pomp of diction j as in the following (imply beau- 
 tiful lines, among numbers that might be fele&ed 
 from Shakefpear: 
 
 The crow j doth sing | as fweetjly as | the lark, 
 When neijther is j atten|ded, and j I think t 
 
 The nlghjtlngale, | If flie | fliould sing j by day, 
 When evelry goofe | Is cackjilng, would | be thought 
 No better a j musician than J the wren. 
 
 Mnctiant of Venice, aft 5. 
 
 In theie verfes we find the remiffion alone of the 
 accent gives all the variety that, in five lines, as 
 far as depends upon accent, the ear requires. 
 
 In the third of the lines quoted from the EfTay 
 on Man, the mark, of the acute is placed on 
 the fecond fyllable, us. This has been ventured 
 under the fuppofition that, as philofophers, and 
 Specially poet -philofophers, not in France only 
 but elfewhere, have been fond of reckoning them- 
 felves the greateil of mankind, the bard may have 
 meant an emphatical oppofition in that pronoun 
 
 H to
 
 98 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 to the word KINGS in the preceding line. But, 
 were no fuch oppofition to be expreffed, the two 
 fyllables Let-us would be, in pronuntiation, only 
 one word, acuted on the firft. 
 
 This TRANSFER of the accent from the fecond to 
 the frrfi fyllable of the verfe, is of very frequent 
 occurrence in our poetry of the common cadence. 
 Rarely fo many lines together are found without 
 it as in the beginning of the Eflay on Man, and 
 often it occurs in many lines together ; as in thefe, 
 with feveral that follow, them, in the fame poem : 
 
 Thus- then j to man | the voice | of Na'ture fpake, 
 Go, from j the creajtures, thy J Inftruc|tlon take: 
 Learn from | the birds J what food | the thickjets yield ; 
 Learn from | the beafb j the phyjsic of | the field. 
 
 In the firfl foot of a verfe, this difpofiticn of 
 the accent is generally pleafing ; in any long feries 
 of verfes, as a variety, it is even indifpenfable ; 
 fcarcely in any repetition is it found tirefome ; 
 and yet it appears no imall anomaly. Not only 
 it is, like the irregular diilribution of quantities, 
 without analogy in mulic, but it has a decided 
 tendency to check and derange the accordance of 
 verfe with mulic. Neverthelefs perhaps we may 
 beft account for the fatisfacYion it affords, by 
 reference to what never fails to happen in the pro- 
 grefs of our familiarity with mufic. At firft the 
 ear is commonly moil gratified with airs of the 
 fimplefl divifion of time, but of ftrong or even 
 
 coarfe
 
 HARMONY. IN LANGUAGE. 99 
 
 coarfe contraft. 6f tones, and without accompani- 
 ment ; the fimpleft bafe rather diftrac"b than 
 pleafes. But, as fuch airs become familiar, the 
 ear begins not only to bear, but to require more. 
 An accompanying bafe, and minuter divifions of 
 time, perplexing no longer, are found gratifying ; 
 coarfe contrail grows offenfive, and the moft deli- 
 cate gradations of tone become delightful. So 
 alfo, in poetry, as all mull have obferved, the 
 wholly unlearned perceive the cadence of verfe 
 only in the regular return of a flrong accent at 
 equal intervals. With more practice, as in mufic, 
 the ear, improving in quicknefs and nicety of dif- 
 crimination, becomes faftidious. The regular re- 
 turn of an equal accent at equal intervals, tires 
 and annoys. The remiffion, the duplication, 
 and even the omiffion of the acute, fuccenlvely 
 become pleating and ceafe to fuffice for pleafure. 
 Accent therefore holding the lead among the con- 
 ftituents of verfe only as indication of meafure, if 
 its place may be varied, and the meafure not loft 
 to the ear, the variety will be likely, inftead of 
 offending, to gratify. 
 
 In truth we find this aberration of the accent, 
 in the firft foot of an epic verfe, fo far from in- 
 terfering with due indication of the intended 
 meafure, for practifed ears, that it may hold the 
 firft place in the firft verfe of a poem; where any 
 deficiency of indication of the intended meafure 
 would, 'more than anywhere elfe, be inconvenient 
 
 H 2 and
 
 fOO INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 and offenfive. We find it in the firfl foot of the 
 fccond and third books of the Effay on Man : 
 
 Know then thyfelf 
 
 Here then we reft 
 
 in that of the feeond and third cantoes of the 
 Rape of the Lock : 
 
 Not with more glories 
 
 Clofe by thofe meads 
 
 4nd in that of each of the two firff Imes of the 
 third book of the Iliad, 
 
 Thus by their leader's care eaeh martial band 
 
 Moves into ranks and ftretehes o'er the land. 
 
 So far indeed is it from offending, that rt will be 
 difficult to draw r from the practice of our mofl 
 approved poets, any rule for limiting its ufe. 
 
 Familiar however as this variation is in the firft 
 foot of a verfe r it is fo rarely found in any other, 
 at lead among our later poets,, that it may be a; 
 queftion whether they conlider it as allowable or 
 not. We find an example of it indeed in the 
 EfTay on Man, fo early as the thirty -third line, in 
 the fourth foot : 
 
 Is the | great chaia J that draws | all to } agree ; 
 
 but poflibly this, tho Pope's, and in the Eflay on. 
 Man, may be generally confidered as not an exam- 
 ple to be followed. 
 
 Examples however may be found, of very har- 
 monious verfeSj. with the aberration of the accent
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. JOT 
 
 in the third foot, and in the fourth, as in this of 
 Addifon, 
 
 It mft \ be f ; | Plato } thou reajfoneil we'll : 
 
 and even with the aberration in the firft, and in the 
 third or fourth of the fame verfe, as in the follow- 
 ing of Milton, 
 
 \ imperial powers, \ offspring J of heaven. 
 
 Mi/ton, Par. Loft, ii. 310. 
 the bright confummate flower 
 
 Spirits .j odojrous breathes ; \ flowers and j their fruit, 
 Man's nouriftiment. iv. 483.. 
 
 - So fteers the pjrudeat crane 
 Her annual voyage, borne on winds ; the air 
 Floats as .j they pafs, f| fan'd with unnumjber'd plumes. 
 
 vii. 432. 
 
 Hw art j thou 16ft {how, on | a fudjden, loft. 
 
 ix. 900. 
 
 But in thefe lines a paufc intervenes between 
 the two ftrong accents, fo that the latter begins a 
 hemiftic, which might ftand as an integral in the 
 verfification, a verie by itfelf; and hence apparently 
 the grace here, whicb, in the ye.rfe cjuotecj from 
 fope, is wanting. 
 
 Very rarely among our beft poets, we find the 
 aberration of the accen in the fecond foot. The 
 very firft line however of the Paradife Loft offers 
 an example of it : 
 
 Of man's | firft dis|obc|dience and j the fruit - 
 
 for the fecondary acute, on the firft fyllable of 
 iifibcdicnce t finks under the imprefiion made by the 
 preceding emphatical fyllables, mcuis and*jfy?. 
 
 H 3 The *
 
 IO2 INQUIRY INTO TH-E PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The effect of this variation is pleafing perhaps 
 to fome good ears and not to all. Our poets are 
 evidently fenlible that the introduction of it is 
 hazardous. 
 
 In the laft foot of a verfe the predominating 
 accent is ftriftly required in, its regular place, to 
 mark the termination, or, in mufical phrafe, the 
 fall or clofe. But why the aberration fhould be 
 fo freely allowed in the firfl foot, and fo hardly 
 in any other ; n the third and fourth only when, 
 as following a paufe, they are, in a manner, 
 another firft, and, in the fecond fo hardly that 
 no rule can be given for its allowance, is not very 
 obvious. What, however, has already been ob- 
 ferved of the effect of practice, may account for 
 it in fome degree. Thofe unpractifed ears, which, 
 tho naturally good, can hardly perceive cadence 
 where the weaker accent, even in the regular 
 place, is fubftituted for the ftronger, lofe it totally 
 with the transfer of the ftrong accent from' the 
 fecond fyllable-to the firft. But where habit has 
 made that transfer familiar, the cadence to follow 
 is as readily expected by the ear, on hearing a 
 portion of a verfe confifting of two feet, the firfl 
 acuted on the firft fyllable, and the fecond oh 
 the laft., as if the firft had its accent in the regular 
 place. That habit, which is powerful in all things, 
 has this power, may be farther gathered from a 
 comparifon of our own verification with that of 
 the moft harmonious language now perhaps fpoken 
 
 among
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 among men, the Italian j which refts on precifely 
 the lame principles as our own j and is in all the 
 more important points the fame as our own, differ- 
 ing in little circumftanccs hardly more than dia- 
 ledls of the fame language may differ. But re- 
 ierving more on this fubject for a future oppor- 
 tunity, we may beft proceed to obferve the analogy 
 between Englim poetical and mulical meafures. 
 
 To thofe acquainted with the firft rudiments 
 of mufic, it will be obvious, that, to adapt Eng- 
 gifh epic verfe, in its primary and moft proper 
 form, as in the two firft lines of the EfTay on Man, 
 to mufic in common time, the firft fyllable would 
 aflbrt with a note forming an incomplete portion 
 of a bar, the fecond with the firft note of a com- 
 plete bar; and the firft fyllable of the following line 
 would belong to the fame bar with the laft fyllable 
 of the former line. But if the verfe had the 
 double ending, allowed to Englim dramatic verfe, 
 and always required in Italian epic verfe, a paufe 
 of half a bar muft intervene; and fucb, in the 
 proper recitation of poetry, commonly does inter- 
 vene, between the conclulion of one, and the be- 
 ginning of the next verfe. In Englifh epic verfe 
 without the double ending, fuch paufe muft be, 
 like the paufe in the middle of the verfe, extrane- 
 ous to all menfuration of time ; a kind of break 
 in the time equally as in the found. In neither 
 cafe however, it might appear, ought the firft fyllable 
 of the verfe to be conlidered as extianeous to 
 the firft foot, which ihould begin with the acuted 
 
 H 4
 
 JO4 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fyllable, as the mufical bar with the correfponding 
 accented note. But, tho all poetical meafures are 
 of the fame origin with mufical meafures, and reft 
 ultimately on the fame principles, yet many cir- 
 cumftances in the exifting {late of both arts have 
 originated from their ieparation ; whence it has 
 become neceffary to find means for making poetry 
 pleafing in recitation without the embellifhment 
 of mufic, and mufic pleafmg in performance with- 
 out the intereft of fong. Hence, as we have ob- 
 ferved, has arifen that transfer of the accent, gratify- 
 ing, in poetry, to the ear which will not bear it in, 
 mulic. But this transfer, which produces difficulty 
 for the management of the accordance between 
 the mufical and orthoepical accents, fo ftriftly re- 
 quired in the connection of verfe with mufic, 
 produces 'no change of the times of the verfe; it 
 is meerly a change of the manner of time-beating. 
 As, then, th-e arrangement of mufic in bars has 
 been decided by the convenience of the mufical 
 performer, without any confederation of the con- 
 nection of mufic with poetry, fo the arrangement 
 of the fyllables of verfe in feet mould be decided by 
 the convenience of metrical analyfis, without re- 
 gard to thofe divifions which mufic has eftablifhec} 
 for its own feparate purpofes. For metrical analylis 
 jt will be found obviouily moft convenient to 
 divide the Englifii epic verfe into five complete 
 feet, whether in any of thofe feet the accent be 
 transferred from the fecond to the firft fyllable or 
 no, To follow the manner of the muiicians,
 
 HARMONY IN JLANCtTAGE. 105 
 
 would produce very awkward anomaly, wherever 
 the transfer of the accent occurs. 
 
 Our epic verfe is commonly called verfe often 
 fyllables; as the Italian epic, which has always the 
 additional unaccented iyllable, is named endecafil- 
 lubo. But the poetical or metrical fyllable is not 
 precifely the fame with the grammatical fyllable. 
 Occaiionally we find, among our beft and mod 
 harmonious verfiaers, two grammatical orthoepical 
 fyllables occupying the place of one poetical fylla- 
 ble j or, to fpeak in the more correct and appofitc 
 phrafe of the antient writers on the fubject, we 
 find feet of three fyllables filling only the meafurc 
 of the even cadence, which is generally fupplied by- 
 two. Our later poets, or their editors, feem much 
 to have feared any exhibition of the trhTyllabical 
 foot in verfe of that cadence; and the practice has 
 grown, in printing, to deform words by the elifion 
 of a vowel, not only where it were better pro- 
 nounced, but fometimes where it muft be pro- 
 pounced. Thus we find heavn and givn printed 
 for heaven and given, tho to pronounce heav'n or 
 giv'n as one fyllable is impoflible. The elided e 
 is indeed, if written, riot, a full-founded vowel, nor 
 is the fyllable formed with it euphonous, but a 
 diftinct fyllable it will be. In the verfes of all our 
 beft elder poets, but indeed of all our beft poets, 
 trirlyllabical feet are found, and generally fo found 
 that, as an occafional variety, their effect is plealing. 
 pommonly they add to the majefty of the flow, 
 
 often
 
 106 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 often much totheexprefiion, and, unlefs indifcreetty 
 ufed, they never hurt the harmony of the verfe. 
 Mufical men will know, that they bring no difficulty 
 for the connection of verfe of the common or even 
 cadence with mufic in common time. The fol- 
 lowing examples from Milton would all fuffer from 
 a change of the triffyllabical for diflyllabical feet. 
 
 .. His form had yet not loft 
 
 All her 1 original brightjnefs, nor j appeared 
 
 J^efs than archangel ruin'd. 
 
 P. L. I. 593. 
 
 .. * And feem to caft 
 PiUinofis | conjecture on | the whole J fuccefs. 
 
 P. L. II. 123. 
 
 -' With grave 
 
 Afpect j he rofe, J and in j his rijfing ftemed 
 4. pillar | of ftate ; | deep on j his front J Ingraven 
 Pelijberaltion fat, j and pubjlic care. ' 
 
 P. L. II. 303. 
 
 I think, Milton acuted afpefl, like refpc'tf, on the 
 laft. 
 
 Oer many | a frolzen many j a f iclry Alp, 
 
 i i i i i .' 
 
 Rocks, caves, | lakes, fens, | bog8,4cas, | andfiiades j of death; 
 
 A univerfe of death, which God by curfe 
 
 Created elvll for civil 5nlly good, 
 
 Where all J life dies j death lives } and nature breeds, 
 
 Perverfe, all monftrous, all prodigious things, 
 
 j Abolminable
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. IQJ 
 
 Abojminable, mutjterable, | and worfe 
 
 Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceived. 
 
 P. L. II 627. 
 
 The admirable effed]; of contrail irTthefe lines, 
 all of unexceptionable harmony, is not only in 
 itfelf, but for the manner of producing it^ ^yhidi 
 the analyfis exhibits, deferying attention. 
 
 The two next examples are fimply harmonious $ 
 he three following exhibit effed: again. 
 
 ! 
 
 Alcjno^us reign'd, j fruit of all kind, in coat 
 
 Rough or fmooth rin'd e . P. L. V. v. 343. 
 
 To whdm | thus Eve, J with pcrjfecl beaujty adorned. 
 
 P. L. IV. 634, 
 ' ' ' All unawares, 
 
 fluttering j his pensions vain j plumb down J he dropt 
 Ten thoufand fathom deep. 
 
 P. L. II. 934. 
 
 f 
 
 - Nor was his ear lefs pealed, 
 With noilfes loud | and rum|ous, to | compare 
 Great things | with fmall, | than when | Bellolna ftonns 
 With all j her batterjing enlgines bent j to rafe 
 Sorr.e capijtal city, | or I5fs | than if J this frame 
 Of heaven were falling. P. . II. 925. 
 
 . Speak thou, and be it done : 
 My ojverfliadowling fpirit | and might j with thee 
 I fend along. P. L. VIII. 166. 
 
 Englifb
 
 108 maUIRY INTO THE PRIKCIPLES OF 
 
 Englifh epic or heroic verfe then may be de* 
 ^ fcribed, and its rules ftated thus: It is a pro- 
 ,_ fodial mea.fure of five feet of the common or even 
 cadence. In its primary and moft regular form, 
 ^ each of its feet has two fyllables of equal quantity; 
 . ''and the character of the cadence is given through 
 . the marking of time by the regular occurrence of 
 the acute -accent on the fecond fy liable of the 
 foot. Accent being thus the power to which the 
 car becomes habituated to refer for the character 
 r' of the verfe, variety is allowed for he quantities 
 of fyllables, too freely to be exactly limited by 
 rule. A certain balance of quantities, however, 
 throughout the verfe is required, fo that deficiency 
 be nowhere ftriking. Long fyllables therefore 
 rnuft predominate. A redundancy of lyllables 
 is fometimes admitted ; a deficiency, in epic verfe, 
 never. The accents, on account of their power as 
 time-beaters, are fubjecled to ftricber rule. Deviar 
 tion from the primary arrangement is allowed, for 
 the lake of variety, juft fo far as not to defeat the 
 purpofe of that arrangement, which is timer-beat- 
 ing. Under this limitation it is found that the 
 acute accent of the firft foot may be freely trans- 
 ferred from the iecond to the firft fyllable. A 
 fimilar transfer is allowed rarely in the third and 
 fourth feet, tho fometimes with very good effect ; 
 in the fecond more rarely; in the fifth never. 
 Under the fame limitation the duplication of the 
 acute is allowed. On the other hand its remiflion 
 
 is
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 is an indifpenfable variety, required almoft in every 
 line. Even its abfcnce may fometimes be Al- 
 lowed ; or, however, the remiflion may be fuch 
 as to leave the character of an acute accent but 
 doubtfully perceptible by the ear. 
 
 Such is Englifh epic verfe without rime. Where 
 that powerful time-beater is introduced, it makes 
 a great change In the character of the harmony; 
 principally by producing a great dependence upon 
 itfelf. Among rimes a verfe is not the higheft 
 denomination of poetical meafure: it is but a por- 
 tion of a longer meafure, to which rime in a great 
 degree gives form and proportion, and alone gives 
 boundary. The meafures formed by rime are 
 either Couplets, or what were formerly called 
 Staves ; for which modern ufe has fubftituted the 
 Italian word Stanza. Among couplets fometimes 
 the Triplet is introduced. The epic or heroic; 
 ftanza is a combination of verfes, varying in num- 
 ber and in the difpofition of the rimes, according 
 to the poet's fancy. It has been originally ima- 
 gined, either by the Italian or Romance poets, 
 apparently to obviate the tirefome uniformity of 
 the couplet ; but it has itfelf an inherent uni- 
 formity fuch that, for our language, the couplet 
 has been generally preferred. 
 
 All poetry feems to have been, among all na- 
 tions, originally Song. Inftrumental mufic alfo, 
 among all nations, has been a very early, or per- 
 haps
 
 I 10 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 haps an original, affociate of fong. With the 
 Greeks, among whom we traee things fartheft 
 into antiquity, except for thole matters for which 
 we have light among the eaftern nations, all re- 
 citation of poetry, ftill in Homer's time, appears 
 to have been mufical. Even the Epic, that nar- 
 rative, by which hiftory was tranfmi feted, and the 
 detail of the moft interefting recent events cir- 
 culated, is, in his frequent notice of it in the fong 
 of the bard, always mentioned as accompanied by 
 an inftrument. It is amufing and interefting to 
 find teftimony to the extent of this practice in the 
 extant relics of the rude literature of our early 
 forefathers, both Britifh and Anglo-Saxon ; among 
 whom hiftory, we find, was recorded in fong, and 
 an inftrument always accompanied the recitation f . 
 Thus all poetry appears to have been, originally, 
 in the etymological and proper meaning of the 
 word, Lyrical. 
 
 f The metrical paflage in the Anglo-Saxon annals, which 
 has long Cnce ingaged the admiration of the few, whofe cu- 
 riofity has led them to defire acquaintance with the language 
 and literature of our early anceftors, will now be more generally 
 known through Mr. Ellis's notice of it in his recent publica- 
 tion of early Englifh poems. It is a remark of bimop Percy, 
 in his treatife on the Englifh miuftrels, prefixed to his collec- 
 tion of antient poems, that the great Alfred, in his verfion of 
 Boethius, has translated the Latin word cant are by the phrafe 
 ' to fing to the harp,' thus indicating that, in this country, in 
 his days, the accompaniment of an inftrument was efteemed 
 iadifpenfable with fong. 
 
 While
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. ZI* 
 
 While the bard's narrative could of itfelf excite 
 or maintain a high intered among the hearers, the 
 limpleft mufic would be the fitted and mod fa- 
 tisfatftory accompaniment. But where his tale 
 was already familiar, lofing its charms with its 
 novelty, it would, in repetition, become even 
 annoying. New fources of gratification were to be 
 fought, and the means which poetry ceafed to 
 afford, he found in mufic. But it was mufic dill 
 in clofe connexion with poetry. A richer flile of 
 mufic was cultivated, and thus new poetical mea- 
 fures were wanted, accommodated to fuch mufic. 
 LYRIC VERSE, as didinguilhed from Epic, feeais 
 to have had its origin, in all languages which pof- 
 feis the two kinds, from improvements in mufic. 
 
 The Englilh epic verfe of five feet, through that 
 very conftruction which particularly qualifies it 
 for recitation with the tones of common difcourfe, 
 leaving it ready for aflbciation with that fpecies of 
 mufical melody called recitative, is the lead of all 
 our verfes difpofed to coalition with what, in mu- 
 fical language, is called Air or Tune. Five bars 
 are perhaps never found forming an integral por- 
 tion of an air or tune. The divisions of modern 
 mufical air run moflly in two, or rather four bars> 
 and multiplications of four; as eight, twelve, fix- 
 teen, and fo forth. 
 
 The Englifli lyric meafure of far the mod fre- 
 quent ufe, is accordingly that of four feet of the 
 common cadence. But this is a meafure deficient 
 
 in
 
 112 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 in that contrail of parts which is necerTary to a 
 decided character, and little capable of variety, 
 cither from accentuation or paufe. It can there- 
 fore ill fupport itfelf without the affiftance of that 
 great refource of the modern European languages, 
 lime. This powerfully helps to give it character, 
 and at the fame time to make a variety fufficient 
 for fhort poems, without admitting any of thofc 
 aberrations of the accent, which, tho, as we have 
 feen, in the epic verfe, highly advantageous for re- 
 citation, are always adverfe to coalition with mufic. 
 Nothing in our language can be more ready for 
 the clofeft coalition with mufic than the following 
 lines of Shenflone : 
 
 Flow, gen| le flream, | nor let | the vain 
 Thy fmall, | unfuljlicd fiore | difdain; 
 Nor let j the perlfive {age | repine, 
 Whofe la[tent courfe | refemjbles thine. 
 
 But, in recitation without mulic, the ear would 
 foon be fatiated by the formality of fuch couplets. 
 The alternacy of rimes, in the ftanza, gives a va- 
 riety that may fupport the poet, without the aid 
 of mufic, to a greater length; as in the following 
 of Collins, which is not unpleafantly extended to 
 fix ftanzas, without any variation in the accen- 
 tuation : 
 
 To fair | Fidejle's grasjsy tomb 
 
 Soft maids | and viljlage hinds | (hall bring 
 
 Each ojpening fweet | of earliieft bloom, 
 And ri|fle all J the breajthing fpring.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 113 
 
 But Milton, defiring that his longer lyrics, 
 the allegro and penferofo, fhould pleafe in re- 
 citation, has preferred another mode of variety. 
 
 But hail, j them Godjdefs, fage | and holy, 
 Hail, | divjjneft Melancholy. 
 Come, penjfive nun, j devout | and pure, 
 Scjber, ftedifaft, and J demure, 
 All in j a robe j of darkjeft grain, 
 Flowjing with ] majestic train, 
 And falble ftole, | of Cy'jprus lawn, 
 Over | thy dejcent {boulders drawn ; 
 C6me, | but keep | thy w<5n|ted flate, 
 With e[ven (lep J and mujfing gait, 
 And looks J commerjcing with J the fkiesj 
 Thy rapt | foul sitjting In \ thine eyes. 
 
 The fifth and eighth of thefe lines are varied by 
 the aberration of the accent in the firfl foot, which 
 we have feen fo common in Englifli epic verfe j 
 but the fecond, fourth, fixth, and ninth have a 
 variety flrikingly of a different character 3 the firft 
 foot is defective; a fingle acuted fyllable only being 
 found in its place. This is a, variety wholly mad- 
 miffible in epic verfe. The five-footed meafure, 
 with fuch deficiency in the firft foot, fo wants the 
 jieceflary balance, that it can neither aflbciate with 
 complete five-footed verfes, nor ftand as a verfe 
 by itfelf. But the lyric meafure of four feet fo 
 differs in character, that, with this defalcation in, 
 the firft foot, it is not only mixed advantageously 
 with complete tour-footed verfes, but has been 
 chofen by fome of our moft approved verfifiers, 
 
 J for
 
 114 INQUIRY INtO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 for intire poems. The following beautiful exam- 
 ple is from Shakefpear's play of Meafure for Mea- 
 fure : 
 
 Take, | O take \ thofe lips | away, 
 That | fo fweetjly were } forfworn ; 
 And | thofe eyes, j the break J of clay, 
 Lights | that do | miflead j the morn ; 
 But | my kifsjes bring | again, 
 Seals | of love, | tho feal'd | in vain S, 
 
 The difference of effect bet ween this and the com- 
 plete four-footed meafure, is fuch, in recitation, 
 that it appears of quite another character. But in 
 connection with mufic they are really the fame. 
 The truncated verfe will affociate mod readily 
 with mulic compofed for the full meafure, and 
 the full verfe with mufic compofed for the trun- 
 cated verfe. Gray has begun his celebrated ode 
 on the Bards with the truncated verfe, and proceeds 
 with the complete four-footed : 
 
 Ru|in ftize | thee, ruthjlefs king ; 
 Confujfion oii \ thy banjners wait; 
 Tho, fan'd j by c6n|quefts' crimjfon wing, 
 They mock J the air | in ijdle ftate. 
 
 The advantage for effect, both in recitation 
 and in fong, will be obvious to all who have been 
 
 z A fhmza, of confiderable merit, has been added to this 
 little fong in Beaumont and Fletcher's Bloody Brother. 
 But the addition gives the fentiments to a man : they have far 
 more pathos and beadty in coining, as in Shakefpear's play, 
 from fc woman. 
 
 accuftomed
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. I 15 
 
 accuftomed to advert to metrical and mufical 
 effects. Nor, had the poet given the firft foot its 
 unaccented fyllable, as by writing 
 
 May ruin feize thee 
 Let ruin feize thee 
 or 
 Defiruction feize thee 
 
 would he have earned any thanks from the mufical 
 compofer ; whofe firfl complete bar muft flill 
 equally have begun with the acuted fyllable, while 
 the preceding grave, wholly unwanted for mufical 
 meafure, would be difpofed of in an incomplete 
 introductory bar by itfelf. Either increafe of time 
 given to the note aflbciated with the laft fyllable 
 of the verfe, or a paufe (in mufical phrafe, a reft) 
 often of advantageous effect, following that note, 
 would fill the meafure, and prepare for proceed- 
 ing in regular time with the next verfe. 
 
 But another variety, a ftanza compofed of al- 
 ternately four and three feet of the common ca- 
 dence, much affected by our early poets, efpe- 
 cially the minftrels and metrical romance-writers, 
 has alfo found eulogy in modern times. Johnfon 
 calls it * a foft lyric meafure,' and Baretti, with 
 all the prejudices of an Italian ear againft the 
 hardier combinations of elements in our lan- 
 guage, fays it is * di molto piacevol fuono,' of a very 
 pleafmg found ; both of them quoting thefe 
 lines : 
 
 ** 1 3 When
 
 Il6 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 When all | fliall praife, | and ev|ery lay 
 
 Devote j a wreath | to thee, 
 TI at day, | for come | it will, J that day 
 
 Shall I lament j to fee. 
 
 Both of them fpeak of the meafure only as 
 adapted to recitation, without any view to its con- 
 nection with mufic. Unconnected with mufic, its 
 efFect certainly is very ftrongly diftinguifhed from 
 the ftanza compofed in ti rely of four-footed verfes, 
 with alternate rimes. But, in aflbciation with 
 mufic, it is flill the fame with the four-footed j 
 that is, it fills an equal number of bars. In fpeak-. 
 ing thus of the aflbciation of mufic with poetry, 
 I mean a ready and natural aflbciation ; putting 
 put of the queftion that ingenious violence, by 
 which verfe of one cadence may hold pace with 
 mufic of the other, or, through a repetition or 
 diflocation of words, not to be borne in recitation, 
 the poet's meafure is totally altered, and even profe 
 may be made to march to mufical cadence. For 
 examples of the natural aflbciation, many of the 
 beft airs of the Italian opera, efpecially of elder 
 times, might be cited j but here the old tune of 
 Chevy Chafe may anfwer our purpofe. The 
 holding note at the end of the three-footed verfe, 
 or that note with a paufe after it, fills the fpace of 
 the deficient foot. The holding note and the paufe 
 are advantageous in mufic ; fo that, for aflbciation 
 with mufick, not lefs than for recitation, this 
 meafure is intitled to the preference which, among 
 the antient minftrels, it extenfively obtained. 
 
 * Verfes
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 117 
 
 Veifes are found, efpecially among our elder 
 poets, of three feet of the even cadence, wanting 
 the grave fyllable in the firft, of two complete 
 feet, and even of two wanting the grave fyllable 
 in the firft. But none of'thefe are generally ad- 
 vantageous, either for connection with mulic, or 
 for recitation. Accordingly they have been left, 
 by later poets, moftly for the burlefk, for which 
 they are beft adapted. 
 
 That kind of combination of verfes of various 
 proportions, with rimes at various intervals, which 
 has obtained the title of PINDARIC, merits the 
 favor it has gained, for the pleafantnefs, and often 
 force, of its effect, in recitation only : for mufic 
 it has far lefs aptitude than the fimpler lyric 
 meafures. 
 
 Lyric verfe has not often been attempted in 
 Englifh without rime. Milton's tranflation of the 
 fifth ode of Horace's firft book is however well 
 known , and that its meafure has had admirers is 
 evinced by Collins's choice of it for his Ode to 
 Evening : 
 
 If adght | of o5t[en fl5p J or pas|toral fong, 
 
 May h6pe, | chafte Eve, | to fo6th | thy modleft ear, 
 
 Like thy | own fo|lemn fprings, 
 
 Thy fprings | and dy|Ing gales, 
 O nymph referv'd, while now the bright-hair'd fun 
 Sits on yon weftern tent. 
 
 i An
 
 ItfQtllRY INtO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 An ode of the kind called Pindaric, without 
 nine, has alfo not only found its way into more 
 than one felect collection, but has been diftin- 
 guifhed by the eulogy of the compilers ; the nrft 
 llanza is as follows : 
 
 This goodly frame what virtue fo approves 
 And teftifies the pure etherial fpirit 
 
 As mild Benevolence ? 
 She with her fitter Mercy ir.il! awaits 
 
 Befide th' eternal throne of Jove, 
 And rneafures forth with un withdrawing hand, 
 
 The bleffings of the various year, 
 Sunfliine or fhower, and chides the madding te.mpeft. 
 
 But the merit of thefe forms of ftanza is all for 
 recitation : not even the fimpler of them is adapted 
 to ready coalefcence with mufical air ; nor has it 
 yet been fhown that thofe of our meafures which 
 are of themfelves diipoied to ready and intimate 
 connection with mufic can, with fatisfactory effect 
 in recitation, wholly difpenfe with rime. 
 
 The lyric meafures, hitherto confidered, differ 
 from the epic not at all by the kind of CADENCE, 
 or of wliat the grammarians call FOOT, but by the 
 number only, with whatever may be incident to 
 difference in number. We proceed now to treat 
 of verfe of the other cadence. 
 
 The" TRIPLE CADENCE had, antiently, as we 
 fhall take occafion to obferve, great confederation 
 among our poets. It then fell into neglect almoft 
 to oblivion, and has been revived but in modern 
 
 times,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. lip 
 
 times, for lighter fubjedts only. The genius of 
 Swift found it accommodated to his favorite bur- 
 le/k, and Rowe, Shenftone, and others, have fhown 
 it adapted, in a degree that preceding poets ap- 
 pear not to have been aware of, to paftoral lyrics. 
 To fubjects of folemn dignity it feems, for our 
 prefent language', not accommodated. 
 
 We have obferved that, of the common ca- 
 dence, the verfe of five feet is that of moil ex- 
 ten.fi ve uie, and fitted for dignified fubjects. It 
 is remarkable that the triple cadence will not bear 
 a verfe of five feet : the ear revolts at the com- 
 bination : its verfes are of four, three, or two 
 feet. 
 
 At the clofe | of the day, | when the ham|let isflill, 
 And morjtals the fweets | of forgetjfulnefs prove, 
 
 When nought | but the t6rjrent is heard | on the hill, 
 And nought | but the nightingale's fong j in the grove. 
 
 Seattle. 
 
 Yet the rofe J has one powerful virjtue to boaft 
 
 Far above J all the flowers | of the field ; 
 When its leaves | are all dead | and its cojlors all 16ft, 
 
 Still how fweet | a perfume J it will yield ! 
 
 JVttti. 
 
 Defpair|ing, beside | a clear ftream, 
 
 A fliep|herd forfa|ken was laid, 
 And while | a falfe ny'mph j was his theme, 
 
 A wiljlow fupportjed his head. 
 The wind j that blew 6|ver the plain, 
 
 To his si^hs | with a sigh j did reply, 
 And the brook, | in return j to his pain, 
 
 Ran mournfully mur|muring by. 
 
 Row. 
 14 Sec
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIfLES Of 
 
 See the fujries arife, 
 
 See the (hakes | that they rear, 
 
 How they hifs j in the air. 
 
 foryden. 
 
 It is the advantage of the triple cadence that it 
 more immediately and decidedly throws language 
 out of all ordinary march of profe than the com- 
 mon cadence. It is its difadvantage that if lefs 
 admits thofe varieties fo necefTary to the relief of 
 the ear in longer poems. It will bear no change 
 of the place of the acute ; it will allow little re- 
 miffion of the acute, and but rarely the duplication. 
 The paufe alfo it confines rigidly to -its place. 
 The licence for dropping a grave fyllable of the 
 firft foot is however unlimited. In burlefk poetry 
 frequently a grave fyllable of the third foot is 
 omitted ; for the verfe of four feet being com- 
 poied of two equal hemiftics, the beginning of 
 the third foot is, in fome degree, as the begin- 
 ning of a new verfe. 
 
 We have obferved that, as in modern mufic, no 
 mixture of the two times is admitted in the fame 
 ftrain, fo neither, in Englilh poetry, is the mixture 
 of the two cadences in one verfe. Nor do we 
 find them commonly mixed in the fame poem, 
 unlefs here and there in burlelk. Neverthelefs 
 Dryden has ventured to introduce verfes of the 
 triple among thofe of the common cadence in his 
 noble Ode on St. Cecilia's Day. 
 
 Hark,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 121 
 
 Hark, hark, j the horjrid fofind 
 Has rais'd j up his head, 
 As awak'd j from the dead, 
 And amaz'd j he flares | around. 
 Revenge, j revenge, | Timojtheus cries: 
 
 See the fujries arife, 
 See the fnakes j that they rear, 
 
 How they hifs J in the air, 
 And the fpar|kles that flafh j in their ey'es. 
 
 That Pope admired the effect thus produced, 
 is evident from his emulation of it in his Ode on 
 Saint Cecilia's Day, but his failure of fuccefs may 
 admonim that the attempt is hazardous. 
 
 Shakefpear, not equally mingling, has however 
 fometimes brought the two cadences very happily 
 together; as in the fpirit Ariel's fong in the 
 Tempeft : 
 
 Where J the bee j fucks, there | lurk It 
 fn a cow [Hip's bell | I lie. 
 
 Merlrily, merfrily, fhall | I live now, 
 Unjder the blosjsom that hangs J on the bough. 
 
 Arne's air for this fong has been juftly admired, 
 both for its intrinfic beauty, and for its finking 
 confonancy to the poet's fentiments. But it does 
 not equally harmonize throughout with the poet s 
 meafures. There wants the change, from the 
 common to the triple cadence, which, in recita- 
 tion, has a very pleafmg and forcible effect. The 
 air, not following this change, but holding its 
 cource in the even cadence, not only fails of a 
 correfponding mufical effect, but difguifes the 
 
 poetical
 
 122 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 poetical effect It may then be worth obferving, 
 that the change which might be defired from 
 Arne, in conformity to the poetical meafure, has 
 been boldly ventured upfon, for mufical effect, by 
 Handel, where the poetical meafure has not war- 
 ranted, tho it feems to have fuggefted the thing. 
 It is in his mufic for thefe lines from Milton's 
 Allegro : 
 
 Or let | the mer|ry bells | ring round. 
 And j the jojcund rejbecs found, 
 To many [ a youth | and many j a maid, 
 Danjcing In j the checkered (hade; 
 
 The mufic for the firft line is, like the poetry, in 
 common time: that for the three others in triple. 
 If we look to the time-beating accent in thefe 
 three latter lines, we find them well accommo- 
 dated to common time j but if we look to the 
 quantities of fyllab.les, they are more adapted to 
 triple. Dividing the feet according to quantities, 
 and not according to accents, the firft foot of the 
 fecond line would be a proper trochee, that of 
 the third a tribrachys, that of the fourth again a 
 trochee. The flow thus altogether, and efpecially 
 the two trilTyllabical feet, feem to have fuggefted 
 to the great compofer the idea which in fong 
 has produced fo happy an effect. The mufical 
 reader will find, in tha.t iong, flrong illuftration 
 of the comparative length and fhortnefs of fylla- 
 bles refulting in the connection of verle with 
 4 mufic.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 The firft fyllable of jocund, with its long 
 vowel, but ftill more that of dancing, with its 
 long vowel followed by two confonants, the for- 
 mer a liquid, extend themfelves gracefully through 
 the double time neceflarily to be given to one of 
 the fyllables of the foot, which the fhort vowels 
 of the firft of rebecs and checkered, followed only 
 by one articulated confonant will not* Handel 
 has therefore judiciouily given a mort note to the 
 firft fyllable of rebecs, as Arne has to the firft of 
 blofjom in the lines lately quoted from Ariel's long 
 in the Tcmpeft. But tho thefe three lines of 
 Milton, by the accidental order of quantities, ajre,, 
 more than commonly for verfe of the even ca- 
 dence, adapted to coalefce with mufic in triply 
 time, the muhcal reader may judge how much 
 more readily and naturally verfe of the triple ca- 
 dence falls in with mufic in triple time, by alter- 
 ing Milton's verfes, as he may eafily do better for 
 iiimfelf, in fome fuch way as this : 
 
 And merrier ftill let the rebecs refoimd, 
 To many a youth and to many a maid, 
 Nimble in dance in the checkery fliade. 
 
 It appears then that our verfes truly lyrical* 
 that is, adapted to ready and complete coalition 
 with mufical air, arc the four-footed of both 
 cadences, "whether perfect or truncated, the flanza 
 of alternately four-footed and three-footed of 
 both cadences, and, for comic poetry, the two- 
 footed of the triple cadence. The two-footed of 
 
 the
 
 124 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the even cadence wants grace in ferious fong, but 
 is not wholly unfuitable for comic. 
 
 The DRAMA requires verfe of two kinds; for 
 fong occaiionally, but principally for dialogue. 
 The former differs no way from the lyrical, of 
 which we have been treating. The latter, in 
 Englim poetry; is fundamentally the fame as the 
 epic, but, having peculiarities, which give it 
 fome degree of feparate character, it may be com- 
 modioufly diftinguifhed by its peculiar title of 
 DRAMATIC VERSE. 
 
 That amount of regularity which is moft fatis- 
 fadtory in poetry limply narrative, is found too 
 formal for dialogue with action ; and hence the 
 
 difference of epic and dramatic verfe. To the 
 
 f ... 
 latter, rime is an incumbrance, fo generally offen- 
 
 five, that no attempt to introduce it has fuc- 
 ceeded. The variety by which dramatic verfe is 
 moft diftinguifhed from epic without rime, is the 
 redundant fyllable of the laft foot, often called 
 the double ending, or, in the phrafe adopted by 
 our grammarians from the antient writers on pro- 
 fody, the hypercataledlic fyllable. The following 
 fix lines from Samuel Johnfon afford three exam- 
 ples of it : 
 
 Refieft | that life | and death, | affcfting founds, 
 
 Are 6n|ly vajried modes j of endllefs being. 
 
 Refleft | that life, | like cvjery either bleffing, 
 
 Derives J its vajlue from J itsufe | alone. 
 
 Not for | itfelf, | but for | a no|bler end 
 
 Th* etSrlnal gave | it, and j that end | is Virtue. 
 
 The
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 The form of our language does not urge to any 
 intemperate ufe of this variety ; nor indeed does 
 it appear, from the pra&ice of our poets, what 
 amount of ufe of it would be intemperate : it 
 feems as little to require limitation as the transfer 
 of the accent in the firft foot. 
 
 Among our elder dramatic poets another va- 
 riety is not uncommon, which the caution of the 
 more modern has generally, and perhaps not ad- 
 vantageoufly, avoided. It is a redundant fyllable 
 after the third foot; which, if a paufe follow, 
 divides the verfe very effectually into two verfcs 
 of different proportions. Many examples, pleating 
 at lead to mofl good ears, may be found in 
 $liakefpear : the following are from Milton : 
 
 Offering 
 
 His orient liquor in a cryftal glafs. 
 
 To quench | the drouth | of Phoebus j which as J they 
 
 tafle 
 
 their human countenance is changed. 
 
 Comus, v, 66. 
 
 I was aweftruck, 
 
 "And as | I part j I worfhipt : j if thofe | you feek 
 
 It were a journey like the path to heaven. 
 
 v. 303. 
 
 But for | that damn'd | magician, | let him be girt 
 With all the grifly legions. 
 
 v. 603. 
 
 t* 17 In
 
 126 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 In Shakefpear fometimes, tho he abounds in. 
 beautifully harmonious verfes, but in Beaumont 
 and Fletcher continually, we meet with a licen- 
 tioufnefs in meafure, which later poets have juftly 
 avoided. Milton ftudied the harmony of his lan- 
 guage with fuperior fcience and with zealous care. 
 Fondly emulating the Italians, he feems to have 
 defired to introduce into our poetry the varieties 
 in meafure of which theirs permits the ufe j yet 
 why in his dramatic works he has fo rarely ufed 
 the hypercatalectic fy liable, unfailing in their verfe, 
 equally epic and dramatic, is not obvious. The 
 common refource of the Italian poets, for variety 
 in dramatic verfe, is the occafional, and not unfre- 
 quent, intermixture of three-footed verfes, always 
 with the hypercataledic fyllable, among the five- 
 footed. 
 
 Milton feems juftly to have confidered this as 
 lefs adapted to mix with the Englifh epic. Per- 
 haps the redundant fyllable preceding the paufe, 
 which varies the meafure by dividing the verfe 
 into two unequal hemiftics, if fuch an expreffion 
 may be allowed, is the befl fubftitute that our 
 language will admit, and not undeferving the 
 regard of our dramatic poets. 
 
 The following paiiages from Milton's Samfon 
 
 Agoniftes, whether they have been intended for, 
 
 lyrical, or whether for variety of the colloquial 
 
 dramatic, have much more of the lyrical cha- 
 
 "*"" rafter,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 127 
 
 rafter, and are perhaps the moft beautiful fpeci- 
 mens of the lyrical without rime ever produced 
 in our language. 
 
 firft created beam, and thou great word, 
 Let there he light, and light was over all, 
 Why am I thus bereav'd thy prime decree ? 
 
 The sun j to me j Is dark, 
 And si|lent 5s \ the rno'on 
 When fhe | deferts | rlie night, 
 
 Hid In | her vajcant Tn'lterlujnar cave. 
 
 r. 89. 
 
 1 was | Ins nursjllng once, | and choice | delight, 
 
 His desjtln'd from | the w5mb, 
 Promls'd | by heavenly mcfsjage twice j defcending 
 
 Under j his fpejcial eye. 
 
 Abftejmious, I j grew np, J and thrlv'd amain: 
 He led j me on | to mlghtjie!^ deeds, 
 Above 'J the nerve j of morjtal arm, 
 Agalnft | th' unclr|cumcls'd | our enjcmies. 
 
 v. 640, 
 
 The principal varieties, then, which diftingui(h 
 dramatic verfe from epic, confidering the prac- 
 tice of our moft efteemed dramatic poets as fur- 
 niming the rule, are the unlimited licence for the 
 hypercatalectic fyllable, or double ending, and 
 the allowance for a fparing ufe of a fimilarly re- 
 dundant unaccented fyllable in either the fecond 
 
 foot
 
 123 INQtTIST INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF ' 
 
 foot or the third. Perhaps alfo the transfer of the 
 accent in the fecond foot may be more freely per- 
 muted to dramatic than epic verfe. Milton has 
 evidently had fome partiality for an extenfion of 
 this licence, in imitation of the Italians, with 
 whom the aberration of the accent in the firft and 
 (econd foot of the fame verfe is even more com- 
 mon than in either of them alone ; infomuch that 
 Taflb, who is reckoned among their more fcru- 
 puloufly harmonious poets, has begun his mofl 
 admired work, The Jerufalem Delivered, with fuch 
 a verfe : 
 
 Canto | I'arme | pietojfe e il cajpitano. 
 We find inftances of it in the Paradife Loft : 
 
 Soon had his crew 
 Open'd j into j the hill j a fpacious wound. 
 
 P. L. I. 690. 
 
 Thou thy foes 
 
 Jutlly | haft in | derilfion, and | fecure 
 Laugh'fl at their vain defigns. 
 
 P. L. v. 737. 
 
 but proportionally more in the Samfon, 
 
 Irre|c6vera|bly dark, | total { eclipfe 81. 
 
 Irre(sifti[ble Samjfon, whom j unarmed 126. 
 
 That in|vinci|ble Samjfon, far } renowned 341. 
 
 To do juftice to the two former of thefe three laft 
 cited lines, the firft fyllable muft be made long 
 by the diftinct pronunciation of the doubled con- 
 fonant r. I know fuch lines ars among thofe 
 which have brought upon Milton, from fome,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 129 
 
 whofe judgement I refpeft, the charge of writing 
 inharmonious verfe. Sp far I think them lefs 
 fuited to the character of our language, that, for 
 epic verfe, the imitation of them is not to be re- 
 commended.
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION VJI. 
 Of the Hiftory of Englifh Verification. 
 
 THE hiftory of all learning, and of every art, 
 cannot but be an interefting portion of the hiftory 
 of mankind. After, therefore, having obferved 
 what is the mechanifm of the various forms of 
 Englifh verfe now in common ufe, it may be 
 amufing, and, to a fpeculative mind, perhaps 
 fomewhat more than amufing, to trace the hif- 
 tory of Englifh verification backward into anti- 
 quity. 
 
 Modern learning, among the various fpeeches 
 of Europe, being comprized moftly in three, 
 the Italian, French, and Englifh, in all of 
 which, not without fome concert, it has been de- 
 rived from the Latin and Greek, thofe three, for 
 that connection, however otherwife widely differ- 
 ing, may be confidered as filler tongues. Of thefe 
 the Italian, taking them in their generally allowed 
 claflical ftate, is confiderably the elder. The re- 
 vived Englim claffical literature is of later birth 
 by near two centuries ; and the French, by near 
 one century, younger ftill. But tho the period 
 of Englim literature of the modern idiom begins 
 fo much later than the Italian, yet an Englifti 
 poet of no mean pretenfion, Chaucer, was little 
 pofterior to the earlieil Italian daffies -, and tho 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 the French literature, of that dialed which, 
 through political weight and not intrinfic merit, 
 has overborne all others of France, is of a birth fo 
 much later dill, yet, as far as the Provencial and 
 Languedocian poets may be admitted as prede- 
 ceffors of the French claffics, French literature 
 may boaft an origin perhaps even earlier than the 
 Italian. 
 
 The tracing of Englifh verification upward into 
 antiquity has been much facilitated by fome late 
 publications. Bimop Percy's relics of antient 
 Englilh poetry, with his intermingled differta- 
 tions, advantageouily prepared the way, and feem 
 to have proved an incentive to farther labors in 
 the fame mine, among which Mr. Thomas War- 
 ton's hiftory of Englifh poetry, and Mr. Ellis's 
 fpecimcns of early Englilh poets with interfperfed 
 hiftorical iketches, are confpicuous. What ap- 
 pears to me yet wanting is a collection like 
 Mr. Ellis'e, with the order reverfedj inftead of 
 beginning with an unintelligible idiom, and follow- 
 ing the language downward, beginning with the 
 firft material variation from modern Ipeech, and 
 tracing it upward. Thus, with the illuflration 
 which fuch a writer as Mr. Ellis would of courfe 
 be led to give, the reader would be conducted 
 amufingly, and almoft unwittingly, to a fami- 
 liarity with the growing differences ; fo that, on 
 arriving at length at the celebrated Anglo-Saxon 
 war-fong, with which his prefent work begins, fo 
 
 K 2 highly
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 highly interefting now to a few. but repelling, by 
 its unintelligibility, to moft readers, who therefore 
 fly to the tranflations, almoft all would be ready 
 to form acquaintance with the original in the 
 energetic language of our early forefathers. Tracing 
 Englilh poetry thus, of merit well to claim the 
 title of claffical, to fo remote a fource, we fbould 
 
 
 
 go beyond the earlieft known excellence of Italian 
 and Provencial poetry, 
 
 EngHili literature has by fome been reckoned 
 at its fummit in queen Ann's reign. But the forms 
 of verification have everywhere had their origin 
 long before the perfection of literature. Our 
 principal and moft valuable lyric meafures are 
 found, as we (hall foon more particularly obferve, 
 among the firfl extant examples of our prefent 
 language. Our five-footed epic verfe, derived 
 apparently from the Italian, was familiar with 
 Chaucer, and feems to have been occasionally in- 
 troduced among lyric meafures before him. It 
 remained for later poets to exert their ingenuity 
 only in combinations of meafures. Theie, in the 
 long courfe of years between Chaucer and Dry- 
 den, became fo numerous that it might feem 
 fancy were exhaufled, and yet we find room re- 
 mained for novelty, and of no mean merit. The 
 fyfcem of ftanzas for the kind of ode, called Pin- 
 daric, in imitation of the Greek ftrophe, anti- 
 flrophe and epode, has been brought into vogue 
 by the late poets Mafon and Gray. 
 
 To
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 133 
 
 To trace our verification then from this late 
 approved novelty upward, we may obferve that" 
 the epic couplet, tho ufed by Chaucer, is ge- 
 nerally efteemed to have received its laft polilh 
 from Pope. By its laft polifh, I undenland that 
 which, with modern pronuntiation makes it mod 
 grateful to the modern ear; reckoning, in all 
 fuch comparifon, fome allowance requifite for 
 the merit of verfe made for other times. But in, 
 harmony of unrimed verfe, Milton's numbers re- 
 main, in large proportion, unexcelled, or perhaps 
 unrivalled, by any of 'latex* date; and where 
 Shakefpear has been in any degree careful, his 
 verfes are ftill among the fweeteft in the lan- 
 guage : even Spenfer's require only a little practice 
 in that obfolete diction which he affected, to ob- 
 tain the praife of conftant fweetnefs. It is an ob- 
 fervation of Hume, that, however uncouth phrafes 
 are found abounding in the writers of the age of 
 Elizabeth and James, yet the language of the court, 
 in their time, differed little from that now ufed in 
 good company. We may go yet higher, and ob- 
 ferve that the poetry of the heroic and unfortunate 
 carl of Surrey, in Henry the eighth's reign, rarely 
 wants grace with the pronuntiation of the prefent 
 day; whence proof appears to refult that the general 
 harmony of the language then and at the prefent 
 day was the fame. Some differences in words 
 and phrafes indeed we find; and fome in pro- 
 jiuntiation, not only we may conclude there were, 
 
 K 3 but
 
 134 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 but our poetry, as we trace it upward, fhows, in 
 many inftances, what they were. 
 
 The changes in pronunciation, which poetry in- 
 dicates, can be only thofe which affect the har- 
 mony. In Milton thefe are fo few, and fo fmall, 
 that the general character of the harmony of his 
 language is fcs.rcely tinged by them; but in 
 Shakefpear they begin to be confiderable. They 
 are 'however not altogether difadvantageous, but, 
 by fome, may be efteemed the contrary. Termi- 
 nations in Jon and ious y our poets of the prefent 
 day would fear, however they might deiire, to ufe 
 as two profodial fyllables : then they were fo 
 ufed generally ; infomuch that we find them very 
 frequently forming the concluding foot of a 
 verfe. Now they may conclude a verfe, but 
 in a very different way : they muft be con- 
 fidered only as one fyllable, and that fyllable no 
 portion of a foot, but beyond the meafure, or, in 
 the profodial term, hyperrhythmical. The ter- 
 mination of the paft tenfe in ed alfo commonly 
 then held its rank as a full profodial fyllable. It 
 were perhaps defirable, both in poetry and in 
 profe, and both for diftinctnefs of fpeech, and 
 for avoiding often wretched cacophony, that 
 the fame might be ventured now; but impe- 
 rious cuftoin forbids. In the accentuation of 
 words derived from the Latin and French, fome 
 differences are found, but they are not many. 
 Contrary occurs in Milton, acuted on the fecond. 
 3 , Spenfer
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 135 
 
 Spenfer acuted melancholy on the fecond, and 
 yet we find contrary acuted by him on the 
 firft. It may be doubted if his accentuation of 
 melancholy ever was popular; but Milton's pro- 
 nuntiation of contrary remains among the lower 
 people. 
 
 The earl of Surrey's age forms an era for 
 early Engliih literature. To that accomplifhed 
 nobleman we are faid to owe the firft exam- 
 ples of our prefent epic pentameter unrimed h ; 
 examples which have been followed fo to the 
 glory of Englifh poetry. From lord Surrey's 
 age, looking upward, we find, during the long 
 wars of the rofes, almoft a void; and then Chaucer 
 beams upon us with a brilliancy the more ftriking 
 from the extent of intervening darknefs. The 
 differences in his language from that of the prefent 
 day will not appear wonderful, but, rather it may 
 appear wonderful they are no greater. For the pecu- 
 liarities of his diction, and whence they havearifen, 
 Mr. Ellis may beadvantageoufly confulted. For the 
 harmony of his verfes, the more immediate object 
 of our prefent inquiry, that it may fometimes be 
 hardly difcernible, mould lefs excite furprize, than 
 that, with the pronuntiation of the prefent day, 
 and notwithftanding the vices in our copies of his 
 works, it is in fo large a proportion found perfect. 
 
 What are all the vices in our copies of his 
 works, is unlikely ever to become known ; but 
 
 h This is aflerted by that diligent inquirer after early Englifh 
 poetry, bifhop Percy. 
 
 K 4 his
 
 l$6 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 his own words, as we may variously gather them, 
 will beft inable us to form conjecture. In Eliza- 
 beth's reign, Thomas Speght gave an edition, 
 which was republiQied by him, with a dedication 
 to fir Robert Cecil, afterward earl of Salifbury, 
 ftill in black-letter, in the year 1602. In the 
 dedication he affirms that he had reformed the 
 whole work by old copies, * whereby,' he fays, 
 
 * Chaucer, for the moft part, is reftored to his owne 
 ' antiquitie.' In his addrefs afterward to the reader, 
 he fays, e And for his verfes, although in divers 
 c places they may feeme to us tq ftand of unequal 
 
 * meafures, yet a fkilful reader, that can lean 
 4 them in their nature, (hall find it otherwife. 
 ' And ifaverfe here and there fal out a fiilable 
 
 * (horter or longer than another, I rather aret it 
 
 * to the negligence and. rape of Adam Scrivener, 
 4 that I may fpeak as Chaucer doth, than to any 
 
 * unconning or overfight in the author. For how 
 
 * fearful he was to have his works mis-written, or 
 ' his verfe mis-meafured, may appeare in the end 
 ' of his fift booke of Troylus and Crefeide, where 
 ' he writeth thus : 
 
 And for there is fo great diverfitie 
 In Englifti and in writing of our tongue, 
 So pray I God that none mis-write thee, 
 Ne thee mis-metre for defaut of tongue. 
 
 Now what might be the diverfitie produced by 
 the ignorance or careleflhefs of lefs eminent editors, 
 even in printing, Speght's own diverfities may 
 afford ground for eftimation. For, after ad- 
 
 monifhing
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 moniming his reader in the words and orthogra- 
 phy juft quoted, he gives the pafiage in its proper 
 place, t\\Q fifth booke offroitus, as it is there fpelt, 
 thus : 
 
 And for there is fo great diverfite 
 In Engl : fli and in writing of our tong, 
 So pray I to God that none mis-write thee, 
 Ne thee miffc metre for defaut of tong. 
 
 Hence conjecture may be formed of the mis-. 
 writing and mis-metering to which popular poetry 
 might be liable, from fcriveners, while printing was 
 unknown. 
 
 But very many of Chaucer's verfes, even with 
 the pronuntiation of the prefent day, after all 
 hazards of mifwriting, are perfectly harmonious; 
 whence the prefumption is ftrong, that, were all 
 written correctly, and fpoken with t*e pronuntia- 
 tion of his day, we mould find all fuch as in the 
 mafs to intitle his eloquence to that high eulogy 
 which, as Mr. Ellis obferves, elder writers have 
 beftowed on it. That the general character of 
 the harmony of the language, was no other then 
 than at this day, the proof appears certain. What 
 were the principal differences of pronuntiation, by 
 which harmony was affected, his verfes plainly in- 
 dicate. Terminations from the Norman-French, 
 in our, ence, we, and fome others, now pronounced 
 with a grave accent, were then commonly acuted, 
 and added to the iiore of rimes. Of this his 
 JBalade of the Village, given by Johnfon in his 
 
 Ilillory
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Hiftory of the Englifh language, affords large ex- 
 ample. The vowel e, tho often omitted, even in 
 black-letter editions, where it ought to appear, 
 and perhaps fometimes inferted where it ought 
 not, was in Chaucer's time pronounced in a dif- 
 tinct fyllable after mute confonants, which it 
 now follows only in an unavoidable whifper * ; 
 and the habit of fpeech appears to have given it 
 frequently alfo after femi-vowels. Of this John- 
 fon was aware, and he has generally marked, 
 tho perhaps not always well, the e to be pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 Let us examine a little the following four lines 
 from the Canterbury tales: 
 
 Alas/ too dear abought {he her beautee, 
 Wherefore I fay that all men may fee 
 That yefts tn c fortune or of nature 
 Been caufe of death of many a creature. 
 
 Heft's Remark on the Do/tor of Plyfic't Tale. 
 
 Thefe verfes, fpoken with the pronuntiation of 
 the prefent day, would give none to imagine that 
 they could be intended for the five-footed epic. 
 The two former approach fome of Swift's doggrel 
 in triple cadence, and the two others are Hudi- 
 braftic four-footed verfes, of the even cadence with 
 the double ending. Fortunately however it remains 
 poffible, and not even difficult, to gather, from the 
 tenor of Chaucer's verification, how they would 
 
 1 See the fecond fedlion of this Inquiry, toward the end. 
 
 be
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 be pronounced in his own age. That he intended 
 beautee to be acuted on the laft will be imme- 
 diately obvious to all ; which fuffices to make the 
 firft line a good^five-footed epic. In Chaucer, and 
 others of his time, v/e frequently find the word 
 all written with an added e, and fo made a diffyl^ 
 lyable, all's. Thus the fecond alfo is a good five- 
 footed epic. In the word yefts y meaning gifts y the 
 harm combination fts cannot be pronounced with- 
 out a whifpered vowel between the / and j, mak- 
 ing really a feparate fyllable ; and accordingly we 
 find it in old writings, as in the pronuntiation of 
 the vulgar at this day, gift is, or giftes. Fortune, 
 naturty and creature, are generally acuted by Chaucer 
 on the laft, and creature is likely to have been in 
 his time a triffyllable, as it is in French, and as 
 creator is yet in Englifh. Thus the verfes all be- 
 come perfectly good five -footed epics. And that 
 they were intended fo to be, thofe preceding and 
 following, which are fo without correction, would 
 fufficiently indicate : 
 
 Algate this fylly maid is flam, alas ! 
 Alas ! too dear abought (lie her beautee. 
 Wherefore I fay that alle men may fee 
 That yeftis of fortune or of nature 
 Been caufe of death of many a creature. 
 Her beauty was her death, I dare well fayen, 
 Alas! fo piteoufly as fhe was flayen. 
 
 The lines here added offer alfo matter for ob- 
 fervations, which may tend to the further expla- 
 nation of the harmony of Chaucer's poetry. On 
 
 the
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the revival of clafllcal learning, in Henry the 
 feventh's time, the minds of litterary men became 
 fb bent upon Greek and Latin that their own lan- 
 guage fell into neglect. Nor was this, in the 
 moment, ib unreafonable as it would be now. 
 J^atin became the common language of the learned, 
 in which they held ready communiation from na- 
 tion to nation throughout Europe, when in no 
 other language they could communicate at all ; 
 and in Latin and Greek only the principles of 
 good tafte were to be acquired. In thofe circum- 
 ftances the vernacular idiom of courfe fell into 
 that neglect, in which it remained in our univer- 
 iities till within the lad half century, and remains 
 in a great degree to this day. This ftate of things 
 con-fidered, it will not appear wonderful if, in the 
 pedantic age of Elizabeth, correctnefs was little 
 regarded in the Saxon part of our language, and 
 if corruption grew among thofc words and phrafes 
 and inflections which were verging at all toward 
 obfoletion. In Speght's edition of Chaucer, for 
 the word maid^ in the fir ft of the lines laft quoted, 
 is printed maiden* to the injury evidently of the 
 harmony. But Chaucer would not write maiden 
 for the fingular ; in his time it was the plural of 
 maid; as, in polite language ftill, oxen is the plural 
 of ox, and, in the weftern dialeft, houfen of houfe. 
 In the fixth of thefe lines then we find the word 
 beauty fpelt as at this day, whereas four lines only 
 
 above
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 above it is differently fpelt. But it appears that 
 the poet intended a different accentuation of the 
 word in the two places, and therefore may have him- 
 felf ufed the licence of his day for various fpelling. 
 The licence for vary ing accentuation could fcarcely 
 fail to arife with the large acceffion, about his time 
 gaining vogue in our fpeech, from a language like 
 the French,which denies to its words any fixt and 
 charadteriftical accent. This licence was too com- 
 modious for hafty rimers, not to be eagerly adopted 
 by the minftrels, who, as bifhop Percy has ob- 
 ferved, ufed it freely. Even in Chaucer we find 
 not -only French, but Anglo-Saxon words, fub- 
 je&ed to it. In the middle of a verfe he would 
 acute the words hanging, knowing, keeping, as we 
 do now, on the firft ; but, for rime-fake, he does 
 not fcruple to demand the acute occafionally upon 
 the laft : 
 
 Upon his thornb he had of gold a ring, 
 And by his fide a naked fword honging. 
 And dainties mo than been in my knowing. 
 
 Thus leave I Canace her nauk keeping. 
 
 Squiei't Tale. 
 
 Neverthelefs it appears that this irregularity 
 does not properly belong to the Saxon part of 
 our language, but has arifen from mixture of 
 the French. For the Anglo-Saxon termination 
 of the prefcnt participle was not in ing, but 
 
 in
 
 142 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 in and or end; and to this day, in the weflern 
 dialed, the nafal ng is unheard ; the participle, 
 in the pronuntiation of the country people, ending 
 always in fimple. The nafal found feems to 
 have been introduced from the French ; and when 
 the French articulation had obtained vogue, the 
 French indeciiion of accentuation was a conve- 
 nience which the riming poets would of courfe 
 catch at. Fortunately the genius of the Anglo- 
 Saxon pronuntiation at length prevailed in this 
 point, and fo our poetry is lefs ilained with nafal 
 rimes. 
 
 In tracing our verification then upward from 
 Chaucer, and his friend, little older than himfelf, 
 Gower, we come to a period confiderably interelt- 
 ing in the hiftory of language; becaufe, as in our 
 law and conftitution, fo in our fpeech, with the 
 uncertainties incident to a great revolution, and 
 in an age dark throughout Europe, better autho- 
 rities are found for tracing that revolution than 
 any of the fame kind, perhaps, in any other part 
 of the world. After the Norman conqueft, the 
 court and the nobility fpoke Norman-French, the 
 body of the people Anglo-Saxon. Political in- 
 terefts concurred with weight of numbers to make - 
 the Anglo-Saxon at length predominate - } but with 
 a depraved idiom, very materially altered from the 
 old language, and with a large addition of words 
 from the forein tongue. The manner of this re- 
 volution,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 143 
 
 volution, its periods, its amount at different pe- 
 riods, and its final refult, are illuftrated with 
 much ingenuity, learning, and judgement by Mr. 
 Ellis. The bufinefs here will be meerly to trace, 
 as far as we can, our verification toward its 
 fource. 
 
 Chaucer died in the year 1400, Gower in 1402. 
 Beyond them we feem to have nothing, the date 
 of which can be afcertained till we reach Robert 
 of Glocefter, whofe veriion of Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth's Hiftory of Britain, in rime, Mr. Ellis fup- 
 pofes to have been completed about the year 
 1280. Mr. Thomas Warton, in his Hiftory of 
 Englifh Poetry, has pronouced * this riming 
 
 * chronicle,' as he calls it, ' totally void of art or 
 
 * imagination/ Neverthelefs Dr. Johnfon has 
 thought it worth a long quotation in his Hiftory 
 of the Englifh Language ; and Mr. Ellis, not 
 reckoning the monk of Glocefter among great 
 poets, refers however to parts of his work as mark- 
 ing not only good fenfe, but eloquence. His verfe 
 is that which, fo late as the feventeenth century, 
 Chapman chofe for his Translation of Homer ; a 
 meafure which we may perhaps trace hereafter be- 
 yond the Englifh language. It is a meafure of 
 fcven feet of the even cadence, being truly a dou- 
 ble verfe, and no other than the common modern 
 lyric meafure of four and three feet alternately, or, 
 as it has been often called, from the number of 
 
 poetical
 
 144 -INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 poetical fyllables, eights and fixes; with the dif- 
 ference only that, whereas in the lyric ftanza of 
 four and three feet alternately, it is required that 
 the fourth foot end with the completion of a word, 
 ib that a paufe may follow, in the couplet of feven- 
 footed verfes, the paufe, though ordinarily occur- 
 ring at the end of the fourth foot, is not fo in- 
 difpenfably required there*. Robert of Glo- 
 cefter's language is, in Johnfon's phrafe, a kind 
 of intermediate diction, neither Saxon nor Englifh,. 
 and, according to Mr. Thomas Warton, its more 
 than common obfcurity is partly e owing to the 
 
 * weftern dialect, in which the monk of Glocefter 
 
 * was educated.' Something alfo fhould probably 
 be attributed to the careleffnefs and miftakes of 
 tranfcribers and editors, which Chaucer fo depre- 
 cated. Attention to the accentuation of his day, 
 as it may be gathered from other early poets, and 
 from himfelf, is neceffary to a ready perception 
 of his miafure ; but after fuch attention it will 
 
 k Samuel Johnfon, in his Hiftory of the Englifli Language, 
 obferves, that * this meafure, poliflied into greater exahie(s, 
 
 * appeared to our anceftors fo fuitable to the genius of the 
 
 * Englifli language, that it was continued in ufe almoft to the 
 
 * middle of the feventeenth century.' I imagine he meant a 
 reference to Chapman's work. His preceding obfervation, 
 that it taught the way to the Alexandrines of the French 
 4 [poetry,* would, I think, never have been, made, if he had 
 had any familiarity with French poetry in French pronun- 
 ciation. 
 
 not
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 not remain at all doubtful. The firft of the lines 
 given by Johnfon may ferve as a fpecimen : 
 
 Of the | batayles | of Denjemarch | that hii { dude in | 
 
 this londe, 
 That worft | were of | all 6th [ere | we molte abbe | on 
 
 lionde. 
 
 Worft hii | were, J vor 6th|ere | adde|fomwanne | yd6, 
 AsR6|meynes and Saxjons and | wel-wufte | that lond | 
 
 therto. 
 Ac hii | ne kept | yt hold[e noht | bote | robby | and 
 
 fende, 
 And desjtrue j and berne | and fie- | and ne J couthe 
 
 abbe|non ende. 
 And bote | luteyt j nas worth [they hii- | were ojvercdme - 
 
 ylome, 
 Vor myd j (Types j and gret | poer, | as preft | efsone j hii 
 
 come. ' 
 
 The reader, unverfed in our elder poetry, may 
 perhaps think I have gone beyond warrant in af- 
 ligning fyllabical power to the final e among thefe 
 lines, but I am perluaded that, with attention to 
 Chaucer and Gower he will find me juflified, 
 
 1 Hii dude, they doed, did. Mote albe an lionde t muft have 
 in hand. Wttfle, for wafted, paft tenfe, of the fame analogy as 
 knew from know, Ikw from HOTU, rofe from rife, froze fromfreeze, 
 and others. Deftnte, the French word defiruit. Bote lute, but 
 little. Myd, the German word for With. Poer, the Norman 
 Potter^ which in modern French is become Pouvoir. Prejt is 
 alfo the French word. 
 
 i. - The
 
 146 INQUIRY INTO THB PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The following lyric is fuppofed of about Robert 
 of Glocefter's time : yet, with the advantage of 
 Mr. Ellis's reformation of the orthography, it has 
 a fmoothnefs of numbers that might vie with any 
 compofition of Pope's age ; and the language, tho 
 not all modern, can want a vocabulary fcarcely for 
 any reader. 
 
 Wtnjter wajkeneth all j my care ; 
 Now ( thefe leajves wax|s.th bare, 
 Oft | I sigh j and mo6r|ne fare, 
 When j it com|eth in J my thought, 
 Of this j world's joy, | how it | goeth all j to nought. 
 
 The mcafure of the four firft of thefe lines, the 
 iourfootcd of the even cadence with the firft foot 
 truncated, a favorite meafure at this day, we may 
 find occafion td trace to the fame forein fpeech 
 whence we mail find that of Robert of Glocefter 
 has been derived. If the age of the poem be 
 rightly afligned, the concluding line of the ilanza 
 is by far the oldeft example of the fivefooted epic 
 that I know in our language. 
 
 Giving modern orthography to antient poetry, as 
 Mr. Ellis has done, is relieving to the reader, if un- 
 pracYifed in the antient orthography, and incurious 
 about it ; but highly hazardous for the meafures, 
 which the antient fpelling will generally indicate to 
 the pra&ifed eye, where by die modern they are 
 thrown into confufion and obfcurity. I therefore 
 
 prefer
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 147 
 
 prefer recurring tojohnfon's hiftory of the EngHfh 
 language for the following, which he offers as a fpe- 
 cimen of Anglo-Saxon poetry, tho it is, as Mr. 
 Ellis has juftly faid of fome earlier fpecimens, a 
 barbarized dialed, in words only Anglo-Saxon, in 
 idiom corrupted and degraded. The meafure, 
 amid all the antiquity of language perfectly ob- 
 vious, is precifely what Milton has chofen for his 
 Allegro and Penferofo, the fourfooted of the even 
 
 o * 
 
 cadence, with the firft foot complete or truncated 
 indifferently : 
 
 Fur | in fee, j by weftje Spaygne, 
 Is j a lond | ihote j Cockaygne. 
 Ther nis j lond unjder hevjenrich* 
 Of wel | ofg6d|nis hit | iliche. 
 Thoy parjadis j be mirji and briyt 
 Cockaygjne is | of fairjir siyt. 
 
 Another lyric poem, in the common modern 
 ftanza of fourfooted and threefooted verfes, is given 
 by Johnfon as one of the oldeft extant examples of 
 our prefent poetical meafures. For relief to the 
 reader unverfed in the old language, I have placed 
 a verfion befide it. 
 
 Heven and erfc he overfiefc Heaven and earth he overfeeth, 
 
 His eyhen m bith fulhriht. His eyes are full bright. 
 
 Sunne and mone and alle fterren Sun and moon and all ftars 
 Bie* iieftre on his lihte. Are darknefs amid his light. 
 
 H. 
 
 m In the Saxon chara&ers, in whicli Johnfon has given fhe 
 J>ocm, this word it written tglen. But it is evident enough that 
 
 j. a thr
 
 148 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 He wot hwet fcenchcfc and hwet He knows what thinketh and 
 
 do|> 
 
 Alle quike wihte. 
 Nis no louenl fwich is Chrift, 
 Ne no king fwich is Drihte. 
 
 Heven and ciSe and all fcatis, 
 Biloken is on his honde. 
 
 He d^S all J:at his \ville is 
 On fea and ec on loade. 
 
 ] !e is ord albuten orde 
 And ende albuten ende, 
 
 He one is evre on echc ftede, 
 Wende wer 15 u wende. 
 
 He is buven us and bine<5en, 
 Bivoren and ec bihind. 
 
 Se man J>at Codes wille deS 
 Hie mai him aihwar vinde. 
 
 Eche rune he iherJS 
 
 And wot eche dedc. 
 He thurh-fiy$ eches ifcanc' 
 
 Wai hwat fel us to rede. " 
 
 doth 
 
 Every living man. 
 There is no lord fuch as is Chrift, 
 Nor king fuch as is the Lord. 
 
 Heaven and earth and all that is 
 
 Created is of his hand. 
 He doth all that his will is 
 
 On fea and eke on land. 
 
 He is beginning all without beg; nninj, 
 
 And end all without ends 
 He one is ever in each place, 
 
 Go wherever thou mayft go. 
 
 He is above us and beneath, 
 
 Before and eke behind* 
 The man that God's will doth, 
 
 He may him everywhere find. 
 
 Each word lie heareth, 
 
 And knoweth each deed. 
 He fees through every one's thought> 
 
 Se man nevre nele don god, The man that never did any good, 
 
 Ne nevre godlif leden, Nor ever good life led, 
 
 Ir deth and dom come to his dure, Ere death and doom come t& his door, 
 
 He mai him fore adreden. He may him forely dread. 
 
 the Saxon 5 had often the pronundation of ourjr, as the Greek 
 y has before the vowels c, n, , and y, among the modern 
 Greeks. We find in Chaucer yefts for gifts, (Hoft's Obfervation 
 on the Squier's Tale) and in Johnfon's quotation from Lydgate, 
 a cotemporary of Chaucer, forydfulnefs ; as, in the north of 
 England, at this day,_^a/ for gate 
 
 n Thofe more verfed in the Saxon might probably remedy 
 the incorreftnefs, if fuch there is, as I fufpecl, in this line. 
 
 TlYus
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 149 
 
 Thus we have traced our verfification of the 
 EVEN CADENCE into antiquity, more than fix cen- 
 turies. The hiftory of the TRIPLE CADENCE re- 
 mains yet for inquiry j and, notwithflanding its 
 neglect among our principal poets during thofe 
 fix centuries, it may be found to deferve fomc 
 examination. Within the prefent century, that 
 cadence, as we have before obferved, has gained 
 iome vogue for pafloral and burlefk fubjects ; 
 and Dryden has introduced it happily, and Pope, 
 not without fome opinion apparently of its worth, 
 has attempted it lefs happily, in poems of the fub" 
 limed character. But it is remarkable how little 
 of it we find in any collections of old poetry. Mil- 
 ton's publifhed works afford not a fingle example. 
 In Mr. Ellis's collection, tracing it upward, the 
 firft occurring is a fong of Queen Elizabeth's reign, 
 by Humfrey Gifford. 
 
 You glad|ly would have | me to make | you fome toy, 
 And yet | will not tell j me whereof | I fhould write: 
 
 The ftrangcjnefs of this | doth breed J me annoy, 
 And makes | iv,e to feek | what things | to indite. 
 
 The next, by Thomas Tuffer, is attributed to the 
 preceding reign j 
 
 In Health to be ftirring fliall profit thee befr ; 
 In ficknefs hate trouble ; feek quiet and reft. 
 Remember thy fou! ; let no fancy prevail ; 
 Make ready to God-ward ; let faith never quail. 
 The fooner thyfelf thou fubnrritteft to God, 
 The fooner he ceafeth. to fcourge with his rod. 
 
 L 3 It
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 It will be obferved that, in all thefe verfes a fyl- 
 lable is wanting in the firfl foot, which, as we have 
 before remarked, is common in poetry of the triple 
 cadence ; but, in the two laft of GifFord's a fy liable 
 is alfo wanting in the third foot ; a licence which 
 has been fometimes imitated by Swift and other 
 poets of the eighteenth century Neither Gif- 
 ford's verfes, nor Tufier's requite any deviation 
 from .the mofl approved pronuntiation of the pre- 
 fent day, to make their harmony perfect. 
 
 An example of another meafure of the triple 
 cadence is given in the fame collection, alfo from 
 Tuffer. 
 
 What lookeft thou herein to have ? 
 
 Fine verfes, thy fancy topleafe? 
 Of many my betters that crave ; 
 
 Look nothing but rudenefs in thefe. 
 
 Mr. Ellis has obferved of thefe lines, that they 
 are in a meter afterward adopted by Shenftone ; a 
 remark indicating that fo diligent an inquirer had 
 fcarcely met with anything of the kind between 
 Tufler and Shenftone. 
 
 From Drayton, who had confiderable reputation 
 in the age of queen Elizabeth, there remains a 
 lyric poem in triple meafure, ftill of a different 
 form : 
 
 Near to the filver Trent 
 
 Sirena dwelleth, 
 She to whom nature lent 
 All that excelleth. 
 
 This,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 This, in purfuing the poem, we find to be an 
 imitation of that Italian meafure which Metaftafo 
 has chofen for his ode to Venus, 
 
 Scendi propizia, 
 
 Cnl tuo fplendore, 
 O bella Venere, 
 
 Madre d'Amore. 
 
 In the Englilh, however, not only the grace but 
 the decifion of the Italian meafure fails j the two 
 firft verfes might be miftaken for one epic of the 
 common cadence, with the aberration of the accent 
 in the firft foot, 
 
 Near to the silver Tre"nt Sirena dwelleth ; 
 
 and the confufion is inhanced by the ornament of 
 rime mifplaced in the final fyllables of the firft 
 and third verfes. If rime be given them, which 
 Metaftafio has more judicioufly omitted, it fliould 
 be of the kind which the Italians ca\\fdruccio!e, of 
 three fyllables, as merrily and verily. But words of 
 this form of termination are little abundant in our 
 language ; and fo the popular fong of God fave the 
 King, which has three confecutive verfes in every 
 four, of the fame meafure with the firft and third of 
 Drayton's ftanza, is found in large proportion 
 liable to the fame ambiguity, 
 
 In bifhop Percy's collection of old Englifh 
 
 poetry, we find a poem in the triple cadence, 
 
 whence the biihop has taken occafion for one of 
 
 thofe interfperfed diflertations, with which he has 
 
 L 4 / added
 
 152, INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 added variety and intereft to his publication. The 
 poem, intitled the Complaint of Confcience, is 
 without date, but feems to have been of Henry 
 the Eighth or Edward the Sixth's reign ; for that 
 it did not precede the reformation is marked by 
 the mention of wives and children of the clergy. 
 The only known copy is fo incorrect, that the 
 learned editor has thought it neceffary to hazard 
 fome amendments, and ftill the verfes are occa- 
 fionally halting. The intended meafure however is 
 perfectly obvious. The firft ftanza runs thus : 
 
 As I walked of late by an wood fide, 
 
 To God for to meditate was mine entent, 
 
 Where lender an Hawthorne I fuddenlye fpyed, 
 A filly poor creature, ragged and rent, 
 With bloody teares his face was befprent, 
 
 His fleflie and his color confumed away, 
 
 And his garments they were all mire, mucke, and clay. 
 
 In the fame collection are many older examples 
 of the triple meafure, in poems of confiderable 
 merit ; efpecially one intitled the Yurnament of 
 Tottenham, which, in fubject analogous to the 
 famed work of Cervantes, for purity of taile, as 
 well as ingenuity m wit, might bear a comparifon 
 with it. Neverthelefs the meafure, owing pro- 
 bably in a great degree to the careleflhefs and 
 error of tranfcribers, is frequently found halting; 
 and fo is every other example of the triple meafure 
 in the bifhop's three volumes. It is to our book of 
 common prayer that I muft refer for the moft per- 
 fect
 
 HARMONY IN LANCUAGI. 
 
 feet example of the triple meafure that I have 
 found of fo early an age. That commonly called 
 the old verfion of the hundred and fourth Pfalm 
 muft be, I fuppofe, as old as the Complaint of Con- 
 fcience, or perhaps older, and its meafure is of thc 
 Jame kind : 
 
 My foul praife the Lord, Speak good of his name, 
 
 O Lord our great God, How doft thou appear! 
 
 How paffing in glory ! ttcr.v great is thy fame ! 
 
 Honour and Majefty In thee fljine moil clear. 
 
 The accentuation of the words Honour and 
 Majefty, is what obtained in Chaucer's time, and 
 was not wholly obfolete in Spenfer's, the acute on 
 the laft : but this excepted, nothing different from 
 modern pronuntiation is required to make thefe 
 lines throughout fmooth and harmonious. In the 
 next ftanza a halting verfe occurs, 
 
 In the clouds full fure. 
 
 This, however, feems to owe its awkward gait to 
 modern pronuntiation and orthography, the author 
 having probably red, 
 
 I'th cloudes full fure, 
 
 making cloudes a diflyllable, like Chaucer, and re- 
 ducing in the to a monofyliable, as we find frequent 
 in Shakefpear. 
 
 Thus then we trace the triple cadence, in rimed 
 verfe, perfect as high as the age of the Reforma- 
 tion. But far beyond that age there was Englifli 
 
 poetry
 
 154 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 poetry WITHOUT RIME, which we find to have been 
 in its day highly popular, yet which has fo gone 
 into defuetude, that the intended meafure has 
 become, even to learned and ingenious inveftiga- 
 tors of our early poetry, incomprehenfible * The 
 ' verfes,' fays Mr. Ellis, who appears to have 
 examined the obfervations of preceding critics, 
 ' are not diftinguifhed from profe, either by a de- 
 ' terminate number of fyllables, or by rime, or 
 
 * indeed by any other apparent teft, except the 
 ' fludied occurrence of the fame letter three times 
 ' in each line ; a contrivance \vhichwe mould not 
 ' fufpedt of producing much harmony. Thismea- 
 
 * fure is referred by Dr. Percy to one of the hun- 
 
 * dred and thirty-fix different kinds of meter, 
 
 * which Wormius has difcovered among the Ice- 
 
 * landic poets.' 
 
 It is only for the notice with which fuch critics 
 as Mr. Ellis and the bifhop of Dromore have ho- 
 nored it, that I can have any refpecl; for Wormius's 
 difcovery of a hundred and thirty-fix Icelandic 
 meafures. But the bilhop, in his (hort preface 
 to the poem intitled, the Complaint of Confcience, 
 and in the following obfervations on the meter of 
 Pierce Plowman's Vifion, has indicated that all the 
 old unrimed Englifh poetry has the fame meafure 
 as the Complaint of Confcience ; and that allitera- 
 tion, not the conftituent, for it cannot be the con- 
 ftituent of meafure, is ufed for ornament only in 
 the latter poem, as rime is in the former. Illuftra- 
 
 ' tion
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 tion of the juftnefs of this indication will not 
 require any deep or difficult refearch. 
 
 The bifhop has named the meter of Pierce 
 Plowman's Viiion for the fubject of his obferva- 
 tions, only as that curious poem is the mod generally 
 known of many in the fame meafure, c that fingular 
 
 * fpacies of verification,' as Ite fays, * the nature of 
 
 * which has been fo little underftood.' The time 
 when that poem was competed, is pretty well af- 
 certained to have been about the year 1350, or not 
 long after. The author is faid by Crowley, the firft 
 printer of it, to have been Robert Langland, a 
 fecular fie ft, and fellow of Oriel college, in Ox- 
 ford, born at Mortimer's Cleobury in Shropshire i 
 but, Mr.. Ellis fays, * the only remaining evidence 
 ' rather indicates that his name was William.' The 
 fame elegant critic gives the character of the poem 
 thus : ' It is full of good fenfe and piety, rendered 
 
 * interefting by a fucceffion of incidents, inlivened 
 
 * by flrong fatire, and ornamented by many fine 
 
 * fpecimens of defcriptive poetry, in which the 
 ' genius of the author appears to great advantage.' 
 Such merit will give intereft to the inveftigation of 
 the meafure, which will alone be our butinefs here. 
 
 Notwithftanding the imagined deficiency of 
 meafure, and the certain want of rime, in an age 
 when Chaucer was giving new vogue to rime, and 
 new grace to meafure in the Englifh language, the 
 form of the verfe of Pierce Plowman's Vifion was 
 popular enough to induce another writer of no 
 
 mean
 
 156 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 mean talent, to chufe the fame, Tome years after, for 
 a poem of analogous fubject, which is yet ex- 
 tant, with the title of Pierce Plowman's Creed. 
 Mr. Ellis has obferved that this bears evidence of 
 having been compofed after the 'death of Wickliffe, 
 which happened in 1384, and is therefore more 
 modern than many of Chaucer's works. It cannot 
 but follow that the author of the Creed, whofe 
 purpofe was to imprefs the people, muft have reck- 
 oned upon the meafure of the Vifion as a form of 
 verfe then grateful to the popular ear, not lefs, or 
 hardly lefs, than thofe which Gower and Chaucer 
 had been leading to new favor. But the popu- 
 larity of the Vifion was not momentary. Near two 
 centuries after its firft publication in manufcript, 
 three editions of it were printed in the one year 
 1350, by Robert Crowley, and a fourth in 1561, 
 by Owen Rogers. And there remains evidence 
 that even its meafure continued nearly thus long 
 to hold popular favor ; for, in the fixteenth century, 
 it was chofen for a poem of confiderable length of 
 the Epic kind, defcribing the memorable battle of 
 Floddon, won by the earl of Surrey, agamfl James 
 the Fourth of Scotland, who fell in it, in 1513. 
 The date of the poem is nearly afcertained, by the 
 mention of the death of James Stanley, bifhop of- 
 Ely, as a recent event, which happened in 1515. 
 
 Percy, on the Meter of Pierce Plowman's Vafion. Rel. of 
 An. Po. vol. i, 
 
 Alliteration
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Alliteration is fhown by bifhop Percy to have 
 been ufed occafionally by Icelandic, Scandinavian, 
 Anglo-Saxon, and French poets, but with any re- 
 gularity and conftancy, only* as far as appears, by 
 Englifh poets of the fourteenth,flfteenth,and begin-* 
 ning of the fixteenth centuries. It will be obvious 
 that alliteration cannot make poetical meafure. It 
 might poffibly, like rime, affift the indication of 
 meafure, tho far lefs powerfully than rime. But 
 it has been ufed by the author of Pierce Plow- 
 man's Vifion, and the other alliterating poets, 
 without aim at the regularity neceflary to the 
 indication of meafure, as a meer ornament for 
 the amufement of the ear. That Pierce Plow- 
 man's Vifion, however, and all the works of its 
 kind, had poetical meafure, and were properly 
 verfe, in the pronuntiation of their day, is un- 
 queftionable. The manner of writing them, in old 
 manufcripts, mentioned by bifhop Percy, would 
 alone indicate fo much. But we have no occafion 
 to reft on fuch indication. 
 
 The three very firfl lines of the long paflage 
 given by Mr. Ellis, from the Vifion, are, in modern 
 pronuntiation, without any help, perfectly harmo- 
 nious four-footed verfes of the triple cadence; the 
 fourth halts : 
 
 I wot well, quoth Hunger, what ficknefs you aileth ; 
 Ye have manged overmuch, and that maketh you groan t 
 And I hote thee, quoth Hungfr, as thou thy heal willed, 
 That thou drink no day ere thou dine fomewhar. 
 
 The
 
 158 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 The failure of rime, with a meafure with which 
 we have been accuftomed to it, makes a deceiving 
 change, like the failure of the ufual drefs in a fami- 
 liar acquaintance. Let rime then be added, and it 
 will efcape none that thefe lines are ordinary four- 
 footed verfes of the triple cadence ; the three firft 
 perfect, like thofe lately quoted from Tufler, the 
 fourth wanting fomething, like feveral in the Com 2 
 plaint of Confcience : 
 
 I wot well, quoth Hunger, what ficknefs you aileth ; 
 
 Ye have manged overmuch, and that maketh you groan : 
 And I hote thee, quoth Hunger, or health furely faileth, 
 
 That thou dine every day ere thou take drink alone. 
 
 .Some mcorrectneffes, in poems derived from 
 times before the age of printing, we mail be taught 
 by the admonitions of Chaucer and his early edi- 
 UuSvtq expect ; and fo to expect as not to attribute 
 them to the poet himfelf. With obfervation and 
 companion however, we mail find this unrimed 
 verfe-of the triple cadence little lefs generally, of 
 lefs eafily, to be reftored than Chaucer's, and other 
 rimed poetry of the even cadence, of the fame age* 
 Rarely indeed more than three lines together, even 
 of Chaucer's, are found wholly unwanting medica- 
 tion. For the fourth of thefe from the Vilion, no 
 deep fearch, no fuppofition of what is not conti- 
 nually occurring in our early verification, is needed, 
 It firft halts with the monofyllable drink. But it 
 
 win
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. ip 
 
 will not be forgotten that notice has formerly been 
 taken of the impoflibility of flopping the voice with 
 the enuntiation of a mute confonant p ; whence our 
 forefathers commonly added an orthographical e, 
 and, as we may gather from their poetry, pro- 
 nounced it ; not after the manner of the prefent 
 day, in an unavoidable whiiper, but aloud, giving 
 it importance enough to have allowance as a po- 
 etical fyllable. The voice indeed, unable to flop 
 with the enuntiation of a mute confonant, can 
 however pafs immediately to the pronuntiation of 
 another confonant, provided a vowel precede the 
 firfl ; but from the diflindt enuntiation of the two 
 confonants nk it cannot proceed to a third, without 
 the whifpered vowel. The e, ufually concluding 
 the word drinks in our early orthography, has 
 certainly been ill omitted here; and, with its 
 pronuntiation, the meafure of the former half of 
 the verfe will be filled. The liquid confonant n 
 does not at all require any following found. But, 
 in Langland's age, the word dine was yet re- 
 cently gained from the French ; and as, eren 
 in old Englilh words, the final vowel, which now 
 paffes in a whifper, was then often if not generally 
 fpoken aloud, it is poffible that the poet may have 
 reckoned upon a fecond fyllable in that word. For 
 the modern reader, the antient pronuntiation of 
 the -line may pernaps befl be pointed out by 
 
 * Se&ion II. of this Inquiry. 
 
 the
 
 l6o INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the character a fubftituted for the antient e t 
 thus, 
 
 That thou drinka no day ere thou dina fomewhat. 
 
 The difpofition to this pronuntiation, in the 
 fpeech of our forefathers, appears in many old 
 fcngs, as in this of Shakefpear : 
 
 Jog on, jog on the footpath way, 
 
 And merrily bend the ftile-a: 
 A merry heart goes all the day ; 
 
 Your fad tires in a mile-a. 
 
 Winter's Tale, A& 4. 
 
 But, in the weflern provincial dialect, the word 
 dinner is ufed as a verb, inftead of dine, fo that 
 the line would run, 
 
 That thou drinka no day ere thou dinner fomewhat. 
 
 In the fame dialed: it is alfo ordinary to intro- 
 duce a fhort a between two confonants, for eafy 
 utterance, anywhere : fo that the word fomewhat, 
 tho in colloquial hurry reduced to fuminiit, would, 
 in more deliberate -delivery be fomawhat. Whe- 
 ther thefe modes of fpeaking obtain in Shropfhire, 
 the poet's fuppofed country, or in Worceftermire, 
 where the fcene of the poem is laid, I have not 
 obterved ; but I have thought them deferving 
 mention, for the fake of mowing that our provin- 
 cial dialects, now faft wearing out, may yet fome- 
 times furnim correction for the corruptions, which 
 the polite learning of editors has introduced into 
 
 the works of our elder poets. 
 
 Where
 
 HARMONY Ift LANGUAGE. 
 
 Where fo much corruption has been, as the un- 
 queftionable authority of Chaucer, with the proofs 
 found in his editors, give us ground to fuppofe, 
 and the many learned and able modern inquirers 
 after our antient poetry concur in noticing, it 
 would be unreafonable to expect that every verfe 
 efanyofthofe early poems is to be reftored to 
 priftine purity, or that the proper harmony of all, 
 were all certainly reftored, could be clearly de- 
 monftrated : arid perhaps* as even in modern po- 
 - etry here and there a line of lefs pleating flow may 
 occur, fo alfo in the elder there may be fome 
 which, even with the pronunciation of their day, 
 were lefs perfect. We may however refer to the 
 riming poets for example of mod of the apparent 
 irregularities, or perhaps all, to be found in this 
 unfimed verfe. The licences ufed by riming 
 poets, in verfe of the triple cadence, are princi- 
 pally to omit, without limitation, one, and fome- 
 times both the grave fyllables of the firft foot, to 
 extend this licence to the third foot, as the begin^ 
 ning of a fecond hemiftic, or, father, as we find 
 it among the earlier, another verfe. A grave fyl* 
 lable is alfo fometimes found added, and fome- 
 times dropped, in almofl every part of the rerfe : 
 but where this has been the purpofe of the poet, 
 and where the fault of the tranfcriber, is often 
 impoffible now to tell. It muft fuiEce us, there* 
 fore, if the purpofcd harmony is not always clear, 
 
 M that
 
 l62 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 that it is often obvious, and rarely beyond reafon- 
 able conjecture ; and that, when difcovered, it is 
 commonly, even with the pronuntiation of a mo- 
 dern voice, fatisfactory to the modern ear. For 
 i'luftration, through fome remarks, I will add a few 
 lines from the Vifion, tho means occur at prefent 
 to give them only from Mr. ElhYs quotation, de- 
 prived of the old orthography. 
 
 Eat | not, I hote j thee, till hunjger thee take, 
 
 And fend | thee of his fa;ice | to favour | with thy lips : 
 
 And keep | fome till fupper | lime, and sit | not too long, 
 
 And rife j up ere appejtite have eatjen his fill. 
 
 Let j not fir Surjfeit fit | on thy board. 
 
 Leve him not j for he is lechejrous and licojrous of tongue, 
 And after many j manner of meat J his maw | is a-hungered, 
 And if thou dijet thee thus { I ('are J lay my ears 
 That Phyjfick fhall his furjred cloke for } his food fell, 
 And his cloke \ of Calajbrie with ail his j knops of gold, 
 And be fain, J by my faith, j his ph/|fick to let, 
 And learn to lajbour with hand, | for li-ve|lode is fweet. 
 For muqderers are many j leeches ; Lord, j hem amend ! 
 They do men die } by their drmks j ere'defttjny it would. 
 
 The meafure of thele lines, with modern pro- 
 nuntiation, fuch as the orthography indicates, not 
 everywhere exact, is .yet abundantly obvious. 
 The inexactnefs however arifes nowhere from de- 
 ficiency, as in the former lines (for I con&der the 
 total failure of grave fyllables in the fi'rfl foot, 
 difcreetly ufed, as within the claimed licence of the 
 meafure.) but from fuperfluity of fyllables. Our 
 
 copies
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 163 
 
 copies of Shakefpear, and other poets of his age, 
 ihovv that it would be in the manner of fpeech of 
 our anceftors to retrench fome 6f the fuperfluities ; 
 and it feems probable that fome have been added 
 by the careleflhefs, or perhaps the ignorant zeal 
 of tranfcribers. The paflage, including the four 
 lines firfl quoted, might be given, not with any 
 certainty, but I think with a fair probability of 
 directing the modern voice very nearly to the old 
 harmony, thus : 
 
 I wot | well, quoth Hun|ger, what fickjnefs you aileth : 
 Ye have manged j overmuch, | and that majketh you groan. 
 And I hote | thee, quoth Hunjger, as thou | thy heal willeft, 
 That thou drinkja no day | ere thou dine J fomawhat. 
 Eat | not, I hote j ihee, ere hunjger thee take, 
 And fend | thee o's fauce j to favour j with thy lips. 
 Keep | fome till fupjper, and fit | not too long, 
 And rife | up ere appe|tite have eat|en his fill. 
 Let | not fir Surjfeit fit | on thy board. / 
 
 Leve him not, j for he's lechejrous and licojrous of ton^ 
 After many | manner of meat | his maw | is a-hungeredi 
 An thou dilet thee thus, | I dare | lay mine ears 
 That Phyjfic (hall's furjred cloke for | his food fell, 
 And his cloke | of Calajbrie with all's | knops of gold, 
 And be fain, | by my faith, | his phyjfic to let, and 
 Learn to lajbor * with hand ; | for live|lode is fweet. 
 
 For 
 
 * It is evident from Chaucer that words of this form, bor- 
 rowed with uncertain accent from the French, were in poetry, 
 however it might be in profe, acuted on cither fyllable, as the 
 poet's convenience might require. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 For murdjerers are many | leeches; Lord, J hem amend! 
 Men die | by their drinks } ere defti]ny r it would. 
 
 Bifhop Percy has given two extracts from a 
 poem of confiderable length in the fame meafure 
 as the Vifion, and, in his' opinion, as old, or 
 older. 
 
 Chrift, Chriften king, that on the crofle tholed. 
 
 Had paines and paflyons to defend our foules. 
 
 Give us grace on the ground the greatly to ferve, 
 
 For that royall red blood that ran from thy fide. 
 
 Rough as fome of thefe verfes may appear at 
 firft fight, very little is wanting to make them 
 harmonious for the modern voice. To indicate 
 the proper harmony to the modern eye, I would 
 write them thus: 
 
 Chrift, Chriftian king, that on the crofs thcled, 
 
 Had pains and paffions to defend ouer foules. 
 
 Give us grace on the ground thee greatly to ferve, 
 
 For that royal red blood that nm from thy fide. 
 
 The Latin Chriilianus,' the Italian Criftiano, 
 the French Chretien, from one of which the word 
 written Chriften mud have been derived, would 
 Jill authorize the orthography Chriftian, and the 
 pronuntiation of three fyllables ; which,- in Shake- 
 
 * The word dejliny would be likely to gain its accentuation 
 from the Italian, which, by its poets in books, and by its prieftj 
 in converfation, has contributed more perhaps to our language 
 than has been generally noticed. 
 
 (pear's
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 16$ 
 
 fpear's time we find was continually given, at lead 
 in the delivery of poetry, to words of that form. 
 Words of the form of our we find alfo frequently, 
 among the poets of his age, poetical diffyllables. 
 But in Chaucer the Saxon termination of the in- 
 finitive mood an or en is of frequent occurrence, 
 fo that, taking our as a monofyllable, the meafure 
 may have been rendered complete by making the 
 preceding word a trifly liable, defsnden. It was lefs 
 ufual in Chaucer's time to omit the prepofitive 
 fign of the infinitive mood to, even when the Saxon 
 infinitive termination was ufed; otherwite, pajfions 
 being adopted from the French, and therefore capa- 
 ble of the acute accent either on the laft or the 
 firft fyllable, the diftic might have run thus : 
 
 Had paines and paeons Defenden our fouls. 
 
 I do not mean to offer this as an equally pro- 
 bable reading with either of the others, but it ap- 
 peared worth while fo far to indicate the various 
 ways in which, confiftently with what we find to 
 have been the practice in the old language, the 
 apparent imperfections of the verfe may be ob- 
 viated. The other verfes of this extract want no* 
 correction or explanation. Rime perhaps they may 
 want to fatisfy the modern ear, but their mea- 
 fure is obvioufly regular, of the fame kind with 
 that of the hundred and fourth pfalm already 
 quoted. 
 
 M 3 From
 
 l66 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 From the fame poem the biQiop has extracted 
 the following defcription of Life perfonified, which 
 may, on more than one account, deferve notice, 
 tho the verification only will be our object 
 here. 
 
 Shee was brighter of her blee then was the bright fonn ; 
 
 Her rudcl redder than the rofe that on the rife hangeth ; 
 Meekely fmiling with her mouth and merry in her lookes, 
 
 Ever laughing for love as fhe like would. 
 
 And as (he came by the bankes the boughes, eche one, 
 
 They louted to that ladye, and laid forth their branchet, 
 
 Bloflbmes and burgens breathed full fweete. 
 
 Flowers flouriuVd in the frith where fhee forth ftepped, 
 
 And the grafle that was gray greened belive. 
 
 Irregular in meafure and deficient in harmony 
 as thefe lines are, with the pronuntiation indicated 
 by their orthography for the modern voice, yet a 
 very moderate allowance only for thofe circum- 
 flances of the pronuntiation of their own day, and 
 of the errors of tranfcribers, which have been al- 
 ready noticed, is wanting to make them regular 
 and harmonious. Where fyllables fail, the loud 
 pronuntiation of the now filent or whifpered , or 
 the introduction of the Anglo-Saxon augment y t 
 or 0, fo ordinary in Chaucer's time and not wholly 
 obfolete in Addition's, will afford all the neceflary 
 fupply. Where fyllables overabound, the elifions 
 familiar in Shakefpear's age, or the omiflion of an 
 expletive, fuch as feem to have been often inr 
 
 truded
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 167 
 
 trudecl by hafty tranfcribers, will reduce them to 
 their juft number. Perhaps the alterations here 
 following, tho I think all within probability, arc 
 rather more than were ablblutely necefTary : 
 
 She was brighter o' her blec ' than was the bright fun ; 
 
 Her rud redder than th' rofe l that on the rife u hangeth; 
 
 Meekely fmiling wi* her mouth and merry in her lookes, 
 
 Ever laughing for love, as file like awould. 
 
 As (he came by the bankes the boughes everich one 
 
 They louteu v to th' lady and laid forth their branches. 
 
 Bloflbms and burgens breathed full fweete. 
 
 Flowers flourifh'd i' th' frith w where fhe forth aftepped, 
 
 And the grafs that was gray agreened belive x . 
 
 To thofe whom curiofity may lead to defire ac- 
 quaintance with this old poetry, the continual 
 halting of the verfe, neceffarily incident with fuch 
 pronuntiaticn as the orthography, under the rules 
 and cuftom of the prefent day, indicates, cannot 
 but be annoying, offenfive, and ^ven repelling. 
 For the chance therefore of a little affifting 
 toward the removal of fuch an obilacle, 1 will 
 mark the meafures of another paflage of the 
 
 * Saxon bleo, cclor. 
 
 * In northern Englifh pronunciation, at this day, it is trtfc. 
 
 * Shoot or twig. r Bowed. 
 
 w Copfe-wooJ. The words /////; and rife are ftill in ufe in the 
 weftern dialed, for hcdging-wood. 
 
 * Became gretn immediately. Belive is yet, in the northern 
 dialeft, the ordinary word to exprefs immediately. 
 
 M 4 Vifion,
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Vilion, which has been a favorite among the In* 
 quirers after our early poets, and which, as Miy 
 Ellis has obferved, may have fuggefted to Milton 
 his fublirne defcription of the Lazar-houfe, in the 
 eleventh book of Paradife Loft. For the reader 
 lefs verfed in our elder language, it may be need- 
 ful to mention that Kinde is the word in ufe in it 
 * to mean Nature ; and it muft be obferved that the 
 firfl phrafe of the paflage has an Anglo-Saxon in- 
 verfion, through which, in confequence of the lofs 
 of the cafes from our prefei t fpeech, the fenfe is. 
 lefs obvious. The words, in their modern order, 
 would run < Kinde (or Nature) then heard Con- 
 * fcience.' The inverfion affords ftrong proof of 
 the author's attention to meafure ; for meafure 
 alone, as far as appears, can have led him to ufe 
 it. His mythology, it will be obferved, has not 
 been derived from the Greek or Latin, for he makes 
 Kinde mafculine : 
 
 Kinde Conscience then heard, | and came out | of the planets, 
 And fent | forth his forjayers *, fejvers and fluxes, 
 Coughs | and cardijacles, cramps, J and tooth-aches, 
 Boiljes and blotch |es and burnjing agues, 
 Phrencjfis and foul | evil forlayers of Kinde. 
 
 There 
 
 * Mr. Ellis has given farriers, which he interprets/wvigrr/. 
 But only three lines farther he gives' fcragers in the text. I have 
 already remarked the interchanged ufe of g and y among our 
 forefathers, whence I reckon myfelf warranted, for the fake 
 pnly of a ready exhibition of the meaffire, to write foraycrs in 
 |otb places.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 There was " Harjow ! and hel|pe ! here | cometh Kinde, 
 
 " With Death J that is dreadjful, to unldon z us all !" 
 
 A|ge the hoar | he was in | the van-ward, 
 
 And bare th' banjner 'fore Death : | by right j he it claimed. 
 
 Kind|e came afjter, with ma|ny keen fores, 
 
 Pox and j peftilenjces, and much J people fiicnt; 
 
 So Kind, | through corruptions kiljled full many. 
 
 Death came J driving afjter, and all J to duft paflied, 
 
 Kingles and kay|fers, knightjSs and popes: 
 
 Many a lovjely laldy, and lemjan of knightcs, 
 
 Swoonjed and fweltjed for forjrow of Death's dints. 
 
 Our next ftep will carry us beyond the utmoft 
 period to which Englifh poetry of the even ca- 
 dence, or any regularly rimed Englim poetry, has 
 been traced. Mr. Ellis has given an extract of 
 considerable length from a poem, highly curious 
 for its age and its language, preferved among the 
 Cotton manufcripts in the Britifh mufeum, an 
 Englifh tranflation of a French poetical verfion of 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth's Britifh hiftory. The date 
 is afligned to about the year 1185. The dialect 
 is (ingularly uncouth. In Langland's poem we find 
 the Engliih already a language, tho not polimed, 
 yet no way grofsly irregular, and in a confiderable 
 degree capable, by its copioufnefs and its force, of 
 every purpofe of eloquence. Eyen in thofe ear- 
 lieft poems which Johnfon has intitled Saxon, there 
 is all the regularity of a formed language; and 
 they are really Englith, little differing from the 
 
 z Undon, contracted from Undoan, the Saxon infinitive. 
 
 provincial
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 provincial dialects, flill fpoken, tho now faft going 
 into obfolction. But in Layamon of Ernley's tranf- 
 lation of Wace's Brut, there is all the appearance 
 of a language thrown into confufion by the cir- 
 cumflances of thofe who fpoke it, and flrugling 
 to adapt itfelf to the new flate of things. It is 
 truly neither Saxon nor Englifh. Far lefs therefore 
 than in Pierce Plowman's Vifion, or the Poem in- 
 titled Life and Death, ought we to expect, in every 
 line, clear indication of the harmony intended : It 
 fhould fuffice if we find frequently that refemblance 
 to the verfirkation of the more formed language 
 cf following poets, which may furnifli reafonable 
 prefumption what the character of the harmony 
 was throughout. Authority, on which explanations 
 might be given, or corrections ventured, of courfe 
 can be little to be found. We have however the 
 advantage, fuch as it may be, that can be drawn 
 from the genuine old orthography ; which Mr. Ellis 
 has no otherwife altered than by fubftituting the 
 two letters //; for the better practice of our fore- 
 fathers to exprefs the found by a fingle character. 
 For example I mail not delire to feek beyond the 
 firft lines of his extract j and, all things confidered, 
 I think it will appear rather wonderful that the 
 identical triple meafure of Pierce Plowman's vifion 
 is fo often confpicuous, than if there are fome 
 lines in which we may be unable to cjifcover the 
 fame or any other meafure, 
 
 Tha
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Tha the mafs j was ifungen When the rnafs was fung 
 
 Of chireken" heo thrungen, From church they thronged. 
 
 The. king, | mid his foike, The king amid his folk 
 
 To his J mete verde, To his meat fared, (wene.) 
 
 And muc|le his duyethe.* And much of his nobiliry. 
 
 Drem j wesonhirede. Joy was through the palace. 
 
 Tha quene j on other halve The queen, on the other fide, 
 
 Her herjberwe ifohte. Her harbour (apartment} 
 
 fought. 
 
 Hf6 j hafde if wifmonnc She had of women 
 
 Wunjder ane moui-en. Wonderous many a one. 
 
 Tha the king | was ifeten When the king was feated 
 Mid his monjnen to his mete, Amid his men to his meat, 
 To than c king j came the bif- To the king came the biflhop, 
 
 cop 
 
 Seind Dujbrig the was fo god, Saint Dubrig that was fogood, 
 And nom | of his hafde . And took off from his head 
 His kinc| helm htelme. His king-helmet high. 
 
 (For thai | mucle golde For that mnchgo'd 
 
 The king | hine bear n'alde.) The king himfelt bear not w.uld 
 
 (did not chufe to bear.) 
 
 And dude | ane lafle crune And did (placed) a lefs crown 
 On thas kinges hafde. Upon the king's head. 
 
 And 
 
 In Mr. Eliis's book chirccken. But as neither the tenor of 
 the orthography in this poem, nor the older Saxon orthography, 
 countenance the accumulation of confonants, we may reafona- 
 bly fufpeft mifwriting, and that it is ihus a e has been intruded 
 unwarranted, or the word intended may have been chireken. 
 
 b Mr. Ellis, aware of the varying pronuntiation of the Saxon 
 5 has given the Saxon character, which, as the meafure is no 
 way concerned, feemed here unneceflary, 
 
 f The Saxon accufetive.
 
 7* INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 And feoth-then | hegon do And prefently then he went and 
 
 did 
 Athere quejne alfwo. By the queen alfo. 
 
 Inne Troie j this was laye, In Troy this was law 
 Bih core ae'iderne daye, From their elder days, 
 
 Tha Brut|tes of come, Whence the Britons came, 
 
 The weoren j wel idone, (Forthofe) that were well edij- 
 
 cated, 
 
 A'l|e tha wepmen All the weapon-men 
 
 At heore | mete feten At their meat fate 
 
 Sundi | bi heom feolvcn. Afunder by themfelves. 
 
 That heom { thuhle weldon ; (That by them was thoijght 
 
 well done) 
 
 And a'ijfvva tha wifmen, And alfo the women 
 
 Heore iwune hafden. Their apartment had. 
 
 We are now already far. advanced into the age 
 when literature, never wholly extinct, was almoft 
 wholly confined to monafteries. Of the laity few 
 could read : almoft all the little learning among 
 them was, for memory fake, and for ingaging at- 
 tention, clothed in verfe, and communicated in 
 fong, commonly with the accompaniment of an in- 
 flrument. The cotemporary hiftorian of the great 
 Alfred, Afler, informs us that the literary educa- 
 tion of that extraordinary prince began with learn- 
 ing fongs in his own language j and; it is from an 
 expreffion of that extraordinary prince himfelf, in 
 a literary work remaining from him, that bimop 
 Percy juftly infers how ordinary, and almoft uni- 
 yerfal it was, in his time, for thp mufic of an 
 
 inftrument
 
 HARMONY- IN LANGUAGE. 173 
 
 inftrument to accompany the recitation of poetry. 
 We have already noticed the power of mufic fo to 
 hide defects in verification, that profe may be 
 made to take its ftep from mufical cadence, as if 
 it were verfe. It has alfo occurred for notice that 
 three fyllables may form a foot of the even cadence, 
 accommodated to three notes filling a bar of com- 
 mon mulical time, where one note is equal in 
 length to the two others ; and fo two fyllables may 
 make a foot of the triple cadence, accommodated 
 to two notes forming a bar of triple mufical time, 
 one of which is double in length to the other, 
 
 From this facility of mufical divifion, and the 
 readinefs with which the ear, habituated to the 
 ftroke of accent for indication of meafure, con- 
 cedes to mufical arrangement the proper orthoepi- 
 cal length of fyllables, the riming miniftrels took 
 opportunity for licentioufnefs in meafure, far be- 
 yond any that can be fairly attributed to thofc 
 poets of their age who ufed unrimed verfe. Of 
 many of the early pieces, air- of them in rime, in 
 bilhop Percy's collection, it may, on firft view, 
 be difficult to fay whether they were intended for 
 common or triple meafure. The learned editor has 
 put accentual marks to fome of the words, for the 
 purpofe of relieving his reader from the perplexity 
 which the apparent irregularity of the meafure 
 might occafion. His marks, all directing a pro- 
 nunciation different from what modern cuftom 
 
 would
 
 174 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 would allow, fhow that he fuppofed the even ca 
 dence intended. But I think, on careful examin- 
 ation, it will appear that in all the earlier, the triple 
 cadence has been intended, and that the accentual 
 marks, directing to a pronuntiation different from 
 the modern, directs generally to what was not in 
 the poets contemplation. The more modem fong 
 of Chevy Chace, of which Addiibn has given his 
 elegant criticifm, miftaking it, as tjie learned bifhop 
 has well obferved, for the original, is evidently 
 enough the common modern ilanza of alternately 
 four feet and three, of the even cadence. Accord- 
 ingly the old tune, perhaps compofed for it on its 
 firft publication in Queen Elizabeth's reign, is in 
 common time. But the original fong, the firft in 
 the collection, appears very evidently intended for 
 the triple cadence. In any endeavour to bring it 
 to the even cadence, it will remain, as the bifhop 
 feems to have been aware, rough and inharmo- 
 nious, beyond what is commonly found in fongs of 
 its day, Englim, Scotifla, or of the marches between 
 the two ; and far beyond what could be likely to 
 belong to a poem that acquired fuch popularity, 
 and ftill in Queen Elizabeth's reign was the 
 delight of Sir Philip Sidney. But let the triple 
 cadence be taken for the bafis of its harmony, and 
 there will be fcarcely any roughnefs that will not 
 give way to pronuntiation warranted by what re- 
 mains indicated of the pronuntiation of thofe times; 
 i or
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. I J $ 
 
 or to correction, that may derive probability from 
 the varieties to be found in manufcripts. 
 
 In tracing our poetry upward into antiquity, 
 the oldeft which we have been examining, cor- 
 rupted Anglofaxon, but flill Anglofaxon, with 
 fcarcely any mixture of another language, affords 
 evidence of a pronuntiation bearing a general ana- 
 logy to that now ufed by us, fo ftrong as to in- 
 courage a further profecution of the inquiry. My 
 purpofe however will be but a flight examination 
 of the older and purer Anglofaxon poetry, leaving 
 deeper inveftigation for thofe better provided with 
 learning and leifure. Errors in tranfcription, which 
 we find fo abounded in Chaucer's age and after 
 him, we may reafonably fufpect of being numerous 
 in Anglofaxon manufcripts. It could hardly be 
 otherwife, when to gather a poem from recitation 
 was ordinary, from reading rare. And unfortunately 
 we do not poflefs means, as for Chaucer's age, to ga- 
 ther their kind, or to calculate their amount. For 
 this, therefore, among other reafons, I fhall take 
 my examples where it has happened to me, with 
 little fludy of the language, to find both the fenfe 
 and the harmony mod obvious; and I have thought 
 it bed to give them in characters familiar to all 
 readers, only referving the Anglofaxon fimple rc- 
 prelentatives of the founds for which we now ufe 
 the two characters ///. 
 
 Hwat ic lioj>a fela I who poems many 
 
 Luftlice yeo L uftily (joyfully) erft 
 
 Sane
 
 176 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Sane onfaelum, Sang unfeldom (not feldom) 
 
 Nu fceal fiofigende Now fhall bemoaning, 
 
 Wope yewseged With weeping worn, 
 
 tVreccea yiomor* A wretched exile, 
 
 Singan farcwidas. Sing fore-quothings (forrow&u 
 
 fayings) 
 
 Me ftios siccetung. Me this fighing 
 
 Hafaj) agiled. Hath enervated. 
 
 In this paftage, from the verfion of Boethius, 
 attributed to the great Alfred, the language is in 
 fo large a proportion the language of the prefent 
 day, that, after tracing our verification through 
 the intermediate ftages, there feems little hazard 
 in affigning the accents as I have ventured to af- 
 fign them; and then the triple cadence, with ,very 
 little failure of grave fyllables, is obvious through- 
 out. The meafure is that of the hundred and 
 fourth pfalm, except that the firft foot is generally 
 without an unaccented fyllable, like Metaftafio's 
 Scendi propizia. 
 
 In the next extract from the fame curious work, 
 a freer ufe, if we may truft the copy for corredl- 
 nefs, has been made of the licence to give only 
 two fyllables to a foot of the triple cadence. 
 Whether the quantity, or proper time of enun- 
 tiation of fyllables warranted this in any inffance, 
 or in any degree, it is irnpoffible now to know j 
 
 d Wreccea or Wrecca, an Exile, whence etymologifts derive 
 our word Wretch, Diomop, forro-zuful, wretched. 
 
 but
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 177 
 
 but the irregularity, appears certainly not 
 greater than has been ordinary with the riming 
 minftrels of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and 
 fifteenth centuries, nor is it fuch but that the 
 triple cadence of the Englifli poetry, through 
 which we have been tracing it, is abundantly 
 evident. 
 
 O thou fliaping (creator of) 
 
 The (hining ftars 
 
 Heavens and earth, 
 
 Thou on high-feat (a throne) 
 
 Ever reignelh 
 
 And thou all rapid 
 
 Heaven round whirled 1 , 
 
 And through thy holy might 
 
 The ftars beneedefl (compelleft) 
 
 That they to thee hearken. 
 
 Like as the fun 
 
 Of fwarthy night 
 
 Thedarknefsclifpelleth 
 
 Through thy might, 
 
 So its blacknefs with light 
 
 Bright of ftars 
 
 fcippend 
 Scirra tungla 
 Hefones and eorjan, 
 Du on heahfetle 
 E'cum ricfaft, 
 And Su ealne hra'fe 
 Hefon ymbhwe'arfeft, 
 A'nd SSurh }>ine haliye miht e 
 Tunglu yepedeft 
 Daet hi 'Se to heraj>. 
 Swy'lce feo funne 
 Sweartra nihta 
 Dioftro adwa^fcej) 
 Durh thine miht, 
 Blacum leohte 
 Beorhte fteorran 
 
 c This line, in the printed copy, forms two lines. In the old 
 manufcripts the ends of the verfes are commonly marked by 
 points. It is obvious how likely fuch points muft be to fail and 
 to overabound, through careleflhefs or accident. Accordingly 
 inftances are evident where two and even more verfes are writ- 
 ten, and, in fcrupulous conformity to the manufcript, printed 
 as one, as well as where one is divided into two; and perhaps 
 fometimes what we find given as three verfes fliould be only 
 two, dividing the middle line nearly in it* middle. 
 
 N 
 
 Mona
 
 178 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Mona yemetyath The moon tempers 
 
 Durh Sinra mehta fped. Through thy might's fpeed (effi- 
 
 cacy.) 
 
 In the frequent occurrence of two vowels to- 
 gether in Anglo-Saxon words, it cannot now be 
 known with certainty where they may have formed 
 two fyllables, where only one, where they may 
 have had a proper diphthongal enuntiation, and 
 where they may have reprefented but a fimple 
 vowel found. But it is to be obferved that, in all 
 our provincial dialects, the pronuntiation of two 
 vowels, with fometimes more and fometimes lefs 
 of diphthongal union, abounds ; efpecially in the 
 wcftern, which after the union of the heptarchy, 
 was of courfe the court dialect. But our poets of 
 the prefent day ufe the liberty, in fome cafes, 
 where vowels meet, at their pleafure to give them 
 diftincYton, as forming two fyllables, or to melt 
 them into one ; or, however, to reckon them as 
 filling the ordinary meafure of one only. Thus 
 Gray has written: 
 
 . . Full many a flower is born to blufti unfeen. 
 
 In this verfe are two triflyllabical feet, which might 
 have been avoided, and the meafure would have 
 been unqueftionably regular, tho with effect far 
 lefs pleafing, were it written thus : 
 
 Full many flowers blow to blufh unfeen. 
 
 I think the probability of equal licence among 
 the Anglo-Saxon poets, may be fairly reckoned 
 
 uponj
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 170 
 
 upon; and then there will be no difficulty in 
 arranging in triple cadence the following lines 
 of the celebrated ode in the Saxon chronicle on 
 Athenian's victory. In moft of them, indeed, 
 that cadence is ftrikingly obvious. 
 
 Her '.^thelftan cy'ning, 
 
 'Eorla drihten, 
 Beorna bean gifa 
 
 'And his brothor eac 
 'Eadmund 'Atheling 
 'Ealdor langne tyr, 
 
 Yesloyon at fsecce, 
 
 Sweorda ecgum, 
 Ymbe Brunanburh. 
 Bord-wealsclufan 
 Heowan h heatholinda. 
 Hamora 1 lafan 
 Afaran Eadwardes. 
 
 Here (at this time) Athelftan 
 
 king, 
 
 Of earls the lord, 
 Of barons the liberal remune- 
 
 rator, 
 
 And his brother eke, 
 Edmund Athcling 
 Through long anceftry fupreme- 
 
 ly eminent 
 Slew at fack r (made Jlaughter in 
 
 Battle) 
 
 With fvvords* edges 
 About Brunanburh. 
 Well-built \yalls they clove 
 Of fortrefles lofty. 
 The fpoil was left 
 To Edward's progeny. 
 
 Swa 
 
 f Johnfon derivesy^c^ from the Spanifli/zajr, 
 the French choc and the Dutch fchocken, miffing the Saxon word 
 which has been the original moft probably of the firft, and per- 
 haps of all. 
 
 tBord-ivtal feems to have meant a wall artificially jointed, in 
 contradiftindlion from weal, fimply, which was more com- 
 monly ufed to exprefs a wall of inferior materials or ruder con- 
 ftru&ion, more common, in thofe days, than better building, 
 
 h Hetnu, feptum. Lye and Manning's dictionary. 
 
 1 Hanty Hama, Horn, Sax. Hamur^ Cimbr. //</f/>, cxuvi<e. 
 Supplement to Lye and Manning's di6t. 
 
 w Thfc.
 
 l8o INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Swa hem yesethele was So to them it nobly inherited wai, 
 
 Fram cneo mae-gum From kindred mighty, 
 
 That hi at campe 6ft That they at camp oft 
 
 With lathrayehwaaon, With freebooting foes on all fides. 
 
 Land veal godon The land all-gocd-do (Tlieir 
 
 country greatly ferve.) 
 
 Cyn k ) hord and hamas (Kindred) hoard (poj/efftons) and 
 
 homes 
 Hettende crungpn. Avenging with flaughter. 
 
 I have endeavoured here to profit from Mr. 
 EHis's copy of this interefting poem, and his in- 
 genious attempts at explanation of the obfcure 
 paffages; but I have not exadly followed him. 
 He varies widely, not only from the right reverend 
 editor of the Saxon chronicle, whofe Latin tranf- 
 lation it muft be confefled is very defective, but 
 alfo from the learned editors of the new Saxon dic- 
 tionary. What however my purpofe principally 
 requires to obferve, is, that, where very learned 
 
 This line, with the next, and the laft line of the extraft, are 
 the paflages which have given moft difficulty for interpretation, 
 and have ftill been leaft fatisfa&orily interpreted. I have ven- 
 tured to offer new conjecture about them ; not as what I can \m- 
 dertake to maintain, but rather with fome hope of fuggefting 
 the way for thofe better verfed in the language, to femething 
 more fatisfaftory. 
 
 k I am without warrant for the infertion of this word, beyond 
 the advantage, tho perhaps not abfolute want, of Ib.ne fuch, 
 for filling both the meafure and the fenfe, together with confi- 
 dcration of the proof, furniflied by old copies, of the frequency 
 of fmall omiffions in tranfcription. 
 
 men,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. l8l 
 
 men, whofe admiration of the luminous parts of 
 this poem has led them to labor at illuftration of 
 the obfcuie, have fo differed about the fenfe, it 
 cannot but afford a gratifying furprize to thofe cu- 
 rious about the humble fubjedt of this inquiry, to 
 find the mea'ure, among all the varieties of read- 
 ing, fo generally obvious. 
 
 I wifh I could follow this inquiry up to the 
 works of the fublime Caedmon, whom the author 
 of the ode on Athelftan's viftory is efteemed to 
 have emulated fuccefsfully ; but that I muft leave 
 for thofe who poflefs more of the requilite learning 
 and more leifure for the purfuit.
 
 182 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION VJII. 
 
 Hiftorical VIEW of the GREEK and LATIH 
 LANGUAGES. 
 
 THE country to which we owe, not the origin, 
 but the firft known perfection of Literature and 
 Fine Tafte, is* Greece. Brilliant conception and 
 lofty thought and found judgement are found 
 clfewherej but that elegant difcrimination, whence 
 arifes pure tafte, not peculiar to the individuals 
 of Greece, appears however to have become there 
 firft. generally prevalent, and in a manner endemial ; 
 fo that there only it has formed a national cha- 
 raderiftic. The judgement of antient Rome 
 adopted Grecian tafte ; and, after the example of 
 antient Rome, thejudgement of modern Europe 
 cherimes that tafte, as among pofleflions moft ad- 
 vantageoufly diftinguiftiing its people, both within 
 its own bounds and wherever they eftablilh them- 
 felves in other quarters of the globe. 
 
 Greece was farther eminent by the fuperiority of 
 its language, the moft perfect in expreffion, and, 
 according to all report and probability, the moft 
 generally pleaiing in found of any ever fpoken 
 among men. How or where it acquired thofe per- 
 fections, which gave it fo great a fuperiority over 
 the coeval oriental tongues, whence it was in part 
 
 derived,
 
 HAR^fONY IN LANGUAGE. 183 
 
 derived, we inquire in vain ; for in extreme anti- 
 quity, we find it already in full poflefiion of them. 
 The Grecian people, holding all other languages in 
 contempt, regarded their own with a pride which 
 its fuperiority in a great degree juftified, and it be- 
 came ftudied among them with a fond attention. 
 Study cannot form, but may improve a language, 
 and contribute powerfully to its prefervation 1 . 
 A grammarian was a refpefted character among 
 the Greeks when Alexander's victories extended 
 their fpeech from the narrow bounds of their re- 
 publics over the vaft countries which had com- 
 pofed the Perlian empire ; it remained fuch when 
 the partiality of Rome gave vogue to that lan- 
 guage in the capital of the empire the moft nearly 
 univerfal that the world has ieen; nor had the 
 reipect for it ceafed, when the miferable relic of 
 that empire, too weak in arms and too defective 
 in policy to hold its place among nations, funk 
 under the overwhelming violence of Turkilh bar- 
 barifm. Such was the effect of the fond atten- 
 tion of the Greeks to their native tongue, that the 
 language of Homer, furvived him as a living 
 
 1 Artium parens et altrix Grsca diligentia eft, 
 Literarum porro curam nulla gejis attentius 
 Rrpperit; polivit ufque finem ad unguis extimum. 
 
 Terent. Maur, 
 
 N 4 fpeech
 
 184 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fpeech more than two thoufand years ; and, dead 
 as it has been now for centuries, yet to this day, 
 and probably to all pofterity, it may be more 
 readily and certainly underftood than moft living 
 languages. 
 
 In a country however divided like Greece, dia- 
 lects would of courfe be various ; and, long after 
 Homer, four, with characteriftical differences, 
 had nearly equal vogue among different parts 
 of the Greek nation. Herodotus, the father 
 of hiflory, and Hippocrates, the father of phyfic, 
 wrote in the Ionic: the earlier poets ufed 
 the dialects of their refpective provinces. But 
 Athens, long before eminent,became, about Plato's 
 age, more decidedly the principal feat of Grecian 
 learning, a metropolis for the philofophy and lite- 
 rature of the almoft numberlefs members of the 
 Greek nation. Ariftotle, fcholar of Plato, was 
 preceptor of Alexander the Great, with whofe 
 conquefts the Attic dialed fpred, and became, 
 as far as they extended, the language of the fol- 
 dier, the ftatefman, the courtier, and the man of 
 bulinefs, as well as of the man of letters. Athens 
 then, without more power to interfere among the 
 political affairs of nations than now the republics 
 of Hamburgh or Ragufa, was fupportcd and in- 
 couraged, adminiflering its own municipal govern- 
 ment under its own laws, as a kind of capital of 
 the literary world. Political eminence being denied 
 8 to
 
 HARMON-Y IN LANGUAGE. 185 
 
 to the citizens of the little Grecian flates, the 
 exertions of Grecian genius were more generally 
 directed to literary purfuits, and fchools of philo- 
 ibphy multiplied in Athens. .When all afterward 
 yielded to the overbearing power of Rome, that 
 overbearing power took Grecian genius under its 
 patronage, and the Romans addicted themfelves 
 to Grecian learning with fo ftrong a predilection 
 that, in the affairs of letters, the conquerors re- 
 ceived laws from the conquered, fo that while 
 Rome was the metropolis of arms and politics, 
 Athens remained the capital for the arts and learn- 
 ing of the world. 
 
 The Attic dialect thus fpreading into ufe as the 
 common language of civilized nations, a few of its 
 more ftriking peculiarities were conceded, by the 
 Athenians themfelves, to the general practice in 
 fpeaking of the G recian people ; and thence arofe 
 the diflinctive name of the NEW ATTIC for this 
 univerfal language. But, univerfality attained, the 
 diftinction of the Attic name gradually dropped, 
 and the language was called the Greek, or the 
 common fpeech. 
 
 The LATIN language has owed its eminence to 
 the great nets acquired by the city of Rome, which 
 was originally one of many fmall felf-governed 
 towns of the fmall province of Italy called Latium. 
 Whence the Latins originated is uncertain ; but 
 
 it
 
 l86 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 it remains on good authority reported that within 
 Latium, and on its borders, were forne Grecian 
 fettlements, if not older than Rome, yet older 
 than any great eminence of that city, which is faid 
 itfelf to have been founded by a Grecian colony. 
 The affinity of the Latin language, as it has been 
 transmitted to us by the Romans, with the ^Eolian 
 Greek dialect, has been always acknowleged, and 
 is flill at this day evident. But the Roman terri- 
 tory bordered on Etruria, whofe people, more 
 advanced in arts and fciences than the Latins, are 
 faid to have been emigrants from the neighbour- 
 hood of Greece, and had Grecian colonies efta- 
 blimed in their country. Of the Etrurian Ian- 
 
 
 
 guage fome fpecimens remain, .far older than any- 
 thing preferved of the Latin : but they have been 
 evidently congenial dialects. The Latin language, 
 as fpoken by the Romans, gained its polifn, and 
 in fome degree its character, from oratory, politi- 
 cal, forenfic, and military, in feven centuries of 
 war, hardly intermitted, forein and domeftic. It 
 was not^applied with any fuccefs to polite learning 
 till after the reduction of Greece under the Ro- 
 man dominion ; when it burft. forth with the 
 dazzling fplendor of a meteor, but conforming 
 itfelf, almoft in all points, to Grecian models. 
 As the empire fpred, it became the general 
 language of the weftern provinces, Africa, Spain, 
 the Gauls, Britain, and the conquered part 
 
 of
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 187 
 
 of Germany. In the eaftern the Greek re- 
 tained a preponderancy ; and when at length the 
 empire was divided, the Greek remained the ge- 
 neral language of the eaft, as the Latin of the 
 weft. With the weftern empire the Latin lan- 
 guage fell, near a thoufand years before the Greek 
 ceafed to be a living fpeech. Decay may flill be 
 traced in it, but not to its fall, which feems to 
 have been precipitate. The overwhelming inroads 
 of illiterate barbarians, into the extenfive coun- 
 tries where it had prevailed, were like inunda- 
 tions, blotting out the former face of things.
 
 l88 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Of the Articulation of the GREEK and LATIK 
 LANGUAGES. 
 
 ALL inquiry about the harmony and verfification. 
 of a language were vain and idle, without means 
 for difcovering in fome degree how it was fpoken. 
 But there remains from one of the politeft fcholars 
 and ableft writers of that fplendid era called the 
 Auguftan age, in which the new Attic, or com- 
 mon Greek tongue, remained yet in higheft culti- 
 vation, and -apparently in greatefl purity, a trea- 
 tife in which, the Grecian alphabet is defcribed. 
 It is not reafonably to be expected that an account 
 of a fpeech long fince dead, compofed for thofe 
 who were familiar with it living, mould afford all 
 the information now to be defired ; yet, conlider- 
 ing how hardly founds are to be explained by 
 words, without reference to founds already known, 
 the modern fcholar will find far more caufe for 
 gratification at the amount and clearnefs of in- 
 formation given by Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus, in 
 his treatife on Literary Compofition, than for 
 complaint of either deficiency or obfcurity. 
 
 Having divided the letters of the Greek alpha- 
 bet into vowels and confonants, and then fub- 
 clivided the confonants into femivowels and mutes, 
 Dionyfius proceeds to defcribe the vowels thus : 
 
 Two
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 189 
 
 * Two of the vowels, n and w, are long, two, c 
 ' and , fhort, and three, a, i, v, double-timed ; 
 4 being fometimes long and fometimes fhort. 
 f The long vowels are of moft powerful effect and 
 ' mofl pleafing found, and among them has 
 
 * the fuperiorty. It is fpoken with the mouth 
 
 * at its utmoft opening, and the breath directed 
 
 * upward. 
 
 In this defcription of the Greek alpha of the 
 Auguftan age, we have exactly the a of the modern 
 Romans, and, as far as I have had opportunity to 
 obferve and gather information, the alpha of the 
 beft educated modern Greeks of Conftantinople 
 and Athens. It is not the fecond Englifh a, heard 
 in the words/<2///^r, after, command, which fome of our 
 grammarians and lexicographers have inaccurately 
 called the Italian a, but approaches much nearer, 
 or even reaches the broad found of the firft Englifh 
 a in falling, taller, or of the diphthongal character 
 au. 
 
 Dionyfms proceeds : ' Next to * is n. In pro- 
 
 * nouncing this vowel, the voice hangs about the 
 ' root of the tongue, and is not delivered upward: 
 ' the mouth is moderately open.* In thefe few 
 words the found of the third, or ilcnder En glim a, 
 heard in made, male, and exprelTed by the diph- 
 thongal characters in may, maid, mail, is fo exactly 
 defcribed, that, notwithstanding the different prac- 
 tice of the modern Greeks, who confound u, i, and 
 u, I cannot doubt but the Greek* of the .\uguftan 
 
 age,
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 age was the fame with the Englifh flender a m . 
 This differs from the Italian long e; in pro- 
 nouncing which the voice comes forwarder in the 
 mouth, and does not hang, as Dionyfms defcribes 
 it for the Greek , about the root of the tongue. 
 The Englifh reader unverfed in forein pronuntia- 
 tion, may form to himfelf a perfect idea of the 
 Italian long e, by only prolonging, without other- 
 wife altering, the vowel -found, wherever, in' an 
 Englilh word, he finds a fhort e followed by a 
 confonant ; as in men, /<?//, bet. The French have 
 both founds : their at is not diftinguifhable from 
 ours, and their final e has the fame found ; but in 
 the middle of a fyllable, as in the word meme, the 
 long e refembles the Italian. 
 
 Dionyfius again proceeds : * 1 comes third : 
 ' In pronouncing this letter, the mouth is rounded, 
 ' the lips contracted, and the breath makes its 
 f effort at the extremity.' In this pronuntiation 
 of the long 0, the Englifh and all the principal 
 modern European tongues agree with the antient 
 Greek. 
 
 ' Inferior to this,' continues Dionyfius, 'is u: 
 ' for the lips are confiderably contracted, the ut- 
 f terance is choked, and the found is narrow.' 
 Here firft we find difficulty in the defcription. 
 The contraction of the lips might indicate the 
 
 m In the Athenian pronuntiation of Plato's time, as we learn 
 in his Cratylus, eta was analagous to epfilon, and differed from 
 iota. Cratyl. p. 418. c. t. I. ed Serran. 
 
 I alian
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Italian , which is the Englilh clofe , heard in' 
 rule, or oo in tool, moon ; but the fuffocation of 
 voice, and narrownefs of found are not imputable 
 to that vowel. Unfortunately the modern Greek 
 pronuntiation will not help us on this occafion, 
 for it gives conftantly the fame found to u as to 
 the vowel next defcribed by Dionyfius, and clearly 
 marked by him for a different found. The fancy 
 has been cherimed among the French learned 
 that the Greek u was the fame with their u. But, 
 could it othervvife be fuppofed that Grecian eu- 
 phony was tainted with fo inelegant a noife, that 
 the grace of Grecian utterance would bear the 
 contortion of the mouth neceflary toward uttering 
 that peculiar element of Parifian pronuntiation, 
 Dionyfius contradicts it in his defcription of the 
 next vowel : 
 
 ' I,' he fays, ' is laft in merit among the 
 ' vowels : for, in pronouncing it, the ftroke of 
 'the breath is about the teeth: the mouth, is 
 ' lefs, opened than for any other vowel, and the 
 ' lips give no brilliancy to the found.' Here the 
 Englifh long or double <?, the Italian long /, and 
 the modern Greek iota, are ail fo exactly defcribed 
 as to leave no room for doubting that the antient 
 iota was precifely the fame letter. 
 
 Nor can there need completer aflurance that 
 the Greek u differed very confidently from the 
 French u. For the French , requires a much more 
 
 con-
 
 192 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 contra&ed mouth than the Englifh e s or the 
 French, Italian, and modern Greek /; and its 
 found, forein and unutterable to all European 
 people but the French, i$ abhorred by the 
 Italians and modern Greeks, and unknown in the 
 Ibuthern dialedb of France itfelf. 
 
 There remains from Ariftophanes, in his Plu- 
 tus, an iambic verfe formed intirely of the let- 
 ter u afpirated. The purpofe has been to mark 
 a kind of whiftling note of delight, uttered by a 
 hungry man on fmelling the roaft-meat of a fa- 
 crifice. Voffius has inferred that the found of u 
 was indiftind: and even offenfive n ; but this notion 
 feems meerly German ; unwarranted by either Ari- 
 ftophanes or Dionyfius, and rather contradicted 
 by all antiquity. From Ariftophanes himfelf we 
 have better information in another place : in his 
 comedy of the Birds, the cuckoo's note is repre- 
 fented by the word xoxxu, which affords no flight 
 evidence that, among the elder Attics at leaft, the 
 ordinary found of u was very nearly that of the 
 modern Greek O u, the Italian u, the French o, 
 and the Engliih oo. 
 
 But that the found of ypfilon underwent 
 alterations in the polite pronuntiation of the new 
 Attic, or common Greek, appears certain. Per- 
 haps differences previoufly exifting among the 
 dialects, may have contributed to them j but what 
 
 n Non obfcurum tantum, fed & fcedum & impurum. 
 
 were
 
 HAfcMONY IN LANGUAGE. 193 
 
 were the gradations, and when made, by which 
 the great change was produced, from the vowel of 
 the cuckoo's note, which the letter v bore in the 
 days of Ariftophanes, to that of the peewit's, 
 which it evidently had among the learned and po- 
 lite feveral centuries before the final overthrow of 
 the Greek empire, and which it ftill holds among 
 the Greeks, we mould apparently inquire in vain. 
 
 If we have reafonably to complain of any omif- 
 fion of Dionyfius, it is that he has not at all de- 
 fcribed the DIPHTHONGS. It feems likely that 
 the diphthongal characters reprefented all, in 
 early times, a diphthongal enuntiation, with per- 
 haps, for fome of them, fome coarfenefs, which the 
 delicacy of aftertimes avoided by reducing them to 
 la fimple vowel-found. This has happened in our 
 own language ; whofe provincial dialects retain 
 diphthongal founds, not ill rejected by polite pro- 
 nuntiation, tho polite orthography, not in all in- 
 fiances fo reafonably, retains the diphthongal cha- 
 racters. The later Greeks carried this refinement 
 certainly to a great extreme. Not a fingle diph- 
 thong is heard in the polite pronuntiation of the 
 Greeks of the prefent day j and evidence not un- 
 latisfactory remains that the change was completed 
 long before the fubvcrfion of the Conftantinopoli- 
 tan empire. Since that melancholy era indeed the 
 pronuntiation of the politer Greeks, living in ne- 
 ceffary feclufion among themfelves, appears to have 
 undergone little alteration, 
 
 O The
 
 194 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCFPLES Of 
 
 The incidental indications remaining of the an 
 tient foundsof the Greek diphthongs are very fcanty. 
 We are indebted to the comic poet, reprefenting 
 in his comedy of the Wafps the. barking of a dog,, 
 for fome direction to the antient found of the 
 diphthong au. With the modern Greeks all the 
 combinations of the other vowels with o, oexcept- 
 cd, are no longer diphthongs, but fyllables com- 
 pofed of a vowel and a confonant, u being founded 
 as ourf. According to Ariftophanes y in the place- 
 juft mentioned, the old diphthong, reprefented by 
 avy muft have refembled the Italian ao and ##, the 
 German #, and our ou. Thefe, all nearly re- 
 fembling one another, have however their irnall 
 differences; and the Greek diphthong refembling 
 all, might poffibly have fome fmall difference from 
 all. 
 
 I will own myfelf not at all difpofed to hold 
 cheap the indication which any general practice of 
 the modern Greeks affords of the pronuntiation 
 of their forefathers ; or to concur with Cheke and 
 others of his age, of more book-learning tharr 
 practice in foreirr fpeech, and, I will venture to 
 add, of more vivacity than judgement, in fup- 
 poling that a pronuntiation invented under, the 
 direction of forein ears, and executed by forein 
 voices, can be likely to correct the corruptions 
 which may have arifen in the tranfmiffion of a 
 language from father to fon, or that they muft 
 not rather intrude far greater corruptions. For 
 s the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 the pronuntiation of the antient Greek language 
 I would take no evidence againft the practice of 
 the modern Greeks, but the evidence of their 
 forefathers, or the cotemporary Latin authors. 
 From the antient Greeks I know of nothing 
 fpeaking to the found of the diphthong ou. But 
 the Latin writers univerfally reprefent it by the 
 fingle character K, This, with all the Italians, has 
 always the fimple vowel-^found reprefented in our 
 language by oo; and with the modern Greeks ou has 
 conftantly the fame enuntiation. I have no dif- 
 ficulty therefore in affigning this as the proper 
 found of the diphthongal character ou, in the n.ew 
 Attic ; tho among the older dialects the pronun- 
 tiation may have been diphthongal ; perhaps, i/i 
 fome of them, like our ou. 
 
 On the (hort vowel-founds Dionyiius is very 
 concife. * None of them/ he fays, c is particu- 
 4 larly pleafing, but (for that, as the critics have 
 e well obferved, is evidently the letter meant, tho 
 4 it appears o in our extant copies) opening the 
 ' mouth moft, and being fpoken moft from the ar- 
 * teria, difpleafes leaft.' 
 
 He proceeds then to defcribe the confonants; 
 and if they had any difference from the pronuntia- 
 tion of the prefent day, it is not very decidedly 
 marked, except in the fuperiority which he attri- 
 butes to the double confonants, , , \J/, which, 
 in any modern pronuntiation of them, is not ob- 
 yious. It will however be proper to remark that 
 o 2 two
 
 196 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OT 
 
 two of our confonants, which we have in com- 
 mon with all weftern Europe, B and D, are alien 
 to the language of the modern Greeks. The 
 found of B is found among them only in words 
 derived from other languages, where they exprefs 
 it by the double character Mil. Their own Beta 
 is univerfally pronounced as our V, whether in 
 fpeaking their modern or antient language. In 
 feeking explanation on this fubject among the 
 Roman writers we get no complete decifion. But 
 we find that, as early as the Auguftan age, the 
 Greek writers exprefled the Roman V, in Roman 
 
 names, often by their B, and the Roman B often 
 
 if 
 by their II. It is indeed as likely their language 
 
 mould have wanted our B as our V, for one of 
 which elements their alphabet certainly had not a 
 character. A is always pronounced by the modern 
 Greeks as the Englifli <Th in this* there j the be- 
 ing appropriated to the reprefentation of the dif- 
 ferent found reprefented by the fame double cha- 
 racter, in our othography, in the words thin, 
 thiftle. The modern Greek pronuntiation of gam- 
 ma alfo differs from the practice of moft of the 
 weftern nations. Before *, o, w, and ou, it has a 
 found fomewhat between our hard g and h, of 
 which examples occur in Spanifli pronuntiation : 
 but before s, , u, a*, , and o, it is precifely our 
 y. This is a practice certainly not new among the 
 Greeks, but how antient I know of no means to 
 difcover* 
 
 Among
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 197 
 
 Among the Roman writers of higheft authority 
 we gather a confiderable amount of information 
 concerning the pronuntiation of the Latin lan- 
 guage, which is generally moft intereiling where 
 it compares the Latin with the Greek ; not only 
 as thus it aflifts toward a knowlege of the Greek, 
 but as we gain a double clue to what is often not 
 eafy to difintangle. The Roman A, it is evident, 
 and the Greek alpha were the fame vowel : the 
 Roman character E reprefented both eta and ep- 
 iilon : I was precifely iota: O reprefented omega 
 always, omicron not always : U differed very con- 
 fiderably from ypfilon, which, as a fingle vowel, 
 the Romans generally reprefented by their character 
 Y : the Latin U, when long, appears to have been 
 equivalent to the Greek vowel which was marked 
 by the diphthongal notation ou, and when fhort it 
 feems to have approached in found to omicron ; 
 being apparently near in character, or perhaps 
 fometimes the fame, with the feventh Englifh 
 vowel, the u in y#, fum, which bears the fame 
 found as o in fon, fame. 
 
 It has been fuppofed that the Greek alphabet, 
 in the days of fome of the oldefl extant infcrip- 
 tions, had only four vowel-characters, A, E, I, 
 O, but Mr. Payne Knight, in his very learned, 
 ingenious, and elaborate eflay on the fubject, fays 
 that all the five fingle vowels are found in the ear- 
 lieft ftage to which the alphabet can be traced, 
 o The
 
 \ 198 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The omicron neverthelefs occurs frequently fin* 
 gle, in words where the practice of aftertimes gave- 
 the diphthongal notation ou, but I do not recoi- 
 led: ypfilon ever {landing in the fituation of that 
 double character. The prefumption follows that 
 the found reprefented by omicron alone had more 
 analogy with the found reprefented by the com- 
 bination ou, than the found reprefented by ypfilon 
 alone. The antient Etrufcan infcriptions exhibit 
 no more than four vowel-characters A, E, I, and 
 V. The latter of thefe probably reprefented both 
 o and ; for we find the names Apollo, Caftor, 
 and Polydeuces, or Pollux, as the Romans after- 
 ward abbreviated the name, written Apvlv, Kaf- 
 trr, and Pvltvke. Nor does the proof reft here ; 
 for Quintilian informs us that the early Romans 
 wrote o or u without very fteddy difcrimination ; 
 fo that for Hecuba, nutrix, dedernni, frohave- 
 ritnt, were found often Hecoba, notrix, dederont, 
 probaveront ; and, on the contrary, for Co/chides 
 and Pofyxtna, they wrote Culchides and Pu- 
 lyxena . The two latter words, parting to them 
 from the Greeks, afford ftrong prefumption of 
 affinity between the Greek omicron and the Ro- 
 man mort u; which derives confirmation from 
 other circumftances obvious to the clafiical reader. 
 Nor are we without additional proof in the mo- 
 
 Qiuntil. Inft. Or. 1. i,. c. 4. 
 
 dern
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 199 
 
 dern fpeech of Italy, in which we find the Latin 
 frequently becoming o> and ibmetimes on the con- 
 trary, tho rarely, o becoming ti. 
 
 The Latin confonants appear to have been 
 moftly what are reprefented by the fame characters 
 in mod of the modern languages of Europe. Dif- 
 ficulty or doubt occur only about c, and/, and v. 
 Whether c before e and / was pronounced like the 
 Englifh ch, as by the modern Romans, Tufcans, 
 and Neapolitans, or like the Englifh c, bearing in 
 that fituation the power of j, which is the pro- 
 nuntiation of the Bolognefe, Venetians, and all 
 the Lombards, as well as of the Spaniards, Portu- 
 guefe, Provincials, Gafcoons, of the greater part 
 of thofe in fhort, whofe fpeeches approach the 
 Italian in affinity with the Latin, is a queflion 
 that can probably never be refolved. What alfo 
 was that pronuntiation of /which, in the times of 
 Cicero and Quint ilian, defied the power of a 
 Grecian voke*, will probably be ever fought in 
 vain ; for the modern Greek <p is precifely the 
 modern Italian/ and our own, in common with 
 the reft of Europe, It has been, of later years, 
 generally agreed among the learned that the Ro- 
 man V was pronounced as our W. Mr. Payne 
 Knight fays it certainly was, and I reckon his au- 
 thority high. But the Greek writers reprefented 
 the Roman V, in proper names, fometimes by their 
 
 * Quintil. Inft. Cr. 
 
 o 4 diphthongal
 
 2OO INQUIRY INTO TH'E PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 diphthongal notation OT, which now among the- 
 Greeks, and probably always, had, before a vowel, 
 the power of our W; and fometimes they repre-i 
 fented it by their fingle character B, which I think 
 we may fay certainly never had that power, but 
 probably always, at leaft among fome of the Greeks 
 and on fome occafions, the power of our V. In 
 addition then to this evidence from antient or- 
 thography, we gain proof from modern pronun- 
 tiation, not in one country or one language, but 
 in widely diftant countries and very different lan- 
 guages, of the probability that the pronuntiation 
 of this character was not always and everywhere the 
 fame. The joke againft the cockneys, about wine 
 and vine, weal and veal, with their clear ability to 
 make the diftinction of the words, and their ina- 
 bility, from habit, to avoid perverlion of the dif-r 
 ti notion, is familiar among ourfelves. But among 
 the Neapolitans, and among the Languedocians 
 and Provincials, we find a fimilar confufion. The 
 W they have not in their pronunciation ; but they 
 pronounce indifferently b and v; infomuch that 
 among the Languedocians it is common to write 
 only one character for reprefentation of either 
 found. In the fpeech of Rome itfelf we find 
 a near approach to the London cockney con- 
 fufion of V and W. The name formed from the 
 Latin Paulus, for inftance, the modern Romans 
 fpeak and write indifferently Paolo and Pavolo, 
 while the Spaniards write it Pablo t and pronounce 
 
 either
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 2QI 
 
 either Pablo or Pavlo. It appears to me probable 
 that the old Roman V was of double, or rather 
 treble pronuntiation, fometimes as our V, fomer 
 times as our W, and fometimes, it mould appear 
 from the poets, no way differing from the Latin 
 vowel U.
 
 2O2, INQUIRY fNTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Of the Orthography, Quantity, and Accent of the GREEK and 
 LATIN LANGUAGES. 
 
 WE gather fatisfaftorily, from the Greek and 
 Latin writers, that the orthography of their lan- 
 guages was not irregular and prepofterous, like 
 the Engli(h, nor abounding like the French, with 
 letters for the eye which, for the ear, are nulli- 
 ties, but, as the modern Italian and Spanifh and 
 Greek, fimple and rational, fo that when the 
 founds, peculiar to the feveral characters and to a 
 very few abitrary combinations, were known, the 
 articulation of fyllables could hardly be miftaken. 
 Having furveyed the alphabets, therefore, we may 
 proceed to inquire concerning thofe infepa'rable 
 concomitants of articulation, fo important in the 
 Harmony of Language, Accent, and Quantity. 
 ' The power to judge of the length and fhort- 
 
 * nefs, and of the ftiarpnefs and flatnefs of all 
 ' founds in fpeech, is placed by nature in the ear 
 
 * alone q '. This feems fo obvious a truth, that 
 the concurrent authorities of Cicero and Quinti- 
 lian, which we find for it, mould feem hardly ne- 
 
 * Omnium longitudinum & brevitatum in fonis, ficut acu- 
 tarum graviumque vocum, judicium natura in auribus noftris 
 collocavit. M.T. Cic. Orat. f. 51. , 
 
 So Qu'mtilian : Ilia vero non nifi aurc exiguntur, quae fiunt 
 per fonos. Inft. Or. 1. i , c. 5, 
 
 cefTary
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 ceflary to infure its immediate and univerfal re- 
 ception ; yet, from the practice of our fchools 
 and univerfities, tho the authority of thofe writers 
 is generally held fufficiently high among them, it 
 fhould feem that it is not there admitted. To 
 know what fyllables of the antient languages were 
 efteemed long or fliort by the antients themfelves, 
 is held out as among the moft important objects 
 for the Icholar. The claim even to fpeak * ac- 
 * cording to quantity/ is very extenfively aflerted. 
 But the explanation of what that claim means is 
 not readily to be obtained, even in our univer- 
 fities. However that it does not extend to the 
 expreflion of all differences by the voice, fo that 
 they may be fenfible to the ear, and that it does 
 not admit the judgement of the ear for deciding 
 concerning the length and fliortnefs of fyllables 
 fpoken, is moft readily obvious. Why certain 
 fyllables in the Greek and Latin languages, are 
 intitled long, and certain others iliort, fo that 
 almoft all are arranged under thofe two defcrip- 
 tions, might feem referved as a cabaliftical myftery, 
 the reafon of which is not to be challenged. 
 
 Neverthelefs there have been eminent fcholars, 
 <sven eminent teachers in our fchools and univerfi- 
 ties, who have not fcrupled to declare all fuch 
 claim of c fpeaking according to quantity' abfurd. 
 Indeed were the claim never made, it could not 
 furely be difgraccful to the modern fcholar to be 
 unable to exprefs exactly the antient found of the 
 
 fyllables
 
 2,04 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fyllables of a dead language, whether for length or 
 any other circumftance. Thofe at all verfed in 
 forein living fpeeches well know how few, after 
 childhood, acquire the exact manner of pro* 
 Bouncing any forein language, tho pofTeffing every 
 advantage of conftant intercourfe with thofe who 
 fpeak it moft perfectly. Among ourfelves, it is 
 notorious enough that the moft unlettered and ig- 
 norant can difcern and be ready enough to ridicule 
 the deficiencies of a Frenchman's pronuntiation of 
 Englifh, who may have con verfed many years 
 among Englifhmen. Why then is it neceffary, 
 and how can it be rational, to pretend to perfect 
 pronuntiation of a language no longer to be known 
 but from books ? 
 
 Neverthelefs it cannot but become the claflical 
 fcholar to avail himfelf, as he bed may, of the 
 large information remaining from the Greek and 
 Latin writers themfelves, concerning the pronun- 
 tiation of their languages and the mechanifm of 
 their verfe. Of that part of pronuntiation, there- 
 fore which depends upon articulation, it has been 
 endevored, in the pages immediately preceding, to 
 give the bed view that the fcattered means re- 
 maining may inable us to gain. We proceed now 
 to the other incidents of fpeech, which we find 
 efteemed by the Greek and Latin writers mofb 
 important to the Harmony of Language^ namely 
 Quantity and Accent. 
 
 In
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. iC/5 
 
 / In the Greek and Latin languages, we have ob- 
 ferved, as in our own, the vowels were divided 
 into long and (hort ; the long having generally 
 double the time or quantity of the fhor-t r . Of 
 the Greek vowel-characters, two, i and , marked 
 only long founds, and two others, e and o, only 
 (hort founds ; but the other long and fhort vowels 
 were not diftinguifhed in writing : nor in later 
 ages were any of the Latin alphabet, tho in the 
 time of the republic, combinations, fuch as are 
 found in EngliQi orthography, were often ufed to 
 indicate long vowel-founds '. 
 
 Vowels being long and (hort, it follows of 
 courfe that fyllables muft be long and fhort ; nor 
 were the rules of quantity, in the antient lan- 
 guages, different from thofe which we have ob- 
 ferved to hold in our own, except that, with re- 
 gard to written characters, they were more fimple, 
 inafmuch as the orthography was more regular. 
 A long vowel, followed by a confonant, made a 
 
 * Longam (fyllabam) efle duorum temporum, brevem unius, 
 ctiam pueri fciunt. Quintil. Inft. Or. 1. 9, c. 4. 
 
 s Ufque ad Acciutn, & ultra, porreftas fyllabas geminis vo- 
 calibus fcripferunt. Quintil. 1. I, c. 7. Thus, as Fofter has 
 obferved, cogo was written coago, lilo was &/'<>, and dico Jeieo ; 
 cgi, the preterit with the temporal augment from ago> preferved 
 the a thus, aegi ; and edi and emifrom edo and cmo^ doubled the e 
 ihub ecdi, eemi. Jnftances, as he remarks, are numerous in the 
 Leges regix & Decemvirales, collected by Lipfius, and given, 
 alfo by Sylburgius. 
 
 long
 
 206 INQUIRY INTO f HE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 long fy liable j a fhort vowel, followed by only one 
 confonant made a fhort fyllable : with two con- 
 fonants following a fhort vowel, the fyllable be-* 
 came long. In regard to vowels followed by 
 vowels, the languages differed : in Greek fuch 
 fyllables were often ftill long; in proper Latin 
 words never. Long fyllables, being not all com- 
 pofed alike, had fmall differences of length ; per^ 
 ceptible when carefully balanced, as had alfo fhort 
 fyllables 1 ; but for the purpofes of rhythmus and 
 poetical meafure, the fimple diftin&ion into long 
 and fhort, the long confidered as double in time 
 to the fhort, was efteemed fufficient. 
 
 From the rules, thus delivered to us, and from 
 the practice of the poets, the meafure of a very 
 large proportion of the fyllables of each language is 
 with certainty known ; fo that for the juft ex- 
 preflion of the quantity in pronuntiation, our dif- 
 ficulty is that, and that alone, wl^ich we find for 
 the peculiarities in the pronuntiation of any living 
 language not familiar to us, arifmg from want of 
 habit in the organs. Nor is there anything elfe, 
 in regard to quantity, of any confideration that 
 has been in controverfy among the modern 
 learned*. 
 
 ..Not 
 
 * Dion. Hal. Struft. Or. 
 
 tt Some Scottidi writers, indeed, of great learning* particularly 
 the lords of feffion, Kaimes and Monboddo, have imagined a 
 fomething in antient verfe evidently unknowu to Diouyfius, 
 
 Cicero,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Not fo with regard to ACCENT : it has been 
 muchdifputed what the antient accent was. Never- 
 thelefs thus much we find abundantly and clearly 
 and concurrently afferted by all the ablefl antient 
 writers, and they were fingularly able men from 
 whom we have the teftimony, that accent w"as the 
 TONE given to a fyllable in pronuntiation. Nor 
 indeed, however the fancies and prejudices of 
 many of the modern learned, warm in the dif- 
 pute about accent and quantity, may have led 
 them to color and difguife this fimple definition, 
 has it been, I think, by any directly controverted. 
 The three great queftions have been, Whether ac- 
 cent is quantity ? Whether accent makes quan- 
 tity ? and Whether the antient accent, however 
 diftincl; from quantity, was not alfo very different 
 from anything ir? the pronuntiation of the polite 
 languages of modem Europe ? After what has 
 preceded, I cannot but hope I may be allowed ta 
 difmifs the two former queffions ; and lo-the third 
 is what I (hall proceed to consider. 
 
 We learn from concurrent authorities, of the 
 higheft clafs r that every word, equally of the 
 
 Cicero, and Qumtilian ; and a learned and ingenious French- 
 mrui, of whom Mr. Payne Knight has taken juft notice, has 
 not feated to avow the fancy that he could teach Homer and 
 all the Greek poets to write harmonious Greek verfe. But the no- 
 tions of thcfe learned nnd ingenious men are fo peculiar to them- 
 felves, not at all in common, but feverally, that a ferious at- 
 tempt to refute them could only earn, as it could only deferve, 
 ridicule, 
 
 Greek
 
 108 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Greek and the Latin language, monofyllables 
 of courfe excepted, had one fyllable offered td 
 the ear more prominently, with a fharper tone, 
 than the reft ; {mail unimportant words only* 
 fometimes, in the flow of fentences, lofing the 
 diftinction w . Here then, in the outfet, we find 
 exact accordance with what is obvious in four, at 
 leaft, of the living languages of Europe, the 
 Italian, the Spanish, the modern Greek, and the 
 Englifh ; I believe I might add the Welfh, the 
 German, and perhaps others : I know of no ex- 
 ception but for the French. In the four languages 
 firft mentioned, the accent is important, not only 
 to the gracefulnefs of pronuntiation, but often to 
 diftinction of meaning. It is altogether fo im- 
 portant, that dictionaries of thofe languages have 
 it marked on every word not monofyllabica], as a 
 matter eflential to the accommodation of learners. 
 But we find that, in the Greek and Latin, 
 the fituation of the acute accent was deter- 
 mined by rules unknown to any modern language 
 of weftern Europe. In regard to thofe rules y how- 
 ever, the two antient languages differed from each 
 other, fcarcely lefs than from thofe modern tongues. 
 The rules for the Latin were remarkably fimple j 
 and they remain delivered to us on the higheft 
 authority, in the cleared terms *. In diffyllabical 
 
 w Dion. Hal. de Stru<3. Or. f. a, Cic : ad Brut. 18, QyintiL 
 Inft. Or. 1. I, c. 5, &c. 
 * Quintil. Intt. Or. 
 
 words,
 
 UARMONY IN L-ANG9AGE. 
 
 words, the firft fyllable always bore the acute. In 
 polyfyllables the place of the acute was determined 
 by the quantity of the penultimate : if this was 
 long, the acute refted on it; if fhort, then the 
 antepenultimate, whether long or fhort, bore the 
 acute. The^ rules, tho no living tongue of 
 weftern Europe acknowleges them, are yet eafy in 
 application for modern voices, efpecially Italian 
 and Englifh ; and accordingly all Italian and Eng- 
 lifh fcholars, in fpeaking with any care, pronounce 
 in conformity to them. Thus far then we have 
 nothing to lead us to believe that the accen- 
 tuation of the Latin differed materially from that 
 of mofl of the principal languages of modern 
 Europe. 
 
 We learn then, from the fame great authority, 
 that the Greek rules differed from the Latin very 
 materially: they were 'far lefs fimple, and the ac- 
 centuation, which had in confequence more variety, 
 was, even to Roman cars, much more pleating 
 than their own. We have not however from the 
 fame, or from any equal authority, a complete 
 account of the Greek rules of accentuation ; the 
 works of eminent men, who, in the beft times, 
 treated exprefsly on the fubject, having been all 
 loft : but, from the befl times, we have numerous 
 criticifms on the accentuation of particular words, 
 in fo many inftances confirming the rules, deli- 
 vered to us indeed only by late grammarians, but 
 P pro-
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 profeffedly drawn by them from writers of the beft 
 ages, that the credit of thofe rules feems altogether 
 abundantly eftablifhed. In Grecian fpeech the 
 Accent was frequently^ where in Latin it never oc- 
 curred, on the laft fyllable;. and, indifferently, on a 
 long or a fhort laft fyllabk* -When not on the laft, 
 its place was generally determined by quantity ; not, 
 however, as in Latin, by the quantity of the pe- 
 nultimate, but generally by that of the laft fylla- 
 ble : if this was long, the penultimate, whatever 
 its quantity, had the acute ; if (hort, then, with 
 a few exceptions, the antepenultimate had the 
 acute. Before the antepenultimate,, equally in 
 Greek and in Latin, the acute was denied a 
 place. 
 
 In thefe rules, differing from anything obtain- 
 ing in the weftern languages of modern Europe, 
 there is however yet nothing in any manner or 
 degree implying that the accent, in either of 
 the antient learned languages, differed from what 
 is found in the modern Greek, daughter of one, 
 in the Italian and Spanifh, daughters of the other, 
 or in the Englim, which, tho compofed in large 
 proportion of fcions from' the Latin and its deri- 
 vatives, is, in its -flock, of another kind. 
 
 The antients acknowleged three different ac- 
 cents, acute, grave, and circumflex. Of thefe 
 the aeute is univerfally defcribed as the eminent 
 accent, admitting no equal within the fame word ; 
 
 and
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 211 
 
 and in this the antient and modern languages 
 agree. A term was then wanting to diftinguilh 
 collectively the fyllables which had not the acute, 
 or fharp accent, and the term adopted was Grave, 
 analogous to our mufical term Flat. The circum- 
 flex is defcribed as a compound accent, formed of 
 the (harp and flat combined in one fyllable. The 
 circumflex therefore could have exiflence only in 
 a long fyllable, and, of long fyllables, only in thofe 
 whofe vowel was long. Containing the acute, it 
 was always the principal accent of the word. For 
 place it was confined, in Greek, to the lad fylla- 
 ble and the penultimate ; in Latin, equally with 
 the fimple acute, it was denied to the laffc fyllable. 
 Perhaps in mod modern languages the circumflex 
 exifts, tho probably it was offered to the ear with 
 more characteriftical decillon by antient, and efpe- 
 cially by Grecian voices. The diftinction of acute 
 or (harp and grave or flat, for which the lefs cor- 
 rect terms accented and unaccented are often fub- 
 ftituted, is obvious in perhaps all the languages 
 of modern Europe, except the French, as eflential 
 to a juft pronuntiation. 
 
 But it has been a favorite notion of fome 
 learned men, that the accents of poetr^, oratory, 
 and even common difcourte, in antient Greece and 
 Rome, in the politefl ages, differed from anything 
 in the polite pronuntiation of modern Europe, 
 being ftrictly mufical ; fo that all communication 
 
 p 3 by
 
 211 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 by fpeech was in what we call recitative. If there- 
 fore anything remains like it in modern times, it is 
 among the American favages, or, in Europe, among 
 the moft uneducated of the Cornifh Englifh, and 
 perhaps fome people in comers of the continent, 
 remote from capitals. This notion, whatever cha- 
 racter 6f whinificalnefs it may bear, will require 
 fome coniideration, on account, not only of the 
 reputation of thofe who have maintained it, but 
 of the high claffical authority they claim in fupport 
 of it, and moreover as the difcuflion may lead to 
 considerable elucidation of our fubjedr.. 
 
 The authority relied on, as moft pointedly to the 
 purpofe, is a paflage of Dionyfius of Halicarnaffus. 
 ' The melody of common difcourfe,' fays that 
 able writer, in his Treatife on Litterary Compofi- 
 tion, ' is comprized within the meafure of (that 
 . * interval of the Grecian mufical fyftem called) the 
 ' diapente, never riling more than three tones and 
 ' a hemitone, nor finking more.' 
 
 When the Grecian mufical fyftem is more com- 
 pletely . explained than it has yet been, we may 
 perhaps be better inabled to judge how far the 
 diapente may be a meafure for the tones of com- 
 mon fpeech in modern languages. In the mean 
 time all that I Qiall undertake immediately upon 
 this paflage to obferve, is, that Dionyfius fpeaks 
 in it, not of the extent of tone that may have 
 plstce in one word, but of what may be admitted 
 
 in
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 213 
 
 in a difcourfe -, and I will own that I can,gather 
 from it little more than a general conclufion, to 
 exprefs which I will borrow a fentencefrom Teren- 
 tianus Maurus : ' Grecian diligence,' fays that 
 writer, ' was fingularly directed to the ftudy of lan- 
 ' g ua g e inveftigating its properties, and polifhing 
 * It, even to the nail's end.' Should Englifh diligence 
 ever take a fimilar direction, whether the project 
 of the ingenious Mr. Steele, for noting the tones 
 of common difcourfe, may be perfected or no, 
 thofe tones however might perhaps be again as fami- 
 liarly treated of as they were formerly by the Greek 
 xvriters, without neceffity for explanation at every 
 ftep, and without rifk of being mifunderilood. 
 
 But we have, in the former part of this inquiry, 
 adverted to the natural and neceflary analogy 
 between the harmony of language and mufic. 
 Speaking and fmging are different operations of 
 the fame organs, producing different effects 5 '. 
 
 y The ingenious and learned anonymous author of a little 
 tract, infilled the Art of delivering written Language, has ob- 
 ferved, I think juftly, that ' the eflential and chief difference 
 ' between the tones ufed in fpeaking and finging, lies in the 
 ' latter being carried on by diftinft intervals of fome eontinu- 
 4 ance, that will harmonize with other accompanying founds; 
 ' while the former is, in general, made up of fuch minute and 
 1 cvanefcent variations and inflexions of voice (tho now and 
 
 * then leaping from one mufical note to another confiderably 
 
 * diftant, p. 67.) as could not poflibly have a place in any fcale 
 
 * .of practical jnufic whatever.' Ch. 7, p. 69. 
 
 p 3
 
 214 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The antient writers on mufic and language never 
 loft fight of either the analogy or the differences; 
 Mufical terms, and circmnftances in mufic, con- 
 timially offering themfelves as convenient for de- 
 fcribing or illuftrating the harmony of language, 
 were ufed by them freely : but the more carefully 
 their works are ftudied, the more it will fully ap- 
 pear that they were always attentive to the dif- 
 ferences of fpeech and mufic. 
 , On the contrary, among the modern learned, 
 among fome, through want of confidering the 
 analogy between the tones of fpeech and mufic, 
 and among many perhaps through a total want of 
 mufical knowlege, the very multiplication of 
 terms, for the purpofe of precifion, has fuperin- 
 duced confufion. For, with us, what in mufic 
 is called the Time, being in language called the 
 Quantity, what in mufic is called a Note, being 
 in language called an Accent, or fometimes a 
 Tone ; while the word Tone has in mufic a fpe- 
 cific and well-known meaning, whereas, applied 
 to language, its meaning is vague ; learned men 
 being then often unmufical, and muficians com- 
 monly unlearned, the notion has gained that dif- 
 ferent names, given to the fame thing differently 
 combined, mean different things, and not only 
 the harmony of language has failed of that elu- 
 cidation which can come only through a juft con- 
 gelation of its analogy with mufic, but miftakes 
 
 have
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 21$ 
 
 have gained authority, and no fmall confufion has 
 refulted. , 
 
 The very learned Dr. Fofter, to whofe treatife, 
 in defence of the Greek accents, with gratitude 1 
 acknowlege myfelf indebted for the firft clew 
 toward the unravelling, which I have attempted, of 
 the harmony of language, has been by no means 
 free from fuch miftakes. There is; in his learned 
 woik, one ftrangc error, into which apparently he 
 has been frightened by his opponents ; perhaps 
 indeed more an error of phrafe than of opinion i 
 but it is at the fame time ib adverfe to his favorite 
 and juft purpofe, and ib obvious to detection, 
 that, unleis made and perfevered in under the 
 impreffion of alarm, it appears unaccountable. 
 It relates to a paffage of Dionyfius of Halicarnaf- 
 fus, important enough to our fubject of itfelf to 
 require notice. * I know,' fays the doctor, * that 
 
 * Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus fpeaks of the con- 
 ( trariety of accents to meter on fome occaiions ; 
 
 '* and that paflage hath been urged as affording an 
 
 * invincible and conclufive argument againft the 
 
 * ufe of accents in general among the old Greeks. 
 
 * But if we confider this paflage a little, we (hall 
 ' fee how very unfairly it has been reprefented in 
 
 * relation to this fubjedt. I allow then tliat Dio- 
 ' nyfius doth complain of accents as fubverfive of 
 
 * quantity on fome occafions; but on what occa- 
 
 * fions ? Why, when fome un/kilful compofers of 
 
 p 4 'mufic,
 
 2l6 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 ' mufic, they who fet the Greek odes to 
 mufic, did fometimes join a long fyllable to a 
 
 * mort note, an acuted one to a grave note, and 
 
 * vice verfa; who made, as he there fays, the 
 words bend to the mufical notes, and not the 
 ' notes to the words.' 
 
 Now in truth there is not, in the pafiage re- 
 ferred to, nor in any other paffage of Dionyfius, 
 one fyllable about the contrariety of accents to 
 meter, nor any kind or degree of complaint, 
 exprefled or implied, of accents as fubverfive of 
 quantity; and it is very remarkable that the 
 doctor's own very juft explanation relates to a 
 very different thing; not the contrariety of ac- 
 cent to meter, not the fubverfion of quantity by 
 accent, but the contrariety of fome Greek vocal 
 mufic to both quantity a"nd accent, and the fub- 
 verfion of both by that mufic : mufic, apparently, 
 not of an unfkilful compofer, as the doctor has 
 fuppofed, but certainly of a compofer who did not 
 fcruple to give effect to his own art at the expence 
 of the poet's art, to improve the mufical melody 
 by the fubverfion of the poetical. 
 
 The paflage, well deferving attention from who- 
 ever may have curiofity for the fubjecl:, runs thus : 
 ' Mufic,' fays Dionyfius, - * inftead of adapting 
 
 * notes to the words, aflumes to itfelf to fubjed 
 
 * the words to its notes. Among numerous in- 
 f fiances, the lyric verfes addrefled by Eledra to the 
 
 * chorus,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 * chorus, in Euripides's tragedy of Oreftes, will 
 ' furnilh example : 
 
 * In this paflage the words Ify*, c-iy*, Atuxoi/ are 
 
 * all fung with the fame note, tho each has, in 
 ' fpeech, a (harp and a flat fyllable. The laft fyl- 
 c lable of a^SuAuf has the fame note with the fe- 
 ' cond, tho, in fpeech, two acute accents can no 
 ' how have place in the fame word. In nOm? alfo 
 
 * the firft fyllable has a lower note, and the two 
 
 * others have the fame higher note. In xTUTrflV* 
 
 * the expreffion of the circumflex is omitted, and 
 ' its fyllable has the fame note with a fyllable not 
 4 bearing the fame accent. Finally, in aVo7r<s<xTe, 
 
 * the acute note is not given to its proper fyllable, 
 ' the third, but is transferred to the fourth. 
 
 * Similar licence may be feen in regard to quan- 
 ' titles. In fpeaking and reading, the quantities 
 
 * of fyllables are not violated or tranfpofed, but 
 
 * the proportion of length and fhortnefs, prefcribed 
 ' by nature or cuftom, is regularly obferved. But 
 ' mufic, here lengthening, there fliortening, will 
 c fometimes even invert the juft proportions, mak- 
 ' ing fyllables conform to its times, inftead of 
 ' adapting its times to the proper quantities of 
 
 * fyllables.' 
 
 Thus
 
 2l8 .INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Thus far Dionyfius ; and as well furely might 
 it be contended that he complains of quantity fub- 
 verting accent, as of accent fubverting quantity. 
 But I will venture to fay that in the extant writings, 
 not of Dionyfius only, but of all antiquity, there 
 is not a fyllable of complaint or declaration of the 
 contrariety of accents to meter, or of the fubver- 
 lion of quantity by accent. Nor is the claim of 
 extenfive reading at all neceflary to found the af- 
 fertion ; for, if any fuch complaint or declaration 
 exifted, the learning, the diligence, the zeal of 
 Dr. Toiler's opponents wculd have long ago 
 difcovered, publiihed, republimed, and endlefsly 
 triumphed in it. 
 
 That againft which alone Dionyfius directs his 
 complaint is mufic, and mufic that had evidently 
 public favor in the Auguftan age. He complains 
 of it, in direct and clear terms, as taking liberties, 
 which he could not approve, with accents as well 
 as with quantities. This mufic neverthelefs might 
 not only in itfelf be fine, but, for anything faid 
 by the critic, it might accord admirably with the 
 fpirit of the poetry, tho it difturbed or even fub- 
 verted the cadence and orthoepical melody of the 
 verfe. It can hardly fail to ftrike the mufical 
 reader, and indeed deferves his notice, that, were 
 Euripides's Greek out of fight, this paflage of 
 Dionyfius, inflead of a criticifm of eighteen cen- 
 turies {landing, might feem originally intended for 
 8 an
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 219 
 
 an Italian opera, or an Englilh oratorio, of the 
 prefent day. 
 
 But a fact, tranfmitred to us on the high au- 
 thority of Cicero, has been considered by fome as 
 clearly indicating, that the common pronuntiation 
 of antient Rome, as well as that of Greece, was 
 ftrictly and properly mufical; and, however ftrange. 
 and even ridiculous it may appear to us, that the 
 Roman orators certainly fpoke from the roftra to 
 the afiembled people in regular recitative. For 
 Caius Gracchus, as that greateft of thofe orators 
 relates, ufed to be attended in the forum by a 
 Have, with a flute or pitchpipe, whofe office was to 
 give the tone by which, in addreffing the multi- 
 tude, he mould modulate his voice. Certainly 
 fuch an attendant would make an awkward figure, 
 might order allow his appearance, in our houfes 
 of parliament, or courts of juftice ; and the ridi- 
 cule of the thing could not fail to overbear its ufe. 
 But would It not probably have been fo alfo in 
 the fenate-houfe at Rome ? Even in the forum 
 the practice appears to have been peculiar to one 
 popular orator; or, at leaft, not ventured upon 
 by his fucceflbrs, in more polilhed times.. Yet, 
 if an orator in the Roman forum, furrounded and 
 fhielded by his partizans, might have recourfe to 
 it, and find it advantageous for preparing his voice 
 to addrefs thronging thoufands in the open air, is 
 it clear that it might not alfo be ufefully adopted
 
 22O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 by a candidate for popular favor, fpeaking from a 
 fcaffold in Palace-yard, or from the huftings in 
 Covent-garden ? There have indeed been in- 
 flances in the houfe of commons, which may be 
 remembered by many, of a fine deep manly voice, 
 which has be^l univerfally pleafmg, while kept 
 within bounds, but when urged by paffion to ftrain 
 for impreffion, has rifen to what in mufical phrafe 
 might be called a feigned voice, fqueaking, harm 
 and offenfive. Poflibly thofe who have obferved 
 fuch circumftances may be inclined to think that, 
 even in the houfe of commons, could it be fo ufed 
 as to be heard only by the orator hi mfelf and thofe 
 on the fame bench, a pitchpipe might be fome- 
 times advantageous. 
 
 It can fcarcely be worth while to notice the floiy 
 of the Athenian herb-woman and the philofopher 
 from an /Eolian colony, who valued himfelf upon 
 having acquired the fine Attic pronuntiation. I? 
 there a cockney or a weft-country herb-woman in 
 Covent-garden who would not at once diftinguifh 
 an Iriih or a ScOtifti or a Yorkfhire philofopher by 
 his accent ? 
 
 I am therefore far from propofing to contend 
 that, between the accentuation of the antient 
 languages and of the modern, there were not Ihades 
 of difference no longer now to be afcertained, or 
 perhaps even imagined. Not only in the different 
 modern nations, but in the different provinces of 
 ' every
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 221 
 
 every extenfive nation, differences of intonation, 
 every body knows, are found. Yet it may I think 
 iafely be affirmed, that, taking the four modern 
 languages before mentioned, the Italian, Spanim, 
 modern Greek, and Englifh, for example, the 
 differences are not fo great between the feveral 
 languages, in polite converfation, as between the 
 provincial dialects of every one of them among un- 
 cultivated perfons. For teftimony to this, appeal 
 may be made to any acquainted with thofe 
 languages, who have travelled the length of Eng- 
 land, or little more than half the length of Eng- 
 land, giving any attention to the Ipeech of the 
 country people. In going from the fouth, before 
 the border of Yorkfliire is reached, if their conver- 
 fation is obferved, at a diitance where articulation 
 is yet undiftinguiihable, their tones will affure the 
 liftening ftranger that the dialed is new to him; in- 
 fomuch that he might fuppofe the language wholly 
 different, when the words, put in writing, would 
 be found precifely what he would himfelf ufe. 
 
 In Dionyfius's treatife on litterary competition , 
 there has fallen from him, incidentally, a detail 
 of the fteps by which reading was taught among 
 the Greeks : ' Firft,' he fays, ' we learn the 
 ' names cf the letters ; then their fhapes and 
 ' powers : thus we proceed to fyllables, and all the 
 
 Dion. Hal, de Or. Struft. f. 2$. 
 
 ' cir-
 
 122 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 * circumftances of fyllables. After this we get td 
 ' words, and whatever is incidental to words j as 
 ' long quantities, fhort quantities, and accents,* 
 Here we find precifely the fleps by which we learn 
 to read Englifh, Spanifh, Italian, and modern 
 Greek. Dionyfius carries the detail no further, 
 his purpofe having been meerly to illuftrate ano- 
 ther fubjed: by this example : but we may eafily 
 extend it, under the guidance of claflical autho- 
 rity, and ftill find agreement between the old and 
 the modern languages. Thus, as the Greek 
 teacher muft direct his pupil to make the juft dif- 
 ference in pronuntiation between the long found 
 of w in |3wAof and the fliort found of o in (3<?Ao?, fo 
 the Englifh teacher muft require attention to the 
 fimilar difference between the long o in the firft 
 fyllable of polar, and the fhort o in the firfl of 
 poltfh. The Greek teacher, before the accentual 
 marks became common in books, muft of courfe 
 have informed his pupil that aXAa, meaning but y 
 and aAAa, meaning others, were written alike j that 
 he muft therefore difcoverfrom the context which 
 word was intended, and then, in reading as in 
 fpeaking, he muft be careful to diftinguifh it, by 
 giving the fharp accent to the laft fyllable in one 
 cafe, AAa % and to the firft in the other, aAXa. 
 
 The 
 
 3 In Greek manufcripts, as in modern printed di&ionaries, 
 it was fufficient to mark the fliarp fyllable, and the tones of the 
 
 reft
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 The modern Italian teacher mull inform his 
 pupil of exactly the fame diftinction between 
 amo, the firft perfon of the prefent tenfe, meaning 
 / /ove, and amo^ the third of the pafled tenfe, 
 meaning he loved ; and the Englifliman muft refer 
 to precifely the fame power of the accent alone, 
 for diftinguifhing prejent, the noun and the ad- 
 jective, from the verb prefent. But the French 
 teacher will inform his pupil that his language is 
 without accen x t. Marks indeed it ufes, which, 
 in other languages diftinguifh accents, but in 
 French only direct articulation, or furnifh diftinc- 
 tion of words for the eye, which, for the ear, 
 have none. This furely, to an Engliihrpan or an 
 Italian, muft appear far ft ranger and more un- 
 intelligible, far wider of all analogy with cir- 
 cumftances in Englifh or Italian fpeech, than 
 anything to be found in Dionyfius, Cicero, 
 Quintilian, or any other antient writer concern- 
 reft would be known of courfe. The mark of the flat there- 
 fore, the line pointing upward toward the left, little wanted 
 for its proper purpofe, grew into ufe among tranfcribers, whe- 
 ther for any convenience, or through nicer capricious fafliio,to 
 indicate the fliarp accent whenever it fell on thelaft fyllableof a 
 word. That this mark, in that fituation, is intended to indicate 
 the fliarp accent, and only the (harp, in all Greek manufcripts, 
 is mod fatisfaftorily proved l>y Doftor Fofter, in his reply to Dr. 
 Galley; and the practice of the modern Greeks, both in writing 
 and in pronunciation, exactly agrees with what he has fliown to 
 have been that of their prcdeceflbrs, 
 
 ing
 
 224 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ing the accents of the Greek and Latin. The 
 circumftances of French pronuntiation may per- 
 haps come among matters of future inquiry. At 
 prefent fuffice it that nothing remaining in antient 
 authors (hows, or gives reafon to imagine, that 
 the accentuation of well-educated perfons of the 
 polite ages of Athens and antient Rome, differed 
 fo much, or fo characteristically, from that of the 
 well-educated of London, Florence, and Rome 
 of the prefent day, as the accentuation of the 
 people of the - fouth of England from that of 
 thofe of the north, in fpeaking the fame Englifh 
 language.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 Of the Rhythmus or Cadence of the GKEEK and LATIK 
 LANGUAGES. 
 
 IF we are now truly acquainted with the nature 
 and general qualities of accent and quantity, as 
 they exifted in Greek and Roman fpeech, without 
 undertaking for precifion in the juft expreflion of 
 them, we may proceed to inquire concerning 
 Rhythmus or Cadence. What this was, among 
 the antients, information remains to us fo full, and 
 of fuch authority, that the miftakes and doubts 
 and differences about it, which have been enter- 
 tained among the learned, feem attributable only 
 to their want of leifure or inclination for the labor 
 of analyfis, neceflary for a fufficiently accurate ac- 
 quaintance with thofe elemental founds of which 
 rhythmus muft be compounded. 
 
 Quintilian defcribes the antient RHYTHMUS, 
 and explains its difference from METER thus c , 
 ' All compofition, menfuration, and arrangement 
 
 'of 
 
 Otnnis ftru&ura ac dimenfio et copulat'o vocum confiat 
 aut numeris (numeros 'Pvd/tovi; accipi volo) aut fciVp*, id eft 
 dimenfione quadam. Qnod etiam fi conftat utrunque pedibus, 
 habt-t tamen fimplicem diffcrentiam. Nam rhythmi, id eft 
 numeri, fpatio> temporum conftant: metra etiam ordine: ideo- 
 que altfrum efle qnantitatis videtur, alterum qualitatis. 'PtS^oj 
 
 ait
 
 126 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 * of founds, mufl depend either upon CADENCE* 
 
 * or upon METER, which is but another name for 
 ' menfuration. Now tho both confift of feet, yet 
 ' have they a plain difference. RHYTHM us, NUM- 
 
 * BERS, cadence, or time-keeping, depend meerly 
 ' upon the fpace of certain portions of time ; but 
 
 * to conftitute meter, a certain order of different 
 ' portions of time is requifite. To the former 
 ' therefore quantity of time only is neceffary ; to 
 
 * the latter quality alfo. Rhythmus is either EVEN, 
 ( as in the dactyl, whofe one long fyliable is com- 
 
 tut par eft, ut daftylus ; unam enim fyllabum parem (duobus) 
 brevibus habct. Eft quidem vis cadem et aliis pedibus, fed 
 nomen illud tenet. Longam efle duorum temporum, brcvem 
 unius, ctiam pueri fciunt. Aut fefcuplex, ut paeon; cujus vis 
 eft ex longa et tribus brevibus ; quique ei contrarius, ex tribus 
 brevibus et longa, vel alio quoquo modo tempora tria ad duo 
 relata fefcuplum faciunt : aut duplex, ut iambus ; nam eft ex 
 brevi et longa ; quique eft ei contrarius. Sunt hi et metrici 
 pedes; fed hoc intereft, quod rhythmo indifferens eft dac- 
 tylufne ille priores habeat breves, an fequentes : TEMPUS 
 
 INIM SOLUM MITITUR, UT A SUBLEVATIONE AD POSI- 
 
 TIONEM IISDEM SIT spATiis PBDEU; in verfu pro daftylo 
 poni not poterit anapzftus vel fpondeus : nee paeon eadern ra- 
 
 tione a brevibus incipiet ac definet. Sunt et ilia difcrimina, 
 
 quod rhythmis libera fpatia, metris finita font: et his certae 
 claufulae ; illi quo modo coeperant currunt nfque ad ^iret^t^v, 
 id eft tranfitum in aliud genus rhythmi : et quod metrum ia 
 verbis modo, rhythmus etiam in corporis motu eft. 
 
 * Thus I venture to tranflate his word numtri, which, it ap- 
 pears, was not fo in received ufe for his purpofe, but that he 
 has thought necefTary to add that he confidered it as equivalent 
 to the Greek ^fi/w. 
 
 ' menfuratc
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 227 
 
 ' menfurate with its two fhort ones, (other feet 
 ' equally fill the even cadence, but daiftyl is the 
 
 * prevailing name, and every boy knows that a 
 ' long fyllable has two times, a (hort fyllable 
 ' one) or it is SESCUPLE, as in the pson, com- 
 ' poled of a long fyllable and three fliort ones, 
 
 * or on the contrary, of three ihort and one long, 
 
 * or of three times added to two in any man- 
 
 * ner, fo that tne whole being divided into two 
 
 * parts, one may be half more than the other ; 
 
 * or it is DOUBLE, as in the Iambic, compofed of 
 
 * one Ihort and one long fyllable, or the reverfe. 
 
 * Thefe are metrical feet alfo. But this diftin<5Uon 
 
 * is to be obferved ; that it is indifferent to rhyth- 
 ' mus whether the two fhort iyilables precede or 
 1 follow the long one; the even or dadtylic rhyth- 
 ' mus will, in either cafe, be produced; for which 
 ' it fuffices that, when the time is duly meafured, 
 
 * by alternately raifing and dropping the hand or 
 ' foot, each a<5tion mark an equal portion. But 
 ' in verfo an anapeft or a fpondee cannot always be 
 
 * fubftituted for a dactyl, nor is it indifferent 
 ' whether a paeon begin or end with the fliort 
 
 * fyllables. There are moreover thefe differences: 
 
 * fpace for rhythmus is unlimited : fuch as the 
 
 * rhythmus began, fuch it may go on to the 
 ' [AtrxSoXri ; that is till a change to another rhy th- 
 
 * mus.' (Thus it goes through a whole epic poem 
 unchanged.) * But fpace for meafures is bounded : 
 
 * meafures are dealt out in portions, (verfes) con- 
 
 Q 2 * fined
 
 228 INQUIRY 1 INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ' fined to certain limits. Moreover meter exiffe 
 ' in words only, but rhythmus (time-keeping) 
 fr may be equally exhibited in motion'of the body*' 
 (as in dance). Thus far the author's meaning is per- 
 fpicuous. What follows- has been varioufly under - 
 ftood by commentators, and I apprehend rightly 
 by none. Indeed there feeras evident corruption 
 from tranfcribers ; and yet the fenfe fo mines 
 through the mift that it might be gathered per- 
 haps very nearly. It is however lefs wanted for 
 our purpofe than what precedes ; and a paffage 
 amended without authority could not have the de- 
 firable weight. 
 
 But however we might wiih for more informa- 
 tion, that. contained in the paf&ge which I have 
 tranflated, is- of very high value. With a cliiiin<ft- 
 nefs, as if the able author forefaw the future want 
 of explanation which, for his own time, might be 
 nearly fuperfluous, he (hows that the rhythmus o 
 the Greeks and Latins had precifely the varieties 
 of the common and triple time of modern 
 mufic. .Common time was called the even, 
 and triple time the double rhythmus ; the reafon 
 of which names will occur prefently for obfervation. 
 Thefe times or cadences are elfentially the fame 
 which we have remarked in Englifh and modern 
 Italian poetry, differing however in the proportions 
 which each bears to the other, as well as in the 
 manner of indicating thofe proportions. The mea- 
 fures of fyllables having been carefully obferved by 
 ^ the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 229 
 
 the antients fo as to be made obvious to the ear in 
 pronunciation, one long and one fliort fyllable fuf- 
 ficed to mark triple time; juftas in mufic two notes, 
 of which one is double the length of the other, 
 marks triple time. But to give characteriftical 
 indication of common time, three fyllables were 
 neceffary, one long and two fliort. Two long 
 fyllables might indeed fill the meafure, and carry 
 on indication of the character of cadence already 
 imprefled upon the ear; but fyllables all of equal 
 length can of themfelves imprefs no character of 
 cadence. On the contrary, in modern poetry (tak- 
 ing the character of Italian, Spanifh, modern 
 Greek and Englifh for the general character of 
 modern poetry) the inflrumentality of accent 
 being employed to affift the indication of cadence, 
 and the comparative length of fyllables being 
 therefore lefs important, two fyllables fuffice to 
 fill the even cadence, and thus two fyllables have 
 become its general meafure ; variety and character 
 being fupplied by accent. But with the modern 
 negligence concerning proportionate length of fyl- 
 lables, two fyllables cannot give charaderiftical 
 indication of the triple cadence, even with the help 
 of accent ; three are neceffary. Hence the modem 
 even cadence bears to the triple the proportion of 
 two to three, whereas the antient even cadence 
 bore to the triple the proportion of f ur to three. 
 TO thofe ever fo little verted in the modem nota- 
 Q 3 tion
 
 43 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 tion of mufic, this may be readily explained thus: 
 the modern even or common cadence bears to the 
 triple the proportion of the mufical time marked 
 to the mufical time marked | : but the antient 
 even cadence (rhythmus par) bore to the antient 
 double cadence (rhythmus duplex) the fame pro- 
 portion which the mufical time marked C bears to 
 the mufical time marked |, or which the mufical 
 time marked bears to that marked {.. 
 
 But we find that a third variety of time, called 
 the fefcuple cadence, analogous to a mufical bar 
 of five equal notes, was acknowleged by the ac- 
 curate diligence of the antients, in their inquiries 
 into the power of founds in fpeech. This rhythr 
 mus, however, even among them, was efteemed 
 little fit for poetry, but advantageous in profe. 
 In modern poetry and modern mufic it is equally 
 unknown. 
 
 But the meafures of fyllables, in proper pro- 
 nuntiation among the antients, had not com- 
 pletely the precifion of mufical meafures ; for as 
 we have before obferved, neither all thofe arranged 
 under the defcription of long fyllables were exactly 
 commenfurate, nor all thofe arranged under the de- 
 fcription of fhort fyllables j and yet the differences 
 neither of long fyllables nor of ihort fyllables were 
 of any afcertained proportion, nor indeed of any 
 proportion noticed in the ftrudure of verfe. 
 Thefe differences were minute -, and yet, in fre* 
 
 quent
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 qucnt occurrence they might in fome degree de- 
 range a meafure depending wholly upon the com- 
 parative length of fyllables, and no way indicated 
 by accent. It was probably in part to obviate 
 this inconvenience, as well as to aflift the lefs 
 ready ear, that the antients had recourfe to in- 
 dication of another kind ; they beat time to 
 poetry as to mufic. But a fingle ftroke would 
 not fuffice for marking the antient rhythmus. 
 From Quintilian, dill in the fame paflage, and 
 from various paflages of Terentianus Maurus 
 and others, we learn that there was a double 
 action, the fublevatio and the pojitio ; more known 
 by the Greek names arjis and thefts ; the raifmg 
 and the dropping of the hand or foot ; each ac- 
 tion marking its feparate portion of the rhyth- 
 mus. The even or dactylian rhythmus, analogous 
 to our common time, was to be divided in halves ; 
 two times being given to the arfis and the lame to 
 the thefis; whence its name of even. To mark the 
 double cadence, or triple time, either one time 
 muft be given to the arfis and two to the thefis, 01 
 two to the arfis and one to the thefis. Hence its 
 name of double^ tho it was precifely our triple time; 
 the antient name being founded on the proportion 
 of the two parts of the cadence, as divided by arfis 
 and thefis i the modern on the number of times of 
 the fame length which it contained, namely three j 
 the one long and one Ihort time being equal to 
 Q 4 three
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 three fliort times. The fefcuple cadence had either 
 two times in the arfis and three in the thefis, or 
 three in the arfis and two in the thefis. 
 
 Thefe antient cadences, marked by accurate 
 meafure of time, were fuperior to the modern 
 cadences, by the variety they admitted, as well 
 as by their regularity. The even rhythmus had 
 three varieties of feet, the dactyl, the anapeft, and 
 the fpondee ; which were but various modes of 
 filling and marking the one mufical meafure which 
 we call common time. The double rhythmus 
 had equal variety of feet, in the trochee, the 
 Iambic, and the tribrachys ; each feverally rilling 
 and indicating the one mulical meafure which 
 we call triple time. Some combinations of fyl- 
 lables, which obtained the name of feet, were 
 but combinations of other feet, as the Ionic ; or 
 parts of other feet, as the Pyrrhic. The Pyrrhic, 
 could not, of itfelf/ fill a rhythmus 6 . The two 
 Jonics, together with the Moloflus, made an im- 
 portant variety, forming a kind of double rhyth- 
 
 * The application of the Romans to Grecian literature feems 
 to have put the Greek grammarians upon afcertaining diftinc- 
 tions for their Roman fcholars, which, for their own people, 
 lefs required attention. Dionyfius profefles to confider rhyth- 
 mus and foot as equivalent terms ; whence he fpeaks of the 
 Pyrrhic foot by the name of the Pyrrhic rhythmus. The more 
 diffufe explanation and greater care in diftinction, which we 
 find in Quintilian, affifts greatly toward making Dionyfius in- 
 telligible to the mod era reader .
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 233 
 
 mus, that is, a rhythmus of double the time 
 of that diftinguifhed by the name of rhythmus 
 duplex. This is perfectly analogous with what is 
 ordinary in modern mufic. For taking the modern 
 rhufical time indicated by the mark -f- as the time 
 of the duplex or trochaic rhythmus, the time in- 
 dicated by the mark | would be that of the Ionic ; 
 or if | marked the trochaic rhythmus, -|- would be 
 the proper indication of the Ionic. Such being the 
 (changes that the antient poetical meafures ad- 
 mitted, when we add the variety given by accent, 
 not confined as in its modern office of marking the 
 cadence, but changing it place through the fyl- 
 lables of the feveral f-et, it will appear that, in the 
 total of its variety, as well as in its regularity in 
 accordance with mufical time, the antient verfifica- 
 tion far excelled the modern. 
 
 Differing thus widely, in the indication of rhyth- 
 mus and in the mechanifm of verfe, as the antient 
 languages did from the modern, yet rhythmus itfelf 
 js in both eflentially the fame, being no other than 
 mufical time. Tho this is otherwife fufficiently 
 evident, yet teflimony to it, from the greateft 
 critic of antiquity, very direct teflimony, however 
 modern harmony was out of his view, will deferve 
 notice. c Meter,' fays Longinus, ' differs from 
 ' rhythmus ; for fyllables are the material of me- 
 ' ter, and without fyllable can be no meter : but 
 ' rhythmus may exift either in fyllables, or with- 
 ' out them, for ftrokes (as in beating a drum) fuf- 
 
 'fice
 
 234 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ' fice to produce rhythmus.' f The perfect confo- 
 nance of this fhort expcfition of the difference be- 
 tween meter and rhythmus with Quintiiian's more 
 difTufe explanation, which we have been noticing, 
 cannot but be gratifying to the inquirer on thefe 
 fubjefts; but the conclufion is particularly va- 
 luable, as it declares, in clear terms, the fenfe 
 which that great critic had of the identity of 
 rhythmus marked, as in the antient poetry, by 
 quantities only, with rhythmus marked by the 
 ftroke of accent, which is the manner of modera 
 poetry. 
 
 Aia^fffi oe M/T^or PvtifAov' vt.t) yctp To<V ^.erroif i try^vAaoij, y.a,} 
 ^w^Jf <rt;XXa.r)f ovx otv yivbiro MST^ of. O ^i Pt/Sp.o? ydiron xat In 
 ffV>J<.aa,~$, yuirat at neti ^&>f{ <n;XAat!;{' xa.1 yug it XJOTW. Longin. 
 
 fr.igm.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Lofs of the LATIN as a LIVING LANGUAGE : Origin of the 
 
 Difputes among the modern learned about the ACCENT and 
 QUANTITY of the LATIN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Qu ANT i TY, accent, and rhythmus or cadence, in 
 the antient Greek and Latin languages, it thus ap- 
 pears, were the fame as, in the principal languages 
 of modem Europe, the French always excepted. 
 But the USE of accent and quantity for verfi- 
 fication, and the INDICATION of rhythmus or ca- 
 dence, were very different ; quantity or meafure of 
 time, exhibited in the proper pronuntiation of fyl- 
 lables, having been alone the conftituent of antient 
 verfe, whereas accent is called in fo far to controul 
 quantity, in modern verfe, as to be itfelf the leading 
 indicant of the meafures. 
 
 But eafy as it feems to conceive an arrangement 
 of fyllables of longer and fhorter enuntiation, di- 
 viding time with mufical exact nefs, fo as to form 
 poetical meafures, yet for organs unpractifed, as 
 thofe of the modern Europeans, in accurate men- 
 furation of fyllables, and, on the contrary, ha- 
 bituated to depend upon the ftroke of accent for 
 indications of cadence, to carry the idea into prac- 
 tice is far indeed from eafy. Incorrect: practice 
 thus has led tomiftaken theory, and fo arofe thofe 
 difputes about accent and quantity^ in which the 
 
 learned
 
 236 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 learned of Europe have been been for centuries in- 
 gaged, without yet coming to complete agreement. 
 Of thefe difputes therefore it may be neceflary to 
 take fome fliort notice, 
 
 In thofe unhappy times called the middle ages, 
 the Latin ceafed to be a living language. In Italy, 
 France, and Spain, more than in the reft of the 
 Roman empire, it had been the common fpeech. 
 When thofe extenfiv.e countries were finally fub- 
 dued by the rude barbarians from the eaftern re- 
 gions, the conquered were not only the more nu- 
 merous, but much the more informed part of the 
 population. In the communication therefore 
 which followed between the ruling and the fubjedl 
 people, the language of neither remained. Supe- 
 rior knowlege however fo far prevailed over fupe- 
 rior force, that the new fpeeches arifmg were com- 
 pofed in a very large proportion of Latin words ;but, 
 to accommodate the apprehenfion of the victors, 
 curtailed of inflexion and fimplified in phrafe, and, 
 to accommodate their organs often altered in form. 
 Thus, in Rome itielf, tho the fpeech was in 
 words little changed, yet in phrafe it became fo 
 new, that a Roman now fcarcely learns the old lan- 
 guage more readily than a German or a Ruffian. 
 
 Neverthelefs the }Latin, as far as it furvived "in 
 books, remained always the language of the Roman 
 church throughout Europe. Even in the darkeft 
 ages alfo there were always fome lettered men 
 among the clergy, who cultivated the Roman claf- 
 
 fical
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 237 
 
 fical learning, and, through the Latin language, 
 could communicate among all the nations, among 
 whom the rites of the Roman church prevailed. 
 Loft however as a living fpeech, none could any 
 longer with certainty teach the proper pronuntia- 
 tion; and in the end the founds of the Latin every- 
 where yielded to the vernacular utterance of the 
 written fyllables. Under thefe circumflances, 
 that all juft expreflion of the poetical harmony 
 of the language muft be loft, will not be 
 doubted by thofe who have obferved what be- 
 comes of Englifh poetry in the mouth of the 
 moft learned Frenchman, with all the advantage 
 of inftruiftion from Englifb voices, if practice, even 
 from infancy, has not given effect to fuch inftruc- 
 tion. 
 
 Meanwhile accent, the ruling power of harmony, 
 fuch as harmony was, in the Teutonic,, the former 
 fpeech of the conquerors, gained afcendancy in the 
 new languages ; and in the Italian and Spanilb, and 
 fouthern French, formerly diftinguifhed from the 
 northern by the name of the Roman, Romane/k, 
 or Romance language, it remains the ruling power. 
 In the pronuntiation of Latin then, accent would 
 acquire importance with the ear among all thofe 
 people, as well as among the Englifh, Germans, and 
 others, whofe language was fundamentally Teuto- 
 nic. Accordingly the middle ages produced a kind 
 of popular Latin verfe, compofed in accentual ca- 
 dence without any regard to meter> and for orna- 
 ment
 
 238 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ment adopting rime. But the more clafiical fcho- 
 lars, were enough aware that quantity and net ac- 
 cent had given the mechanifm of claffical poetry ; 
 and, tho means were totally wanting to learn 
 the quantities of fyllables by the ear, yet they ga- 
 thered, with laborious diligence, the diftindions of 
 long and fhort, and the rules of verfification, indi- 
 cated in claflical writings ; and, whenever they at- 
 tempted compofition in Latin verfe, were careful 
 to obferve them. 
 
 The accentuation of the Latin language, as we 
 have already feen, was extremely fimple. In 
 diffyllables the acute was confined ftrictly to 
 one iituation, by the rule denying it to the laft; 
 and in polyfyllables it could vary its place only be- 
 tween the penultimate and the antepenultimate : 
 on which of thofe it muft reft, the quantity of 
 the former decided. Now it happens that thefe 
 very fimple rules of accentuation, tho not excluflve 
 rules for the Italian, Spanifh, and Englim lan- 
 guages, which all allow greater variety, yet fo ac- 
 cord with the general manner of thofe languages, 
 that little more has been really wanting to dired 
 Italian, Spanifh, and Englifli Scholars to the pro- 
 per accentuation of Latin words, than to obferve 
 the quantity of the -penultimate of polyfyllables ; 
 infomuch that, while the acquifition of a juft ac- 
 centuation has little entered into the contempla- 
 tion of modern teachers, they have fortuitoufly di- 
 rected their pupils to it, by meerly urging attention 
 
 to
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 to quantity. The effeft of attention fo affiduoufly 
 given to quantity, incur public feminaries, has been, 
 that our fcholars write Latin according to quan- 
 tity,and pronounce it according to accent ; that they 
 EXPRESS juftly the accents, and can NAME juftly 
 the quantities, but with all the attention, with all 
 the drudgery that is required of our liberal youth in 
 learning to name the quantities, yet the expreffion 
 of them by the voice, and that judicial office 
 which our great matters, Cicero and Quintilian, re- 
 quire of the ear, as far as it regards quantity, has 
 been totally negledted. 
 
 Thefe, however palpable truths, I might have 
 fome apprehenlion in declaring, if many men of 
 the moft approved learning, and particularly Mr. 
 Harris, the author of Hermes, and doclor Fuller, 
 many years eminent among the teachers in our 
 moft flouriming claflicai feminary, had not fairly 
 refigned, for the method of that feminary and of 
 our fcholars in general, the pretence to fpeak the 
 antient languages according to quantity. Scarcely 
 indeed a Latin verfe can be found that may not 
 afford irrefragable proof of the incorrectnefs of the 
 approved Engliih pronuntiation. The firft lines 
 of the ^Eneid will give abundance. Who will be 
 found to defend the common and approved pro- 
 nuntiation of the tirft fyllable of cano ? Does that 
 pronuntiation g've the fhort found which the verfe 
 requires ? or does it not make the fyllable as long 
 as any of the language, whofe vowel is followed by 
 only one confonant ? If accent could affefb quan- 
 tity,
 
 240 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES O* 
 
 tity, has it not all the force of the acute accent 
 added to its length ? and finally, does the mofl ap- 
 proved modern pronuntiation make any difference, 
 in point of quantity, between the firfl fyllable of 
 cano y which mofl confeifedly ought to be fhort, 
 and the firfl of fato, which, as affuredly ought to 
 be of twice its length ? How then can it be pre- 
 tended that fuch pronuntiation is according to 
 quantity ? 
 
 But, it may be faid, there is a harmony in Latin 
 verfe, as it is pronounced by Italian and Englifh 
 fcholars, clearly diflinguifhing it from profe, and 
 pleafing to the ear. True : but what is that har- 
 mony ? Is it not obvious to every fcholar of thofe 
 nations, that falfe .quantity may often be fubfti- 
 tuted for true, not only without offence, but even 
 with gratification to the ear, and with offence only 
 to the knowlege ftored in the fcholar's mind ? 
 Memory of written examples is what the modem 
 fcholar relies on> but pronuntiation, giving the 
 quantities duly characterized to the ear, is what 
 Cicero and Quintilian require. 
 
 The truth, let it not offend, is, that the har- 
 mony produced by Italian, and English fcholars 
 in their pronuntiation of Latin verfe, however 
 pleafing, is not harmony of quantity but harmony 
 of accent; the verfe, as they fpeak it, is not metri- 
 cal, but, like their vernacular verfe, accentual. 
 A Latin hexameter is, in the pronuntiation of 
 Englifh fcholars, not a verfe, of fix feet of the 
 even rhythmus, and that rhythmus decided by 
 
 fimple
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 24! 
 
 fimple meafure of time, or arrangement of quan- 
 tities, but it is a verfe of five feet of the triple 
 rhythmus, and the rhythmus indicated by ar- 
 rangement of accents. A hexameter verfe, to pleafe 
 us, muft have five ftrong accents : the three former 
 whether on long or fhort fyllables matters not : the 
 two laft muft be on fyllables long by rule. But 
 the modern ear is carelefs about length of fyl- 
 lables in pronunciation : the fyllables on which 
 the two laft ftrong accents fall may be fhort i;i pro- 
 nunriation, without offence to the modern ear ; 
 which requires them on fyllables long by rule, not 
 through any regard for length of fyllables, but be- 
 caufe the antient rule of verfe requires long fyl- 
 lables where the modern ear requires the two laft 
 ftrong accents. 
 
 Of antient verfes none are more generally pleaf- 
 ing to the Englifh and Italian ear than the Sap- 
 phic. Thecaufe of this favor does not lie deep. The 
 Sapphic is a verfe of eleven fyllables like the Ita- 
 lian epic, and the Englifli dramatic pentameter; 
 and, in the Latin Sapphic, the accents rarely fail to 
 be fo difpofed as to mark very exactly the meafure 
 of thofe Engliih and Italian verfes. The two firft 
 lines of the firft of Horace's odes in that meafure, 
 will fumce to (how the exactnefs of the fimilitude : 
 
 Jam fatis terris nivis atque dirse 
 
 Grandinis mifit pater, et rubente 
 
 Let this aufpicious day be ever facred, 
 Let it be kept for triumph and rejoicing. 
 
 R Seldom
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 Seldom are found in it even the varieties of which 
 the Italians are fond, and which Milton delighted 
 in imitating : the accentuation is commonly con- 
 fined with the flridnefs of Englifh poets of the pre- 
 fent day. 
 
 ' Thofe, who have long flattered themfelves with 
 ' an opinion that, in their pronuntiation of Greek 
 ' and Latin, they flrictly adhered to right quan- 
 ' tity, may probably be ftartled at the declaration 
 of truths fo adverfe to their prepofleflions.' Thefe 
 are doctor Fofter's words ; and I rejoice in being 
 under the cover of that learned man's lliield when 
 I find myfelf compelled to affirm, that the gene- 
 rally approved pronuntiation of Englilh fcholars is 
 not guided >by aqy conlideration of quantity at all. 
 It is notorious that if any Englifh fcholar were but 
 to attempt, in fpeaking Latin, to make the differ- 
 ence of long and fhort Syllables fenfible to the ear* 
 for inftance, if the firft fyllables of cano andfato, the 
 authority of Cicero would not fave him ; he would 
 furely incur the imputation of affecting fmgu- 
 larity. 
 
 But it may^be worth while to obferve how 
 fcrupuloufly, how importunately a juft accen- 
 tuation of Latin verfe is demanded by our fcho- 
 lars : nor may it, for thofe who have given any at- 
 tention to the difputes about accent and quantity, 
 be unamufing to fee how widely the accentuation, 
 xmiverfally demanded, is at variance with the notion 
 that the acute or ftrong accent is a long quantity,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 243 
 
 or MAKES a long quantity, or necelTarily COINCIDES 
 with a long quantity. In Latin hexameter verfc 
 the modern ear requires that the acute or ftrong 
 accent be confined ftridly, in the fifth and fixth 
 feet, to the firft fyllable, and is much diflurbed to 
 find it in any other fituation. Obferve the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 JEole, namque tibi divum pater atque hominum rex. 
 
 JEn. i. 69. 
 Exfultantque aeftu latices ; furit intus aquae vis. 
 
 vii. 464. 
 
 Confilium, et facvz nutu Junonis eunt res. 
 
 vii. 59. 
 
 Quae vigilanda viris ; vel earn ruit imbriferum ver. 
 
 Georg. i. 313. 
 
 Thefe, tho Virgil wrote them, the modern ear 
 has difficulty to acknowlege for hexameter verfes, 
 on account of the dislocation (may we call it) of 
 the accent in the fifth and fixth feet. A modern, 
 writer of Latin poetry would hardly dare to offer 
 fuch. I remember meeting fomewhere with a 
 criticifm on Horace's hexameters, in which it was 
 boldly faid that a modern fchoolboy mould be 
 whipped for writing verfes of fuch ilovenly want of 
 harmony. Yet how different the feelings of the 
 fame perfons for the fame antient meafures in the 
 Sapphic ! There the modern ear cannot bear the 
 ftrong accent on the long fyllable of the da&yl, 
 where it frequently occurs in Greek verfe, but ri- 
 gidly requires it on the firft of the fhort fyllables, 
 
 R 2 where,
 
 244 tWQtTIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 where, to our great gratification, in Horace we al- 
 moft conftantly find it. The modern ear will hardly 
 pardon even the numerofus Horatius an occafionar 
 deviation from this its rule, as in 
 
 Quam jocus circumvolat et cupido. 
 
 But in the pentameter a change of feeling come* 
 again, and a different feeling for the different feet 
 of that fame verfe. For, in the firft daftyl of the 
 fecond hemiftic, we are difpofed to allow the ac- 
 cent only to the long fyllable, as ia the laft dactyl 
 of the hexameter : In the laft daftyl again we re- 
 quire a ftrong accent on the firft fyllable ; but 
 that does not content us ; we muft have another 
 on the laft, tho fhort ; and then for the conclud- 
 ing fyllable of the verfe, tho long, to be accented is 
 intolerable. 
 
 But indeed we are not more confident through 
 the hexameter. In the two laft feet we faftidiouily 
 require the accent on the firft fyllable, but not fo 
 in any other foot of the verfe. In the firft line of 
 the ./Eneid the accent on the firft fyllable of cano, 
 the laft ofada<5tyl, fatisfies us very well; and, in 
 the fecond line we are equally contented with the 
 accent on the lecond fyllable of Italian and on the 
 firft of profugus, each the fecond of a dadlyl; and 
 all three fhort fyllables. Indeed fcarcely any- 
 thing in recitation could be more offenfive than 
 the acute accent on the firft fyllable of every foot, 
 except the repetition of it upon every long 
 fyliable. 
 
 It
 
 KARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 245 
 
 It, will be obvious that if accent was quan- 
 tity, or made quantity, or if the acute or ftrong 
 accent could only exift with a long quantity, 
 thefe things could not be. The truth is that ac- 
 cent and quantity being perfectly diftinct affections 
 of fyllables, and accent the ruling power of Englifh, 
 Italian, and perhaps moft other modern European 
 verification, accent is that to which the modern 
 car is difpofed to defer, in attending to the recita- 
 tion of any verfe. In Latin verfe, through the 
 peculiar conftruction of the language, in the com- 
 bination of the metrical cadences, there refults 
 a time-beating of accent, producing other cadences 
 totally diftinct from the metrical cadences. 
 Thefe accentual cadences then, without any regard 
 to thofe proportions of time in fyllables by which 
 the antient metrical cadences were conflituted, 
 are what form the delight of the modern ear 
 in Latin verfe. With many indeed they have 
 found favor as if they were the antient cadence, 
 tho doctor Fofter, and others of the ableft fcho- 
 lars, have mown themfelves enough aware of the 
 contrary.
 
 46 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 APPENDIX TO THE TWELFTH SECTION. 
 
 i H E character of the meafure of Latin hexame- 
 ter and pentameter verie, in modern pronuntiation, 
 may be exhibited more readily, and perhaps more 
 clearly, by the following mufical notation than by 
 ^ny words. It will not be fuppofed that I mean 
 to attribute to modern voices, in the recitation of 
 Latin verfe, an exaftnefs of time which they do 
 jiot obferve in the poetry of their own languages, 
 It is the general chara.cter only of the meaiuie that 
 I mean to reprefent, and I think the reprelen- 
 tation fo far faithful, 
 
 J JIJ./JIJJJ 
 
 Tityre tu patulae recubans fub tegmine fagi Jayl- 
 
 J el UVJrlJJ J-J1.'..NiJJr 
 
 Teftrem tenui mufam medi-taris a - vena. 
 
 r 
 
 patriam fugimus et dulcia linquimus arva 
 
 Arma virumque cano, Trojse qui primus ab oris. 
 
 The pentameter, tho fomewhat differently filled, 
 is, in modern recitation, precifely the fame meafure 
 
 as the hexameter 
 
 It
 
 HAHMONY IN LANGUAGE. 247 
 
 If J W JlJJJrlJj WlJ^diJJril 
 
 Hanc tua Pe -nelope lento tibi niiffit U - lixe, 
 
 J JV JIJ JriJ. / JIJ Jf J JrJI 
 
 Nil mihi re - fcribas, tu tarnen ipfe veni 
 
 Troja jacet certe, Danais in-vifa pu - ellis 
 
 JWJIJ JrlJ./JlcJ J IJJrZ 
 
 Vix Priamus tanti to - taque Troja fiat. 
 
 It will be obvious that the triple time '"which 
 modern voices give, in the recitation of antient 
 verfe of the even rhythmus, is not trje triple ca- 
 dence of Englifh or Italian poetry, and flill lefs 
 i? analogous to the antient rhythmus duplex : its 
 proportion, both to the modern triple cadence and 
 to the antient rhythmus duplex is as the triple 
 time of modern mufical notation i to .the time ^ 
 or as the antient moloJflus to the iambus and 
 trochee. 
 
 Some of our .critics have fpoken of the great 
 importance of the PAUS.E in the middle of the 
 hexameter and pentameter verfes. I do not re- 
 collect ever to have met with, or heard of any 
 notice of it by any antien* writer. The mufical 
 notation exhibits the caufe of its importance in 
 modern recitation : the meafure could not be filled 
 without it*
 
 248 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES 0* 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Of the Difputes alo"t-' P ACCENT and QUANTITY of the 
 GRKLK LANGUAGE. 
 
 \Vi TH the afiiftance of what we have been ob- 
 ferving concerning the Latin language, it will be 
 eafy fro ciifcover the ground of the quarrel of fo 
 many modern icholars, with the whole fyftem of 
 Gree accentuation ; as well with what has been 
 tranfmitted of highefb authority from clafiical 
 times, as with the accentual marks, which, after the 
 bed Greek manufcripts, and in conformity with 
 the rules tranfmitted by later grammarians on the 
 authority of the elder, appear in our printed 
 editions. 
 
 The Greek language was not, like the Latin, 
 loft in the dark ages. Becoming the language of 
 the court, and at length of the law, of the eaftern 
 empire, as it had for centuries been the mod uni- 
 verlal language of the people, it furvived in living 
 f] eech to modern ages ; and not till the dawn of 
 reviving learning had already begun to fpread over 
 weftern Europe, was in evil hour finally over- 
 whelmed or diflipated by the flood of Turkifh 
 barbarifm. A little before that lamentable ca- 
 taftrophe, thofe extraordinary patrons of letters 
 and the arts, the Medicis of Florence, had beguri 
 to give vogue to Grecian litterature within the pale 
 
 of
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 249 
 
 cf the Roman church ; where the quarrels between 
 the two churches hr.d before contributed to check 
 its credit. Their munificence incouraged the 
 wretched outcafts from Constantinople, who had 
 talents and learning, to migrate into Italy, with 
 what books they could carry ; and the fplendid 
 example was foon followed, tho not with equal 
 fteps, in fome other parts. Thus, on the firft rife 
 cf Grecian litterature in weftern Europe, its uni- 
 verfities and capitals were fupplied with mailers, 
 the moft polilhed as well as learned men of 
 their day, who taught the Greek language as 
 a living tongue. Hence it became over Europe, 
 for a time, a fafhionable language; and hence 
 the facility with which even ladies, for fuch we 
 find reported as Grecian fchoiars of that age, 
 may have acquired a proficiency in it, which has 
 appeared to fome learned men in modern times 
 ftupendous enough to ingage them to controvert 
 its reality. 
 
 While thofe unfortunate outcafls lived, their 
 inftructions concerning the pronuntiation, as well 
 as every other point of their language, appears to 
 have been univerfally refpe&ed. But when they 
 were gone, there could be no farther fupply of 
 fuch men from Grecian countries. Grecian fpeech 
 remained to be taught, no longer, as before, by 
 Grecian mouths, but, in Italy by Italian, ia 
 France by French, in Germany by German, ia 
 England by Engliih. In each country of courfc 
 
 it
 
 INQUIRY INTO tilt PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 it became tinctured with the vernacular founds 
 and manner of utterance : for all experience 
 fhows that the perfect pronuntiation of any lan- 
 guage is to be acquired only in early youth, and 
 to be upheld only by practice among thofe who 
 Ipeak it as their mother tongue. 
 
 Neverthelefs we learn from that curious col- 
 lection of letters which pafled between John 
 Cheke, profeflbr of Greek in the Univerfity of 
 Cambridge, and Stephen Gardiner, bimop of Win- 
 chefter and chancellor of the Univerfity, that, to 
 their time, the common pronuntiation of the 
 Greek language there, and indeed throughout Eu- 
 rope, as nearly as forein voices could retain and 
 tranfmit it, was the fame which had been taught by 
 the Greeks themfelves, and the fame nearly as 
 that of the beft educated of Conftantinople and 
 Athens at the prefent day. This pronuntiation, 
 which Cheke defired to alter, the bifliop defired 
 to preferve ; and it feems as if innovation was fa- 
 vored by the zealous pariizans of the proteftant 
 eaufe, becaufe it was oppofed by a popifh bilhop ; as 
 the correction of the calendar was refufed through- 
 out proteftant Europe, becaufe the truth was firft 
 brought forward under authority of the fee of 
 Rome. In the bifhop'-s letters we find much dignity, 
 with a juft polkenefs and moderation in exert- 
 ing his authority to maintain the eftablifhed prac- 
 tice. In the profefibr's letters there is confiderable 
 eloquence, but much petulance, .and ao found ar- 
 
 gumeat
 
 HATIMONY IN LANGUAGE. 25! 
 
 gument to recommend the innovation for which he 
 was intemperately earned. But the bi (hop's vio- 
 lence in religious matters made him juftly unpo- 
 pular; and, with the downfal of popery, on the 
 acceffion of queen Elizabeth, the profefibr's caufe 
 triumphed. Thenceforward whatever had been 
 preferved of the articulation, which Grecian voices 
 had taught, was to be denied to the Greek lan- 
 guage; and its letters and combinations of letters 
 were to have no other founds than the cuftom of 
 Englifti fpeech affigned to thofe fuppofed the fame, 
 or equivalent letters, in Englilh orthography. 
 
 But, in the difpute between theprofeffor and the 
 bifhop, the articulation only of the vowels and diph- 
 thongs, was brought into queftion. The reverence 
 for the accentual marks, which had been inculcated 
 by the emigrating Greeks, remained unimpaired. 
 Thofe laft ramparts, which Grecian ingenuity had 
 railed for the protection of the antient pronuntia- 
 tion, were relerved for the afiaults of fcholars of a 
 later age. Whether indeed the Greek reftorers of 
 Grecian learning in the weft themfelves expreffed 
 exactly the antient quantities of fyllables, we are no 
 way pofitively allured ; but we know that in po- 
 etical compofition they vere juftly attentive to 
 them ; and no complaint remains, from their age, 
 of any deficiency of harmony in Greek verfe, as 
 they recited and taught to recite it, but on the con- 
 trary it found high favor wherever it became 
 known. Of this indeed, whatever credit be given 
 to the accounts of the proficiency of ladies in 
 
 Greek
 
 252 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Greek litterature, that it became among them a 
 fafhionable accomplifhment is ftrong indication. 
 
 But with every generation of fcholars, the devia- 
 tions from the pronuntiation of the firft teachers 
 could not fail to increafe ; and the patronage which 
 Cheke's innovation obtained, not in England only, 
 but on the continent, could not but tend to ex- 
 tinguilh the whole remaining effect of their in- 
 
 flrucYicns s . 
 
 i 
 
 Greek pronuntiation thus, in every country in 
 Europe, was bent to the pronuntiation of that 
 country j in Italy it became completely Italian, 
 French, in France, in Germany, German, and En- 
 glim in England. 
 
 Thofe who have given any attention to living 
 languages will not wonder that, in this ftate of 
 things, Greek poetry mould, in the pronuntiation 
 of all the fcholars of Europe, be no longer poetry ; 
 that its meafures were corrupted, its cadence difli- 
 pated : the wonder would rather be were it not fo. 
 Let a moment's attention only be given to a few 
 obvious circumftances. The people of England 
 and the people of France, for above feven hundred 
 years, have had conftant intercourfe, and much of 
 the Engiim language has been derived from a French 
 dialect. Yet what a flrange jargon do the peo~ 
 
 * The correfpondence between the profeflbr and bifliop Gar- 
 diner was printed at Bafil in 1555, only thirteen years after the 
 date of the bilhop's edid which gave occafion to it. 
 
 pie
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 253 
 
 pie of each make, in attempting the pronuntiatiori 
 of the other, unlefs familiarized with it under the 
 advantage of hearing it well fpoken. Perhaps no 
 Frenchman, after the age of twenty, with any ad- 
 vantage of practice, ever fo acquired Englifh pro- 
 nuntiation that any Englifh ear would be fatisfied 
 with his recitation of Englifh poetry. The French 
 and the Italian then are not only neighbouring, but 
 lifter languages ; yet neither can an Italian relifh 
 French verification, nor a Frenchman, after the age 
 of manhood, learn to exprefs the juft harmony of 
 the Italian. Their reciprocal difficulties are far 
 greater than an Englimman finds for Italian pro- 
 nuntiation, or an Italian for Englifh, 
 
 But an ingenious and learned Frenchman has 
 furnifhed an example which perhaps may afford 
 fome ufeful admonition to our fcholars. Mr. 
 Girardin, at his eftate of Ermenonville, has formed 
 a garden, in fome degree on the Englifli model, 
 and he has adorned it with infcriptions, after the 
 example of Shenftone, one of which, dedicated to 
 Shenftone himfelf, runs thus : 
 
 This plain ftone 
 
 To William Shenftomr. 
 
 In his writings he difplay'd 
 
 A mind natural. 
 
 At Leafowes lie laid 
 
 Arcadian greens rural. 
 
 I do not know Mr. Girardin : but I have 
 known Frenchmen! to whom the Englifh language 
 
 was
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 was, in books, nearly as familiar as their own; & 
 familiar that they could tranflate an Englifh book 
 or newfpaper into French almoft as faft as they 
 could read it, who yet in attempting what Mr. 
 Girardin has attempted, would have failed at leaft 
 equally. Mr. Girardin certainly fuppofed thefe 
 lines not only Englifh phrafe but Englifli verfe. 
 How completely they want all character of Englifh 
 verfe, every Ehglifhman, even the moft unlearned, 
 will feel. Can we then reafonably believe that 
 modern compofitions in Latin or Greek, whether 
 for phrafe, or for harmony, would found better to 
 old Roman or Athenian ears than Mr. Girardin's 
 Englifh lines to our own ? 
 
 This however I mention for illuftration only ; 
 our prefent fubject being, not modern cotnpo- 
 fition, but modern delivery of antient compofi- 
 tions. And here I am aware it may be urged 
 that Latin poetry has, in modern recitation, a ca- 
 dence and harmony generally pleafing to the mo- 
 dern ear. Be it or not the antient harmony, it is 
 preferable to no harmony. But Greek poetry, as 
 delivered by modern voices, ufing the Greek ac^ 
 centuation, isdeftitute of cadence ; it is not diflin- 
 guiiliabie from the meereft profej and however 
 this may not be matter for reafonable wonder, it is 
 matter for difappointment ; it is matter for dif- 
 fatisfaction and difguft. The principles of ver- 
 ification and the ftructure of verfe being then in 
 
 both
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 2$$ 
 
 both languages the fame, the ufe of the Latin ac- 
 centuation with Greek verfe was an obvious re- 
 fource ; and trial being made, the refult was 
 likely to be in fome degree gratifying; for ca- 
 dence, fuch as modern recitation produces in Latin 
 verfe, would inftantly follow. 
 
 Here then lies the fource of the quarrel of fo 
 many lettered men of Italy, Germany, and Eng- 
 land, with the Greek marks of accent ; which has 
 led them to overlook, to explain away, or, oftener, 
 to confider as unintelligible, what remains con- 
 cerning Greek accentuation, delivered from high- 
 eft authority, in cleared terms, and in itfelf moft 
 confonant with the practice of modern fpeech. In 
 Greek poetry, recited according to the Greek 
 rules of accentuation, the modern voice conti- 
 nually falfifying the quantity, the modern ear too 
 being unhabituated to cadence marked by quan- 
 tity only, and the variety in the Greek accentua- 
 tion giving no regular time-beating, like the Latin, 
 the loofenefs of profe generally refults : here and 
 there only, as the accents take accidentally a re- 
 gular order, any form of verfe becoming fenfible to 
 the ear. But let the Latin rules of accentuation 
 guide the reciter of Greek poetry, and it will have 
 nearly, and generally, tho not completely and al- 
 ways, the fams grace of cadence which modern 
 voices give to the Latin. Under thefe circum- 
 ftances it is not wonderful that fome prejudice 
 ihould grow againft the Greek accentuation, and 
 
 in
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 in favor of the Latin, fo as even to obtain a par- 
 tiality for the application of the Latin accentua- 
 tion to the recitation of the Greek language. 
 
 In this ftate of things then what is to be 
 done ? Muft we be contented to read Greek po- 
 etry as meer profe ? Is not that amount of poetical 
 harmony, which the Latin accentuation gives to 
 Greek verfe, different as it may be from the true 
 antient harmony, preferable to no harmony ? Call 
 it a delufion, it. is a pleating delufion, which 
 we fhall be unwilling to give up, without 
 fome amends. Indeed if no amends could be 
 propofed, I mould be at fome lofs for an anfwer. 
 But a very fliort examination 'will iufEce to 
 affare us that, even fuppofing it impoffible for 
 modern voices to exprefs the antient harmony, 
 and make it perceptible to modern ears, yet the 
 total fubverfion of the Greek accentual fyftern, 
 and that complete fubftitution of the Latin fyftem 
 for the Greek tongue, changing wholly the cha- 
 racier of the harmony of the language, is not only 
 a wanton violence in profe, but needlefs, in the 
 extent to which very modern ufage has given 
 fandion, for producing even the grace of ac- 
 centual cadence in Greek, verfe. 
 
 Taking the Iliad, we need fcarcely go be- 
 yond the third word for proof. In the firft, 
 r.lwv, the Greek and the Latin accentuation 
 agree. For the fecond, ?&, they differ : the Greek 
 requires the acute on the firil fyliable, the Latin 
 9 on.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 257 
 
 on the fecond ; and fince Weftminftcr has ceafed 
 to refpect the Greek rule, the Latin has been the 
 fole arbiter of the pronuntiation of our fchools and 
 univerfities. Yet what can in this inftance juftify 
 it ? Shall weftill be told that the firft fyllable of 
 the word, being the lad of a dactyl, (houid be pro- 
 nounced fhort, and therefore is incompatible with 
 the ftrong accent, which, on the contrary, the fe- 
 cond fyllable requires, becaufe it is long ? Ho\v 
 confiftently with the practice of our fchools and 
 univerfities in other cafes, where it is fupported by 
 the higheft authority, this can be maintained, the 
 following lines of Virgil may (how : 
 
 Mufa mihi cauflas memora, quo numine Isefo, 
 Quidve dolens regina deum tot volvere cafus. 
 
 Jn. \. g. 
 
 Ssepe tener noftris ab ovilihus imbuet agnus. 
 Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, & ipfum. 
 
 Eel. i. 
 
 Every fcholar, gives the ftrong accent to the 
 firft fyllables of mihi, dolens, tener. meas y all fhort 
 fyllables, each the laft of a dactyl, and that dactyl 
 the firft foot of a hexameter verfe ; precifely the 
 circumftances of the firft fyllable of &, in the 
 firft line of the Iliad* The modern ear is perfectly 
 fatisfied with the effect on the harmony of the La- 
 tin lines. To what purpofe then, deny the proper 
 Greek accentuation to the Greek word ? h 
 
 Let 
 
 h The following obfervation I owe to mv learned and inge- 
 nious friend the poet laureat. A poem deprecating war might 
 
 S adopt
 
 2f8 INCiUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Let us proceed to the next word, &ix. Here 
 again we find the Greek and Latin rules of accen- 
 tuation differ ; but, inftead of the Greek contra- 
 dicting, and the Latin fupporting, as in the former 
 cafe, the prejudice which confiders the acute accent 
 as compatible only with a long quantity, on the 
 contrary, the Latin contradicts and the Greek 
 coincides with it ; for the Latin would give the 
 acute to the firft fyllable, tho fhort, but the Greek 
 affigns it to the laft, which is long ; and yet even 
 here, directly againft their own avowed principles, 
 the modern cuftom of fcholars refufes the Greek 
 accentuation and will have the Latin. Clearly 
 unneceflary, even upon their own principles, Tor any 
 purpofe of quantity, neither is this perverfion of the 
 Greek accentuation at all neceffary for that accen- 
 tual harmony, for which we have obferved the mo- 
 
 adopt the firft words of the Iliad, only dividing the word anct, 
 and thus making the fentence interrogative, thus : 
 
 In this cafe the modern fafliion of fcholars would give the 
 acute accent to that very fyllable in the combination an fo 
 which the advocate for the accentual marks defires and cannot 
 obtain allowance for in the fingle word compofed of precifely 
 the fame fyllables ; and fuch pronuntiation will not at all offend 
 the ear of any fcholar of the modern fafhion in this cafe, 
 tho in the other it will be declared intolerable. Can it 
 be the ear that is fo inconfiftent in its judgement? or is it not 
 frejudice that takes away the power and even the will to judge 
 by the ear > 
 
 dern
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 359 
 
 dern ear to be fo felicitous. For this alfo Virgil 
 will aufwer : 
 
 Pofthablta colnifTe Samo : hie illias arma 
 
 JEn. i. v. 20. 
 
 Id metuens, vcttfifque mrrtior baturnia belli. 
 
 &n. i.v. 27. 
 
 No modern ear objects to the flow of thefe 
 verfes, tho a ftrong accent falls on the firft fyllable 
 of the third foot in each; exactly the fituation to 
 which neverthelefs the modern cuftom of fcholars 
 denies the ftrong accent to a long fyllable in the 
 firft line of the Iliad for the purpoie of giving it no 
 the preceding flioi t fyllable, and thus, according to 
 the tenets of many, making that (yllable long. But 
 the modern ear would object to the flow of thefe 
 verfes were the acute accent withheld from the 
 firft fyllables of Samo and mewor. Tho each the 
 third fyllable of a dactyl, the modern fcholar is not 
 afhamed to give them, with the acute accent, a 
 really long quantity. 
 
 We might proceed to advert to the whimfical 
 tranipofition of the accent, which modern cuftom 
 demands, in the firft word of the fecond line of 
 the Iliad, JUAG/XIW, from one fhort fyllable to an- 
 other Ihort fyllable ; equally unrequired for the ' 
 accentual harmony as for any other purpofe ojf 
 common fenfe. But whoever may have curiofity 
 to carry on the inquiry may find endlefs proof of the 
 ufeleffhefs of that violence with which the prac- 
 tice of the day makes the Greek language receive 
 imiverfally the Latin accentuation. How con- 
 s 2 trary
 
 60 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 trary the Roman practice was, Quintilian will tell: 
 ( Sed accentus quoque, cum rigore quodam, turn 
 ' fimilitudine ipfa, minus fuaves. habemus ; quia 
 e ultima fyllaba nee acuta unquam excitatur, nee 
 
 * in flexa circumducitur, fed in gravem > vel duas 
 ' graves cad it Temper. Itaque tanto eft ferrno 
 
 * Grsecus Latino jucundior, ut noftri poetae, quo- 
 
 * ties dulce carmen efle voluerunt, illorum id no- 
 ' minibus exornent.' Quintil. Inft. or. J. 12. 
 c. 10. 
 
 In the hexameter verfe it is for the two lafl 
 feet that the Greek accentuation is apt to be par- 
 ticularly offenfive to the modern fcholar's ear. For 
 the acute accent on the firft fyllable of each of 
 thofe feet is eflential to that accentual harmony 
 with which, in Latin verfe, the modern fcholar is 
 habitually delighted. If that difpofition fails, hex- 
 ameter verfe will be, to the modern, or indeed,, 
 with the recitation of modern voices, to any ear, 
 no verfe. Now the Latin accentuation feldom 
 fails to give this difpofition, but the Greek often ; 
 to the no unreafonabie diffatisfaction of thofe who 
 find thence difappointment of an expected har- 
 mony, and no equivalent. 
 
 There was publifhed, a few years ago, a treatife 
 on the Profodies of the Greek and Latin lan- 
 guages, with a dedication to lord Thurlow, faid to 
 be written by a prelate of diftinguilhed learning. 
 It contains the beft inveftigation of the hiftory of 
 the Greek accentual marks, the fulled collection 
 
 of
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 261 
 
 of teftimonies to the antiquity and extent of their 
 ufe, and the completeft refutation of objections to 
 them as intended indications of that affedion of 
 common fpeech which we call accent, that have 
 perhaps yet appeared. But, warm and able ad- 
 vocate as the author is for tnofe valuable helps 
 toward the juft pronuntiation of the moft harmo- 
 nious language ever fpoken by men, he has been 
 unable to give up to his regard and reverence for 
 them that accentual harmony which, in hexameter 
 verfe, by their fituation in the two laft feet, they 
 often tend to confound and deftroy. He has 
 therefore imagined, with great ingenuity, a fcheme 
 of reconciliation, whereby the laft foot of the hex- 
 ameter verfe, to which, for the accentual harmony, 
 it is moft indilpenfable, fhall never fail of the acute 
 accent, and the laft but one, its next moft im- 
 portant fituation, rarely. For this fcheme, which 
 he confefles to be novel in appearance, the author 
 claims fupport from Quintilian, who will however 
 be found really to give him none. In all its ex- 
 tent the projed would make dreadful confufion in 
 Greek pronuntiation, Neverthelefs, for the fake 
 of that accentual harmony which it is calculated 
 to preferve, I fhould be inclined to favor its re- 
 ception for the laft foot only of hexameter verfe, 
 to which alone, for that purpofe, it is neceffary, 
 provided the better metrical harmony can no way 
 be reftored, or being reftored, may be found too 
 difficult of pradice for modern voices, or too little 
 s 3 accon>
 
 262 INCIUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 accommodated to the prejudices of modern ears. 
 Unfortunately to detect what is out of order in a 
 complex piece of machinery, and to repair it com- 
 pletely and reftore every motion, are two very differ- 
 ent affairs. But between thefe two there are other 
 points ; to (how what the form of the machine 
 was in its periedl (late, and what its motions mould 
 be ; for which I will not avoid the riik of offering 
 the beft help I can.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 263 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Of Means for Approximation toward a jufl Expreflion of the 
 Harmony of the GREEK and LATIN LANGUAGES, 
 
 APPARENTLY it can have been only through 
 a want of all knowlege of mufic, or a neglect of 
 all confederation of the analogies between mulic 
 and fpeech, that thofe terms, fo exactly cor- 
 reiponding in the two antient languages, and in 
 each fo plainly fpeaking their own meaning, a/j<n? 
 and 0<rf, ftiblevatio and pqfitio, can have been fo 
 ftrangely miftaken by ibme learned men, and pafled 
 for matter of inexplicable myftery with others. 
 The arfis and thefis are clearly marked by Quin- 
 tilian, Terentianus, and other antient writers, to 
 have meant precifely beating time, and nothing 
 elfe. 
 
 The antient TIME-BEATING, however, as we 
 have already had occafion tranfiently to remark, 
 was not precifely the fame as the modern, but a 
 more complex operation. The reafon of this, and 
 the reafon of the ufe of time-beating, among the 
 antients, in the recitation of vcrfe, will be obvious 
 in confidering the nature of the metrical cadence, 
 In modern mufic, we have obferved, as in modern 
 poetry, the cadence is marked by accent ; and the 
 even and triple cadences being never intermingled, 
 fmgle ftrokes regularly repeated, whether in coin- 
 s 4 cidence
 
 264 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Ol 
 
 cidence with the accented note, or to fupply the 
 place of an accented note, fuffice for giving the 
 time fimply of either cadence j or the accented 
 note, ftrongly marked for the ear, may alone fuf- 
 fice; the number and proportion of notes within 
 the cadence deciding its character as even or 
 double, that is, as common time or triple time. 
 But in aimed every kind of antient verfe, except 
 the epic and the anapeftic, the two kinds of ca- 
 dence are found intermingled ; and it is largely 
 implied in the writings of the antients, that in 
 their mufic alfo the two times, common and triple, 
 were mixed, to accommodate the poetical ca- 
 dences. * It will be obvious then that neither the 
 cadences of mufic, with bars of triple and common 
 time intermingled, nor the cadences of poetry, 
 with triple and even, or trochaic and dactylic feet 
 intermingled, could be fufficiently indicated by 
 any return of fingle ftrokes. Time fimply beaten, 
 with intervals varying in the proportions of four to 
 three, would appear, to ears not practifed with ex~ 
 traordinary afliduity in attention to fuch intervals, 
 time falfely beaten. Indeed fcarcely any ear, with- 
 out affiftance from regular divisions of parts of 
 fuch intervals, could allure itfelf of the exacthefs 
 of their proportions, or 'even difcover any diftin- 
 guilhing character in each. Syllables, pronounced 
 
 1 If I remember right, Dr. Burney, in his mufical travels, 
 mentions modern roufic which he fomewhere found, of no un- 
 pleafing effed, having the two times intermixed. 
 
 in
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 265 
 
 in juft meafure, would (how the proportions and 
 mark the character; but if, for afcertaining the 
 meafure give by ihe yllables or for directing the 
 meafure to be given, afliftance were wanted from 
 time-beating, it muft be other time-beating than 
 the fimple ftroke of the modern mufician. 
 
 Hence then the invention of the DOUBLE TIME- 
 BEATING, the ARSIS and THESIS, RAISING and 
 DROPPING. This double action divided the ca- 
 dence into two parts, bearing certain propor- 
 tions to each other. For the dactylic rhythmus, 
 the even cadence or common time, the railing and 
 dropping were performed in equal time, and they 
 proved the juftnefs with which the reciter made 
 the fingle long fyllable of the dactyl or anapeft ba- 
 lance the two fhort ones. For the trochaic or 
 iambic rhythmus, the triple cadence or triple time, 
 the arfis and thefis were to each other in the pro- 
 portion of two to one : for the trochaic foot the 
 arfis was double the time of the thefis ; for the 
 iambic foot, the thefis was double the time of the 
 arfis. Theie operations themfelves, and their pur- 
 pofes, and the familiarity of the ufe of them 
 among the antients, are to clearly indicated by the 
 antient writers on meter, that there feems no room 
 for doubt, no poffibility of miftake about them. 
 
 Now fliould it be an object for any modern 
 fcholar to exprefs, in any degree, the juft harmony 
 of the metrical cadences of the antient languages, 
 or even to conceive with any clearnefs their effect, 
 
 he
 
 266 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 He muft not, I apprehend, refufe that labor which 
 the antients did not refufe ; he muft learn to mark 
 the time while he reads, by the antient method of 
 double beating, the arfis and thefis. Nor muft it 
 be expected that the amount of exercife which 
 might have inabled an antient Roman to keep 
 time in reading Greek verfe, will fuffice to inable 
 the modern to keep time in either Greek or La- 
 tin. For the Roman found in Greek a difpofition 
 of accents indeed different from that of his own 
 language, but no different indications of cadence ; 
 whereas the modern is habituated to indications 
 different from the antient, and to impreffions from 
 them of a kind to obviate or difturb the percep- 
 tion of the antient indications of cadence. The 
 practice therefore of the antient time-beating will 
 be likely to be found difficult enough at firft to 
 be irkfome ; and it muft be perfeveringly purfued 
 to be effectual. For the diftribution of time to 
 the fyllables, with due exactnefs, will not be the 
 only, nor perhaps the greateft difficulty. Another, 
 of amount fcarcely to be imagined without trial, will 
 arife from the accents ; which muft be carefully pre- 
 ferred to their proper fyllables, while the ftroke in- 
 'dicating the cadence falls on other fyllables. But 
 from the habit of the modern ear to pay deference 
 to accent as the mark of cadence, accent being it- 
 felf the time-beater of modern poetry, a perplexity 
 arifes, of a mbft teazing kind, till habit may have 
 overcome it. The difficulty has a near analogy to 
 
 that
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 267 
 
 that of the children's trick of tapping with one 
 hand while they rub with the other. Tho each 
 action is fo eafy by itfelf, with either or with both 
 hands, yet, in firft attempting the two together, 
 each hand is fo difturbed by the contrary motion 
 of the other, as to be unable to effect its own in- 
 tended motion. 
 
 For the recitation of Greek and Latin poetry to 
 time beaten, perhaps the difficulty would be nearly 
 equal for all the weftern Europeans j unlefs the 
 French might have a greater facility for the quan- 
 tities, through their deficiency for accent : they 
 would not be difturbed by accent which they do 
 not exprefs, and to which, in the verfe of their 
 own language, they are not habituated to attribute 
 any importance, 
 
 For fimply pronouncing at the fame time ao 
 cording to quantity and accent, the habit of En- 
 glim fpeech gives advantages, even over the Italian. 
 In Engliih, numerous grave fyllables, variouily 
 lituated in regard to the acuted fyllable of 
 the word, are long by duplication of confonant- 
 founds, and fome few have long vowels ; whence 
 arifes, for Englifh voices, facility for exprefling the 
 fame thing in the antient languages: whereas a 
 very fmall proportion of grave fyllables, even 
 of the former defcription, is long in Italian, none 
 of them ever following an acuted fyllable, and I 
 believe the language has not one long vowel, clearly 
 and necefjarily long, without the acute accent. 
 
 The
 
 268 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The Englifh, in variety approaches the Greek : 
 the Italian is fbill more confined than the Latin : 
 for tho neither Latin nor Italian can have a 
 long penultimate following an acuted antepen- 
 ultimate, fuch as are found in tih 3 tfaxt, /w,<x^f<r3-, 
 
 cruelty, hone/lly, funnjing, yet, in the Latin, long- 
 vowels unacuted are numerous. 
 
 But on the other hand there are difficulties for 
 Englifli fcholars, peculiar to themfelves, ariling not 
 from deficiency in pronuntiation, but from the ir- 
 regularities of Englifli orthography ; by which 
 they have been led infenfibly to a kind of fyftema- 
 tical irregularity in their pronuntiation of the 
 learned languages, by no means favorable to cor- 
 rectnefs in point of quantity. 
 
 Notwithstanding the avowed and univerfal opi- 
 nion of the moft learned throughout Europe that, 
 iince the revival of learning, the harmony of an? 
 tient poetry has everywhere been deficiently ex- 
 prefled and deficiently underftood, notwith (landing 
 numerous publications on the fubjecl (how the 
 opinion extenfive that improvement is poflible 
 and definable, and notwithftanding my clear con- 
 viction that to regulate the recitation of antient 
 poetry by the practice of time-beating, is plainly 
 pointed out by the moft authoritative antient 
 writers as what muft be indifpenfable for modern 
 voices, as it was advantageous, if not abfolutely 
 neceffary to the antient, I am ftili not without ap- 
 9 prehenfion
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 169 
 
 prehenfion of alarm to fome fcholars and even of 
 difguft to fome, from the propofal of a pra&ice, 
 however old itfelf, to them fo novel. I am never- 
 thelefs yet more apprehenfive that Englifh fcholars, 
 many, or perhaps moft, of the mod learned of 
 them little acquainted with any living language 
 but their own, and wholly unpraftifed in any 
 other pronuntiation, may be likely to take ftill 
 greater offence at opinions involving condemna- 
 tion of that manner of articulating the learned lan- 
 guages to which they have been habituated, and at 
 any propofal of a confiderable change. So much 
 however my fubject has led me unavoidably to fay, 
 that to thofe, if any there are, difpofed to give me 
 any credit, the queflion cannot fail to occur, ' If 
 
 * we are truly fo wrong, what muft N we do to be 
 
 * right ?' To which I mufl anfwer, as before, to 
 difcover what is wrong, and to mend it, are two 
 things, but I will not withhold fuch help as I may 
 beft give. 
 
 We are often totally unaware of peculiarities in 
 ourfelves which to others are ftriking ; and this 
 being true of nations as of individuals, I could 
 perhaps no other way fo well give the information 
 which it is my purpofe to communicate, as by re- 
 lating what follows. Being fome years ago at 
 Rome, in company with a man of letters of 
 that city, he defired me to repeat the begin- 
 ning of the yEneid in the Englifh way. He had 
 
 heard
 
 17(5 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES O# 
 
 heard of fome of the peculiarities of Englifh or- 
 thography ; that a repreients with us the found of 
 the Italian e, and that of the Italian /, but he was 
 uninformed of its irregularities. I had therefore' 
 fcarcely finifhed the fecond line, when he inter- 
 rupted me : * Arma, oris y Italian, bene ; ma perche 
 
 * poi cheno, praimus,fefo, prafiugus /" that is, why 
 pronounce vowels in cano, primus, fato, profugus, 
 differently from the fame letters in arrna, oris, Ita- 
 Kam> where every Englifli fcholar gives them nearly 
 the Italian enuntiation. This queftion he put, not 
 at all furprized that I fpoke the four words, with 
 which he was diflatisfted, differently from the Ita- 
 lians, but that I pronounced the other three fo 
 nearly in the Italian manner. I anfwered that, in 
 our own language thofe letters reprefented different 
 founds, as they \ere differently combined ; and 
 from habit we ufed the lame variations of articula- 
 tion in fpeaking Latin. * For your own language 
 ' -well/ lie replitd j ' but why fo confound the pro* 
 
 * nuntiation of Latin ?' I could not help anfwering 
 that, to confefs fairly, it was not well, even in our 
 own language j which was in truth diigraced by 
 grofsand abfurd irregularities of orthography ; and 
 it was in our blindneis to the deformity of thefe, 
 arifmg from over familiarity, that we were led by 
 them to perplex the founds of the Latin. 
 
 Indeed I believe none, who will confider the 
 matter, can remain fo prejudiced as not to allow the 
 
 juftnefs
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 27!. 
 
 juftnefs of the aged Roman's objections, for he was 
 a very old man, to that confufion of the vowels, 
 which, on ever fo little confideration, cannot fail to 
 be ftriking in the eftablilhed pronuntiation of -Latin 
 among Englifli-fcholars. But that confufion, which 
 perplexes and offends forein, without any diflurb- 
 ance to Englim ears, familiarized to it, is far from 
 being all the evil. Our prefent pronuntiation of 
 the Latin vowels, giving them different founds as 
 they are differently combined, according to the 
 rule or cuftom of our own language, is often com- 
 pletely repugnant to the juft quantities of Latin 
 fyllables. Some remarkable inftances occur in the 
 two firft lines of the ^Lneid j for as the three firft 
 words of the Iliad fufficed for pregnant example of 
 the improprieties of our Greek pronuntiation, fo 
 we need hardly go beyond the two firft lines of the 
 jEneid for examples to the fame purpofe in Latin. 
 In the fecond word of the firft line, virumque, 
 the practice of Englim fcho.lars gives the Englifh 
 diphthongal found of i to a fhort fyllable. In the 
 nature of things that found cannot be fo contracted 
 as to make the fyllable otherwife than of the long 
 proportion \ fo that, without a change of articula- 
 tion, the quantity of the fyllable is unavoidably 
 falfified. But, in the fifft word of the fecond line, 
 ItaJiam, the cuftom of fcholars gives another found, 
 and that as fliort as any vowel-found in Englifh 
 pronuntiation, to the fame vowel-character, where 
 it reprefents a long found ; fo that here again the 
 
 quantity
 
 272 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 quantity is violated in a contrary direction. This 
 perverfion cannot but deferve attention, in all its 
 circumftances, from thofe who either claim or de- 
 fire to fpeak truly according to quantity. Both 
 the fyllables in queftion are grave; both are 
 followed by acuted fyllables ; accent is therefore 
 no acceflary to difference of found tending to either 
 true or falfe quantity ; but the i in virumque, 
 which ought to be fhort, is pronounced as a diph- . 
 thong, and fo made long ; while the / at the be- 
 ginning of Italiam, which ought to be long, re- 
 ceives another, and that as fhort a found as any 
 vowel within the compafs of Englifh pronuntia- 
 tion. Nor will the prefent cuflom of fcholars 
 allow the changes neceflary for the expreffion of 
 the juft quantity in each word : otherwife the 
 practice were abundantly eafyj for nothing more is 
 wanting than an interchange of founds between the 
 two words.; the / in virumque mould have the fame 
 fhort found as in Italiam or viridum ; and the / in 
 the firft fyllable of Italiam might be duly length- 
 ened, by receiving the found of the fame letter in 
 the fame fituation, in the Englim words idea, iden- 
 tity, idolatry, being the fame which it commonly re- 
 ceives from Englim voices pronouncing ill the 
 Latin word virumque. 
 
 Again in the word cane, none can deny that the 
 practice of Englim fcholars gives as long a found 
 to the firft fyllable as to the firft offato, or to any 
 fyllable of the language, in which a vowel is fol- 
 lowed
 
 HARMOKY IN LANGUAGE. 273 
 
 lowed by only one confonant. It cannot be ne- 
 cefTary to cite more inflances. 
 
 If then it be afoed, how are thefe improprieties 
 to be remedied ? I fhould without hefitation fay, 
 befl and very eafily and readily by adopting at 
 once the modern Roman articulation of Latin : 
 befl, both becaufe in the fimpleft way, and be-r 
 caufe in the way moft likely to be nearefl to the 
 antient articulation ; eafily and readily, becaufe 
 modern Roman articulation has nothing confider- 
 ably different from what is found in the compafs of 
 Englifh fpeech. Were the Roman articulation 
 adopted, it would be no longer in queflion what 
 found mould be given to the i of virttm that it may 
 be fhort, or what to the fame vowel in the firfl 
 fy liable of Italiam that it may be long ; for Roman 
 pronuntiation has but one mode of articulating 
 that vowel, which may be either fhortened or 
 lengthened at plcafure. There would be as little 
 doubt how the firfl fyllable of cano y fhould be re- 
 duced to its proper fhortnefs. It would be pro- 
 nounced nearly as Englifli fcholars always pro- 
 nounce the fame fyllable, in what may be almoft 
 called the fame word, cammus. Nor would the ab- 
 furd objection be made, that fo it is pronounced 
 as if two confonants followed the vowel ; for the 
 jufl diflinction would be learnt, from Roman pro- 
 nuntiation, between a confonant articulated, and a 
 confonant meerly written. It is not however 
 meant to be afferted that the practice of modern 
 T Roman
 
 274 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Roman fcholars, in pronouncing Latin, is correct 
 in point of quantity ; but whereas the ordinary 
 Englifh pronuntiation of the vowels, in their 
 feveral combinations with confonants, not ne- 
 ceflarily denying corrednefs with regard to quan- 
 tity in fpeaking Latin, throws however difficulties 
 in the way of fuch correctnefs, the modem Roman 
 pronuntiation on the contrary gives, even for En- 
 glim voices, all facility for it. 
 
 I have much more difficulty to fay how our 
 prefent moft vicious pronuntiation of the Greek 
 language may beft be improved. Among the 
 Tufcans and Romans of this day the fame charac- 
 ters feem to reprefent the fame vowels as with 
 their forefathers, when the Latin language was in 
 full vigor. But with the Greek, as we have al- 
 ready had occafion to obferve, it is far otherwife. 
 The pronuntiation of the Greeks of the prefent 
 day evidently enough differs, in regard to fome of 
 the vowels, from that which remains defcribed by 
 Dionyfius. Neverthelefs, thofe particular vices 
 cxcepted, which may be traced growing through 
 centuries, there feems no reafonable ground for 
 doubting that the prefent polite pronuntiation of 
 Conilantinople, and perhaps of Athens, approaches 
 nearer to the fpeech of the ant lent Greeks than 
 that of any other moderns, with any advantages 
 that ftudy can give. We have complete affurance 
 that the claffical Greek remained the language of 
 the Conflantinopolitan court till the final over- 
 throw
 
 HARMONY IN LAftdUAOft. 
 
 irow of the empire, in the reign of our Henry the 
 feventh, and that its grammar and fyntax were 
 preferred to that time in great purity 10 . It is 
 againft all reafon then to fuppofe that a people fo 
 iuccefsfully careful of their language, in thofe 
 points, would have been negligent of the pronun- 
 tiation j and it will be-againft all experience^ we 
 may fay againft the knowlege of all who have any 
 experience in living language, to imagine that they 
 would not fpeak their own language better, more 
 in the way of their anceftorSj than foreiners^ with 
 whatfoever advantages of learning and ftudy. Since 
 the final overthrow of the Greek empire, indeed^ 
 litterature has been at a low ebb in Conftanti- 
 nople ; but what difpofition and opportunities 
 exifled for ftudy, have been directed with fond 
 predilection to the old language ; the careful cul- 
 tivation of which has never ceafed. The old Ian- 
 
 k For this the authorities quoted by Mr. Gibbon, and Mr. 
 Rofcoe, as well as thofe colle&ed by Dr Fofter, and by the 
 right reverend author of the Treatife on the Profodies of the 
 Greek and Latin languages, may be confulted. ' Anna Com- 
 
 * nena,' fays Gibbbn, ' may boaft of her Attic ftyle (To'EAAniif 
 
 * is xpo eo-Tr&ydac.ur*) and Zonaras, her contemporary, but not 
 ' her flatterer, may add with truth yiw-Aon ii^i* ax^iC?? 'AT?IX- 
 
 * fas-**.' c. 53. n. iii. v. 5. Anna Comnena flourished in the 
 beginning of the twelfth century. Gibbon praifes Pachymer, 
 who flourished in the end of the thirteenth and beginning of 
 the fourteenth, John Cantacuzene, and Nicephorus Grcgoras, 
 who followed him, and Laonicus Chalcondyles, and Ducas, 
 who wrote after the fall of the empire. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 guage has always been, and remains the language 
 of the church : it has always had its profeflbrs and 
 teachers : it is ftill confidered, by all who pre- 
 tend to learning among the Greeks, as their proper 
 tongue. The vulgar corrupted fpeech, tho lefs 
 altered from the claffical than the Italian from the 
 Latin, they hold in little efteem : they muft of 
 neceflity fpeak it, but the antient is that in which 
 they generally prefer to write. Nor has their love 
 and care for that unrivalled language been unfuc- 
 cefsful. I am inclined to fufpect that the difpofition 
 which has appeared^ through weftern Europe, to 
 fpeak of modern Greek learning with contempt, 
 has had its origin from the quarrel between the 
 Greek and Roman churches, and its prevalence 
 from prejudice derived from the Roman clergy. 
 For myfelf, I think it juflice to a race too long 
 held undefervedly cheap in weftern Europe, to 
 bear that teftimony which I may in their favor. 
 I have met with few fcholars of any other 
 country who had the amount of grammatical 
 and critical learning in the Greek language 
 which I have found in a Greek, and I never 
 met with any who had the fame feeling of the lan- 
 guage. What I mean by feeling, is that percep- 
 tion of meaning, independent of reafoning, and 
 often incommunicable by direct inftrudion, 
 through which, for example, Englim children of 
 five years old never miftake the difference between 
 fball and willy which learned doctors of Paris and 
 
 even
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 277 
 
 even of Edinborough and Dublin, cannot be taught 
 to comprehend. It has been in the want of this 
 power of feeling chat fome of our learned have 
 fuppofed the Greek aorifl fometimes to bear the 
 meaning of a future ; that none perceive the dif- 
 tinct import of the prefent and aorifl participles -, 
 and that we are told the aorift tenfe of the verb 
 is more ufed by the Greek hiflorians, the preter- 
 perfect by the orators, without a fyllable to in- 
 ftrucl: us why ; tho perhaps the analogy to ex- 
 plain it to the Englifh fcholar is ready in our com- 
 mon fpeech. I will venture then to declare my 
 opinion that, as to approach the neareft that may 
 be to the true pronuntiation of the Latin lan- 
 guage, the firft thing to be done is to adopt the 
 Roman articulation, fo to attain a fimilar approxi- 
 mation to that of the Greek, we can do no other 
 way fo well as to adopt the Conftantinopolitan. 
 
 One cannot without wonder obferve the defi- 
 cient difcrimination, the apparently carelefs in- 
 accuracy of fome learned and otherwife difcerning 
 modem critics, in treating of the founds of fpeech. 
 To animadvert on all the remarkable inftances 
 that may be found, were almoft endlefs. I will 
 felect a very remarkable one from among thofe 
 that may beft aflift to illuflrate the jufl diftin&ion 
 of founds in antient and in modern languages. 
 
 In the thirty-feventh of the eflays with the 
 
 title of fir Thomas Fitzofborn's letters, by that 
 
 elegant fcholar the late Mr. Melmoth, is the fol- 
 
 T 3 lowing
 
 178 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 lowing paffage : ' Mofl certain it is that the de- 
 licacy of the antients, with refpect to numbers, 
 ' was far fuperior to anything that modern tafte 
 ' can pretend to, and that they difcovered differ- 
 ' ences which are to us abfolutely imperceptible. 
 ' To mention only one remarkable inftance : 
 a very antient writer has obferved upon the fol- 
 
 * lowing verfe in Virgil, 
 
 Arma virumque cano Trojac qui primus ab oris, 
 
 ' that if, inftead of primus we were to pronounce it 
 ' primls (is being long and us fhort) the intire har-< 
 
 * mony of the line would be deftroyed. But 
 
 * whofe ear is now fo exquifitely fenfible as to per- , 
 
 * ceive the diflinftion between thofe two quan- 
 ' tities ? 
 
 To this queflion the proper anfwer feems ob- 
 vious ; no ear, now or ever, could perceive any 
 diftin&ion, as the words are fpoken by Englifh 
 fcholars ; for, before a diftinction can be perceived 
 by the ear, it mufl be made by the voice, and the 
 pronuntiation of Englifti fcholars makes none, 
 But, in antient pronuntiation, we have fufficient 
 afTurance, the difference between a long and a, 
 fhort fyllable was not minute, and perceptible 
 only to ears of exquifite fenfibility : the time of one 
 was double the time of the other ; the diflindion 
 was great and ilriking ; and for its purpofe of de- 
 ciding the march of cadence in popular poetry it 
 muft be fo. Evidently then the queflion mould 
 have been, not * whofe ear can perceive the dif- 
 
 ' tindion
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 279 
 
 e tinftion ?' but ' how fliould the voice make the 
 ' diftinction ?' When really made, as the antients 
 made it, proportioning the times as two to one, 
 the ear muft be dull indeed that could not per- 
 ceive it. 
 
 Nor is anything out of the way of common 
 Englifli pronuntiation neceflary to illuftrate the 
 diftinction by example. The awkwardnefs for 
 explaining fuch points will be found, not in our 
 fpeech, but in our orthography. The word primus 
 \ve pronounce, as to the quantities, properly ; 
 making the fir/I fyllable long, the fecond fliort ; 
 but for the word primis the common pronuntiation 
 of Englifli fcholars is clearly falfe ; for the laft fyl- 
 lable, which fhould be long, they make fhort, as in 
 primus. The proper length however may be given 
 without going at all beyond the ordinary bounds 
 of Englifli pronuntiation, and it may be done in 
 two ways j either by ufmg the common long 
 found of /, as \nfunrije, exile ; or, more properly, by 
 extending the common fhort found of /, of which 
 found, when long, we have obierved, in our ortho- 
 graphy, ce is the proper, and ea a common re- 
 prefentative. That found, not very frequently oc- 
 curring in our language without the flrong accent, 
 is neverthclefs familiar enough ; as in the words 
 increafe, decreafe (the nouns, diftinguifhcd by ac- 
 cent from the verbs) heartseafe, colleague, fweet- 
 meat, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, and fo forth ; port" 
 reeve, ivellmsanin^ ill meaning, and others. 
 
 T 4 Thus*
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Thus, with a mode of pronuntiation obvious and 
 familiar to Englifh voices, every fyllable of the 
 Greek and Latin languages might have its diftin- 
 guilhing quantity, abundantly made perceptible to 
 every ear of moderate fenfibility ; nothing prevent- 
 ing but the cuftom of Englifh fcholars. But the 
 manner in which founds are now applied to the 
 vowel-charafters of thofe languages, is curious 
 enough (might I be allowed to fpeak plain truth 
 I fiiould fay perverfe enough) to deferve a little 
 farther animadverfion. Wherever we meet with 
 thofe of the Greek long vowels *'hich are diftin- 
 guifhed by their appropriate characters, as in Spwc, 
 we are very properly forbidden, in any circum- 
 flances, to change the pronuntiation. But for the 
 fame word in Latin we are not to ufe the fame 
 found of the o. This is to be ftiil indeed long, 
 but the articulation is to be that whofe appropri- 
 ate reprefentative in Englifh orthography is the 
 combination an, the fame which we give to the 
 fame combination whenever it occurs in Latin, as 
 in laus. Authority for fuch change is certainly to 
 be found only in the cuftom of Englifh fcholars. 
 But it mould be farther obferved that the prer 
 fervation of the quantity in this pronuntiation of 
 o is purely accidental. It fo happens that, before 
 5 and ft, o has commonly a long found in Englifh, 
 tho not always the fame long found j and it is a 
 whimfical kind of regularity with which we carry 
 the fame variety to the pronuntiation of Latin. 
 
 The
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 The Englifh word mofs, is pronounced as if written 
 maufs, and fo we fpeak the Latin word mos as if it 
 were written maufs. But the Englifh word poft we 
 pronounce as if it were written poaft ! ; and fo in 
 the Latin word poft the o is not to have the fame 
 found as in the Latin word mos, but the fame as in 
 the Englifh word poft, which happens to be the 
 more proper way for the Latin, tho, for the En- 
 glim, it comes under an exception rather than a 
 rule. 
 
 One irlftance more of the extreme incorreftnefs, 
 in point of quantity, of the approved pronuntia- 
 tion of Latin among Englifh fcholars, I wifh to 
 notice, becaufe it is fo familiar, and of a Kind to be 
 ftriking. The difference in the proper quantity of 
 the firft fy liable of pater and the firft of mater is 
 abundantly known: but in the pronuntiation of 
 Englifh fcholars no difference is made. And why 
 fo ? It might feem they were refolved to confine 
 the doctrine of quantity as fomething myfterious 
 or cabaliflical, to be locked up in the mind and 
 forbidden in practice. Why elfe refufe to the 
 Latin thofe differences which are familiar in En- 
 glifh pronuntiation ; in which the firfl fyllables of 
 fathom, fallow, gather ; mother, many, very, blojjbm t 
 are fhort, and the firft of father, falling, rather, 
 frothy, Alary, vary, lojj'es, are long. 
 
 1 It will be recolle&ed that we take the combination oa, as 
 he proper reprefcntative, in Englifli orthography, of the fixth 
 long vowel. Seifl, II. of this Inquiry. 
 
 To
 
 28z INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 To conclude then our obfervations on the pro- 
 nuntiation of the Greek and Latin languages. 
 Whether we pronounce a with a broader or nar- 
 rower found, whether we fpeak c and j in the Ita- 
 lian or the Englifh manner, matters not for the 
 quantity of the fyllables, or any effential of po- 
 etical harmony. What is really wanting for 
 English fcholars, to obviate the grofleft violation, 
 the reverfal often of juft quantity, is, firft, to give 
 diftinctly the proper proportionate length of found 
 to every vowel, and, fecondly, where iterated con- 
 fonants occur, to articulate them in the Italian 
 way (a mode, as we have obferved, not alien to our 
 fpeech) as diftinct letters. Apparently 2, equally in 
 Latin and in Greek, mould alfo be pronounced in 
 the Italian way, to make it effe&ually a double con- 
 fonant. -X"is, in our own fpeech, commonly double. 
 For any other letters, it is for fimplicity fake 
 and convenience, principally, that I would recom- 
 mend, for the Latin language, the modern Roman 
 articulation, and, for the Greek, the Conftantino- 
 politan or Athenian. To approach then toward 
 any juft expreflion of the harmony and character 
 of the languages, in poetry or in profe, each of 
 them muft have its own proper accentuation, as 
 we may befi gather it ; and the information re- 
 maining is large. That of the Latin, now in ufe 
 among Englifli fcholars, fhould be preferred, and 
 the Greek muft have its own reftored. But, in 
 verfe efpecially, even Latin verfe, I apprehend it 
 
 muft
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 283 
 
 mufl be vain to think of managing the juft ex- 
 preffion of quantities, and preferving at the fame 
 time the proper accentuation, without the affift- 
 ance of that refource which the antients them- 
 felves, at leafl the Romans ufed, the arfis and the- 
 fis, or double time-beating. Thus we might ap- 
 proach the neareft, I imagine, that may now be pof- 
 fible, to a juft exprefiion of the harmony, in poetry 
 and in profe, of thofe languages which, with all 
 the vices of our prefent pronunciation of them, 
 we moft juftly admire, and to the acquifition of 
 which we dedicate, with no fmall pain to ingenu- 
 ous youth, fo large a portion of the moft precious 
 feafon of education. To rifing youth the ad- 
 ditional acquifition of a pronuntiation approxi- 
 mating juftnefs, were living examples before them, 
 would coft little or nothing. The difficulty were 
 to find the firft examples, and obtain credit for 
 them,
 
 284 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 Of the Principles of HARMONY and MECHANISM of VERSE 
 in fome modern Languages. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Of the French Language. 
 
 THE FRENCH Language, as it has now ftood for 
 more than a century, is the moft improved, and, 
 through diligent and able cultivation, the moft 
 advantageoufly exhibited, of any of modern Eu- 
 rope ; being yet effentially, in words, in texture, 
 and in harmony, the pooreft perhaps in which let- 
 ters were ever cultivated. 
 
 The French is remarkable among languages, and 
 not lead among thofe of modern Europe, for 
 its want of accent. ' Pour bien parler Francois 
 f il ne faut point avoir d'accent,' is a rule univer- 
 fally held among French grammarians. By this 
 cannot be meant that all French fyllables are to be 
 pronounced with the fame tone. Whoever has 
 heard the language properly fpoken mufl be aware 
 that it is otherwife. But that no fyllable of any 
 French word is regularly and conftantly intitled to 
 any eminence of tone, the French critics are fo 
 
 agreed
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 285 
 
 agreed that it feems undifputable. They are 
 equally agreed, not that there is no difference in 
 the times or quantities of fyllables, but that no 
 regular proportion of time or quantity belongs to 
 the fyllables of the French language ; no fuch 
 difference that the regularity of the proportions may 
 be obvious to the ear. Wanting fuch regularity, 
 quantity cannot be the conftituent of any cadence 
 or poetical meafure; and for want of eminence 
 of accent regularly afligned to fyllables, accent 
 cannot be either the conftituent or indicant of 
 cadence or poetical meafure in French, as it is in 
 Englifh, Italian, and other modern tongues. No- 
 thing feems to remain then for conftituting mea- 
 fure in the French language, but to number fyl- 
 Jables ; and for indication of meafure, that is, for 
 giving boundaries obvious to the ear, only Rime 
 and Paufe. 
 
 Being defirous of affuring myfelf of the nature 
 of French verfe, when at Paris many years ago, I 
 often gave my attention, at the theater, to the de- 
 clamation of the beft actors, with the particular 
 purpofe of gathering it ; but with fo little fucccfs 
 that, I muft own, I have remained ever ignorant 
 what it is that, under French rules, can make a 
 French verfe, with the requifite number of fyl- 
 lables, a more or a lefs harmonious verfe. It will 
 be remembered that I confider euphony as diftin<5b 
 from harmony. But the declamation of the the- 
 ater might poffibly the lefs affift, becaufe it is a 
 
 rule
 
 286 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 rule of the French flage, ftudioufly to avoid giving 
 any prominence to the rimes, which are effential to 
 French verfe, and rather to conceal them in the 
 flow of fpeech. No regularity of meafure then 
 being exhibited by the difpofition of either quan- 
 tities or accents, and rime, the powerful and al- 
 moft only indicant of meafure in French verfe, 
 being concealed or difguifed, what can remain to 
 give any character of verfe to French poetry, in the 
 declamation of the theater ? Indeed the very prac- 
 tice of fuch poets as Corneille and Racine, con- 
 ilantly to give rime to their dramatic poetry, fen- 
 lible as they would be, hardly lefs than others, of 
 its offenfivenefs on the flage, affords the flrongeft 
 prefumption of their conviction that, in their lan- 
 guage, without rime could be no verfe. Voltaire 
 has offered what he has called unrimed or blank 
 verfe, in imitation of the Englifh and Italian, or ra- 
 ther in ridicule of the Englifh and Italian ; for 
 he has taken occalion, from the deficiency, of 
 which he appears to have been juflly fenfible, in 
 his own verfes, and in all of the kind that could be 
 compofed in his language, to fpeak contemptuoufly 
 of unrimed verfe in general. Mofl reafonably he 
 might fpeak contemptuoufly of unrimed verfe in 
 his own language, where it can be verfe only in 
 name and written form, having nothing eflential 
 to diftinguifh it from the meereft profe. 
 
 I remember to have met with a French gram- 
 mar of the Englifh language, wherein were direc- 
 
 tiont
 
 HARMONY W LANGUAGE, 187 
 
 tions for the French learner to acqufre the Englifli 
 pronuntiation, prefaced with the proper admonition 
 that * La langue Angloife eflunelangue cadencee, 
 ' comme I'ltalienne.' Now thofe whofe own lan- 
 guage has cadence, have difficulty to conceive a 
 Janguage without it, and difficulty generally yet 
 greater to diveft their pronuntiation of cadence. 
 Hence the principal peculiarities of foreiners 
 in pronouncing the French language. Five 
 and twenty or thirty years ago it was fafhionable 
 at Paris to call the ordinary EngliQi pronuntiation 
 of French ' la pronontiation dattylienne des An* 
 glois ;' a term not fo more mifapplied fhan anapeftic, 
 among our own learned, to mean nearly the fame 
 thing, or iambic , trochaic, and other names of 
 antient feet meafured by quantity, to fignify differ* 
 cnt arrangements of accent in the Englifh lan- 
 guage. 
 
 It is this dacJylian pronuntiation of French 
 verfe in Englifh mouths that has led fome Englifli 
 writers of the moft learned and able, but little fa- 
 miliar with French fpeech, to imagine the French, 
 epic verfe, often called Alexandrine, fundamentally 
 the fame with our four-footed verfe of the triple 
 cadence ; as 
 
 A coWer there was and he lived in a Sail. 
 
 But there is no real analogy, in conflitution or 
 mechanifm, between that Englifli verfe and the 
 French epic. Occafionally indeed a French epic 
 verfe, with the moft approved French pronuntia- 
 tion,
 
 288 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 tion, will be found bearing a ftrong fitnilitude 
 of our four-footed of the triple cadence ; but 
 occafionally alfo an equal fimilitude of that very 
 different verfe, our fix-footed of the even ca- 
 dence, not uncommonly called Alexandrine ; 
 and far oftener than either no form of Englifh 
 verfe at all will appear. The fimilitude of En- 
 glim cadence which Englifh mouths are apt to 
 give generally to French verfe, arifes from an 
 accentuation of the words which does not be- 
 long to the language. But the refemblance 
 which French pronuntiation gives, here to one 
 Englifh cadence, there to another of a widely dif- 
 ferent conftitution and character, arifes from no 
 accentuation inherent in the words, from no ap- 
 pertenance of the words feverally, from nothing 
 effential to the conftitution of the verfe, but from 
 the accidental influence generally of emphafis only, 
 
 But the French people, who have able mu- 
 ficians, and excel all the world in dance, cannot 
 be without fenfibility to the powers of harmony in 
 knguage, as well as in mufic and motion. The 
 very phrafe juft noticed, f the dactylian pronuntia- 
 ' tion of the Englifh,' would indicate fo much. 
 How then has the harmony of the Latin language, 
 not the harmony of quantity only, which has va- 
 nifhed from all modern languages, but the har- 
 mony of accent alfo, retained and fubftituted in 
 moft of them, been, in the French, a daughter of 
 the Latin, fo completely loft ? 
 
 It has been a juft remark of able and obferving 
 
 writers,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 289 
 
 Writers, that languages have been moft complex in 
 their origin, and have been fimplified with extent of 
 ufe. Thus the dual number has dropped from the 
 Greek and from the Anglo-Saxon. But conquefl> 
 and the transfer of a language to a new people, 
 would tend ftill more powerfully to the fimplirl- 
 cation of the language transferred. In the fall of 
 the Roman empire, while energy of mind, direct - 
 ing military force, gave political power to the con- 
 quering barbarians, fcience and arts, with, the ge- 
 neral difpofition of mankind to elegance, ftill fo 
 preferved civil influence to the old inhabitants, 
 that the language of the latter prevailed, but with 
 fome neceflary conceffions. To make it readily in- 
 telligible to the conquerors, the various declen- 
 lions, which puzzled them, were abandoned, and a 
 very few prepofitions ferved to indicate the cafes 
 equally of all declenfions. The exact diftinctions 
 of quantity in fyllables were at the fame time loft. 
 But accent, to judge from what remains of the 
 former language of the conquerors, was an import- 
 ant circumftance of that language; whence, in learn- 
 ing the new fpeech, its accent was the more readily 
 adopted. Thus accent remains the ruling indicant 
 of cadence in the Italian, Spanilh, Portuguefe, 
 and Romanefk or Southern French, as it had been 
 of the Teutonic and Gothic dialects. 
 
 In a topographical defcription of France, printed 
 at Paris in Lewis the Thirteenth's reign, it is ftated 
 that two languages then divided the country, with 
 
 U the
 
 290 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 the Loire for the boundary between them : the 
 people to the northward of that river, fays the au- 
 thor, fpeak French, thofe to the fouthward Roman, 
 or, as we commonly call it, Romanefk or Romance. 
 Now it was in the northern provinces that the 
 Franks principally prevailed, after the fouthern 
 had yielded to other barbarians, who extended 
 their conquefts over Spain. Long after the 
 Franks the Normans introduced new barbarifm 
 extenfively among the northern provinces. 
 The language of the conquered was adopted 
 by both people, but with alterations far greater 
 than in the fouthern parts. It will not be diffi- 
 cult then to conceive how, in thefe circum- 
 ilances, between the druggie in the mouths of the 
 northern conquerors to pronounce Latin words, 
 and the requilite efforts of the fubdued people to 
 make every fyllable of their language obvious to 
 forein ears, not regularity of quantity only, but 
 character of accent too might vanifh. In making 
 a new polyfyllabical word clear to the ear and 
 cafy to the voice of the lordly learners, it would 
 often be neceflary to fpeak every fyllable feparately, 
 with equal tone, as is common in teaching chil- 
 dren, leaving the accent to be added when the 
 articulation were already familiar. But the arti- 
 culation itfeif undergoing - confiderable change, 
 the altered word might become a member of the 
 new dialect without a determined accentuation ; 
 and from the habit of thus omitting diflindion of 
 
 accent,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 29! 
 
 accent, the omiffion might become a characteristic 
 of the new pronuntiation. But it will deferve no- 
 tice that there is a difference between the Teutonic 
 languages and the Latin in the principle of accen- 
 tuation, which might furnifh additional caufe for 
 the northern French to neglect, or difcard from 
 their new fpeech, the Latin tones. This difference 
 may be illuftrated by example from our own lan- 
 guage. In our derivative words the accent always 
 adheres fteadily to fome fyllable of the root where- 
 by it may bed indicate the fundamental fenfe of 
 the word ; as in mind, minded, minding, mindful, 
 mindfully ; care, caring, careful, carelefsly ; for- 
 get, forgetting, forgotten, forgetfully, forgetful- 
 nefs. But in the Latin, abounding in inflexion, 
 the accent was often moved to a new fyllable, to 
 affift the indication of a new (hade of meaning 
 intended by the inflexion. The faireft daughters 
 of the Latin then, the Italian and Spanifh, loling 
 the inflexions, have preferved the Latin accentua- 
 tion where, for found, it is ftill advantageous, 
 but for the meaning it rather tends to confufion. 
 This may be feen in the Italian words maggiore, 
 minore, megliorc, peggiore, amatore, leggitore, 
 mietitore, arditamente, debilmentc, forzatamente, 
 amabiimente, compared with the Englifh words 
 greater, fmaller, better, lover, reader, reaper, 
 boldly, weakly, forcibly, lovingly, where the ac- 
 cent is on that fyllable which diftinguimes the 
 fundamental fenfe of the word j whereas in the 
 
 u 2 Italian,
 
 2$2 INQUIRY INTO tftE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Italian it afiifts no indication of difference in worcte 
 of fignification fo widely differing. The Frankifh 
 and Norman conquerors therefore, pronouncing 
 imperfectly, omitting final fyllables, and finishing 
 with thofe great alterations of the language which 
 produced the modern French, might find it necef- 
 fary, for making their fpeech intelligible, to in- 
 creafe the proportionate ftrefs of the voice on the 
 leading fyllables, and yet unneceflary to give to any 
 one of them a decided eminence. To this, at 
 leaft as a concurrent caufe, we may apparently at- 
 tribute the lofs of appropriate and diftinguifhing 
 accent in the French language. 
 
 The French with all its defects, has found fuch 
 cxtenfive favor among the higher clafles in the 
 northern nations of Europe, nations of rough ' 
 and uncultivated native fpeech, as to give occafion 
 to French writers to boaft of it as a fort of univer- 
 fal language. But it has never been able to make 
 its way iouthward. Perhaps the fimplicity which 
 allows variation of tone only under the guidance 
 of emphafis, may not be intirely without its own 
 peculiar elegance, tho upon the whole a great de- 
 fect in the language. For connection with mufic, 
 it will be obvious that much facility is provided 
 by the failure of accent, as well as of quantity, in 
 Frencn verfe. But it will be alfo obvious that 
 there can be fcarcely any real analogy of character 
 between any French verfe (fentiment being out of 
 the queftion) and any mufical movement : the 
 
 artificial
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 293 
 
 artificial connection, between French verfe and 
 mufic may be what the mufical compofer pleafes ; 
 and of this facility the able muficians who, of late 
 years, have been leading the French people toward 
 a tafte for Italian mufic, have availed themfeives ; 
 but for any natural connection means feem wholly 
 wanting. In the old and truly national French 
 mufic, a ftriking peculiarity of character was de- 
 rived from the language with which it was con- 
 nected, and that mufic no people but the French 
 themfeives could relifh. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 Of the Italian Language. 
 
 I HAVE not found that the principles of verfifica- 
 tion have been better explained for any other mo- 
 dern language than for our own. The ftriking 
 effects of accent however have been obferved in 
 Italian not lels than in Englilh verification ; and 
 it has been remarked that the mechanifm of Eng- 
 liih and Italian verfe is nearly the fame : even 
 our principal meafures have been apparently bor- 
 rowed from the Italian, eipecially our epic verfe. 
 Barretti, the author of the Italian Englilh gram- 
 mar and dictionary, a man of little talent and little 
 u 3 learning,
 
 294 INQUIRY" INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 learning, had however the very confiderable ad- 
 vantage of living in fome intimacy with Samuel 
 Johnfon. In his grammars he has undertaken to 
 explain the texture of Italian verfe to Englifhmen 
 and of Englifh to Italians. For Englifh verfe he 
 has meerly abridged Johnfon. In treating of 
 Italian verfe he (hows his complete feeling of its 
 congeniality with the Englifh, obferving of the 
 epic that it differs from the Englifh epic only in 
 requiring conflantly the hyperrhythmical final fyl- 
 lable, the double ending, and in admitting and 
 even requiring more variety, through a more fre- 
 quent and wider departure from the primary, fun- 
 damental arrangement of accents ; the primary 
 arrangement being for both languages precitely the 
 fame. For example of thaf arrangement, in the 
 Italian, he gives this couplet : 
 
 Che viver piu felice e piu beato 
 Che ritrovarfi in fervitu d'amore ! 
 
 Where he fays, the flrong accents fall on each 
 ' even fyllable ; that is, on the fecond, fourth, 
 ' fixth, eighth, and tenth.* The Englimman will 
 certainly find, in thofe two lines, fo accented, pre- 
 cifely the meafure of his own epic verfe. But an- 
 other matter will deferve attention here. It is 
 evident -that Barretti. was fenfible of the fame 
 double accentuation in triffyllabical and other 
 longer words of the Italian language, which has 
 been formerly noticed in treating of Englifh ac- 
 8 centuation,
 
 "HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 2Q" 
 
 centuation m , and that the weaker accents affift 
 in the conftitution of Italian as of Englifti verfe. 
 In the fecond 'of the two lines above given, the 
 firft accent and the third, namely the accent on 
 the firft fyllable of ritrovarfi and on the firft of fer- 
 vitii, are of the weaker kind n . 
 
 But 
 
 m Seft. IV. of this Inquiry. 
 
 After having defcribed and illuflrated thus juftly the fun- 
 damental arrangement of accents in Italian epic verfe, Barrett! 
 proceeds to Ipeak of the allowed deviations with evident ex- 
 travagance. That we-may avoid uniformity in our verfifica- 
 
 * tion,' he fa\ s, ' we place our accents in different manners, 
 
 * ibmetimes on even, fometimes on uneven fyllables : fome- 
 
 * times the very firft fyllable of the verfe is forcibly accented, 
 
 * and fometimes the neceflary rapidity of utterance gives no 
 ' room at all for accents until we reach the fourth, fifth, and 
 ' even fixth fyllable. The accents fometimes are diftant, fome- 
 ' times they meet ; now ftronger, now fofter, as chance or 
 ' /kill direcV Giving credit to the impreifion which this ac- 
 count, haftily taken, might make, it might be fuppofed there 
 was no certain regularity in Italian verfe, and, in (hort, that it 
 \vas no verfe. But the Englifli reader will be aware that the 
 forcible accenting of the firft fyllable is very common in En- 
 g.ifli epic verfe, and therefore not to be wondered at in Italian. 
 He will know alfo that in Englifli verfe, as in Italian, the ac- 
 cents are fometimes more diftant, and that, far oftener than in 
 Italian, they meet, through the frequent occurrence of em- 
 phatical monofyllables. From Barretti's own grammar and 
 dictionary he may learn that every Italian word, not monofvl- 
 labical, has its predominating accent ; and therefore the examples 
 he has given of fnch lengthened intermiffion of accent cannot 
 bo ftriftly correft, and Ihould only be underftood as examples 
 
 u 4 of
 
 296 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 But of the congeniality of Englifh with Italian 
 verfification, I met at Rome formerly with proof, 
 which I can no way ib well explain as in relating the 
 circumftances. They occurred accidentally, in con- 
 verfation with the fame learned old man, whom I 
 have mentioned in fpeaking of Latin verfe. Of 
 modern languages, belide his own, he knew only 
 French; which he would not fpeak, becaufe, he laid, 
 the habit of fpeaking any forein language tended 
 to vitiate the true Roman pronuntiation. French 
 verfe he held in utter averfion, and for Englifh 
 verfe, fuppoiing it formed on the fame model with 
 the French, he had, by anticipation, a contempt 
 evident enough, tho he avoided to declare it.. I 
 could not get credit with him for my aflertion 
 that, however the roughnefs of our language might 
 difguiie it, our verfe was eflentially the fame as 
 the Italian. No book being at hand to furnifh 
 
 of remitted accentuation. His own rules and illuftrations by 
 example then, noticed in the text above, will fhow that in 
 Italian as in Englifli, longer words have fecondary diftinguifti- 
 ing accents ; and thus all the differences of Italian from Eng- 
 lifh 'epic verfe will remain thofe only which have been here- 
 tofore, or will be hereafter noticed in the text. 
 
 Barretti was but a very imperfect matter of the Englifh lan- 
 guage, as is too evident even in his dictionary, butftill more glar- 
 ing in fome of his fmaller works. His grammar and his travels 
 have been written for him, and feeni to bear fome occafional 
 marks of Johnfon's pen. Johnfon did not know Jtalian, and 
 fo would be likely to fail of exaclnefs in defcribing, under Bar~ 
 retti's inilrucYion, the anomalies of Italian verfification. 
 
 example
 
 HARxMONY IN LANGUAGE. 297 
 
 example but Barretti's dictionary, I red to him 
 the fix lines from Rowe : 
 
 Let this aufpicious day be ever facrerf ; 
 
 No mourning, no misfortune happen on it: 
 
 Let it be mark'd for triumph and rejoicing : 
 
 Let happy lovers ever keep it holy ; 
 
 Chufe it to fill their hopes and crown their wiflies, 
 
 This happy day that gives me my Califta. 
 
 I had fcarcely completed the fecond when, with 
 evident furprize and pleafure, he cried out ' B^ne, 
 * bene;' and when I had finifhed, he expreffcd 
 largely his gratification at finding Englifli verfifica- 
 tion formed on the fame model with that of his own 
 language. Thus reconciled to our dramatic verle, I 
 fuppofed I mould have pleafed him with the ftanza 
 of four and three feet, becaufe Barretti commends it, 
 and becaufe the rimes happen to be all vocal : 
 
 When all fhall praife and every lay 
 
 Devote a wreath to thee, 
 That day, for come it will, that day 
 
 Shall I lament to fee. 
 
 But I was difappointed. The meafure is not 
 ufed by the Italian poets, and I imagine the want 
 of the double ending, tfce hypercatalectic fyl- 
 lable, difappointed his ear; for when I red to him 
 afterward Johnfon's own verfes cited by Barretti, 
 harmonious verfes with good rimes, but all 
 with the fmgle ending, he was evidently lefs fatis- 
 fied than with Rowc's, which have the hyperca- 
 taleclic fyllable without rime. He was however 
 
 pleafed
 
 298 INQUIRY INTO THE PR4NCIPLES OF 
 
 pleafed again with a ftanza in which I thought the 
 confonants terminating the rimes might have 
 offended him : 
 
 'Twas when the feas were roaring 
 
 With hollow blaft of wind, 
 A damfel Jay deploring 
 
 All on a rock reclined. 
 
 But here he found a near refemblance to the 
 favorite meafure of the Italian lyric poets, 
 
 In vece del naviglio 
 
 Vede partir le fponde ; 
 Giura che fuggi il lido, 
 
 E pur cosi non e. 
 
 Alefiandro di Metaftafio, at. 3. fc. r. 
 
 The Italian epic verfe then refembles the Eng- 
 lifh with the differences only already noticed ; 
 namely, that it requires conftantly the hypercata- 
 lectic fy liable ; that it admits more readily the 
 aberration of the acute in the fourth, third, and 
 even the fecond foot, and that it requires more ufe 
 of thefe varieties, efpecially the aberration in the 
 fecond. 
 
 Of modern poets who have written exprefsly 
 for mufic, Metaftafio is inconteftably the chief. 
 No other has fludied the connection of mufic and 
 poetry fo much and fo well. It is evident that he 
 has fought variety of meafures, and it is evident 
 alfo that he has found no great variety in his lan- 
 guage to pleaie him. His favorite, clearly, has 
 
 been
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 299 
 
 been that which appears to have been always the 
 mod ordinary meafure for Italian fong, the three- 
 footed of the even cadence with the hypercataledYic 
 fyllable ; varied only with the omifiion of that fyl- 
 lable, or, in the Italian phrafe, with the rima tronca, 
 at regular intervals; as in his well-known canzonet 
 and palinode to Nice, already noticed. But 
 whether thofe longer odes may hate been lefs 
 ftudied for connection with mufic I cannot tell, 
 and therefore it may be furer to refer to his dra- 
 matic lyrics for example. The following is from 
 .his Achilla : 
 
 Fra 1'ombre un lampo folo 
 Bafta al nocchier fagace, 
 Che gia ritrova il polo, 
 Gia riconofce il mar. 
 Al peliegrin ben fpeflb 
 Bafta un veftigio imprcflb 
 Perche la via fallace 
 Non 1'abbia ad ingannar. 
 
 Att. i. fc. 6. 
 
 I have formerly noticed that the verfes of our 
 common flanza of four feet and three alternately, 
 arrange thcmfelves all readily with the fame mu- 
 fical time as thofe of this Italian ftanza, the mea- 
 fure being rilled through the afliftance of either a 
 long note at the end of the fhorter verfes, or a 
 pauie, which offends neither in mufic nor in 
 poetry. Still more readily and regularly thefe 
 Italian three-footed verfes, with the hypercataleftic 
 
 fyllable,
 
 300 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fyllable, Effort themfelves with the mufical time of 
 four equal feet. Example completely in point 
 occurs in a fong fet to mufic by the celebrated 
 Galuppi, compared with a fong written by the 
 late learned Mr. Harris, author of Hermes, and by 
 him adapted to the fame mufic. The Italian fong 
 runs thus : 
 
 La paftorella al prato 
 
 Col gregge fe ne va, 
 Col agnellino al lato, 
 
 Cantando in liberta. 
 
 This, it will be feen, is exactly the rneafure of the 
 3Engli(h fong lately quoted, 
 
 'Twas when the feas were roaring. 
 
 But Mr. Harris, fkilled as he was in mufic, did 
 not fear to give to the fame notes a poetical mea- 
 fure, very confiderably different. His lines arc 
 thefe : 
 
 With us alike each feafon fuits ; 
 
 The fpring has fragrant flow'rs, 
 The fummer corn, the autumn fruits, 
 The winter focial hours. 
 
 The reader who knows the air will perceive 
 that the additional fyllable in the firft and third 
 lines, tho an acuted fyllable, giving character to an 
 additional foot in the poetry, is fo far from an in- 
 cumbrance to the mulic that it rather fills the 
 meafure with advantage ; and yet the fecond and 
 fourth lines, fhorter by a complete foot, have no 
 ungraceful deficiency, but on the contrary, 
 
 through
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. qci 
 
 J 
 
 through protraction of quantity in the note ac- 
 companying the Jaft fyllable, or a reft after it, or 
 both, the meafure is enough indicated, and with 
 effect more grateful to the ear than if this variety 
 were not introduced. The mufical cadence in- 
 d( ed, through the licence which I have formerly 
 mentioned as common among modern muficians, 
 is triple, while the poetical cadence is even ; but 
 the example neverthelefs,for thepurpofe for which 
 I have given it, is complete. 
 
 Metaftafio I think never ufes the FOUR-FOOTED 
 of the even cadence but with the firft foot trun- 
 cated , as in thefe examples : 
 
 Fra 1'orror della tempefta, 
 Che alle ftelle il volto imbruna, 
 Qualche raggio di fortuna 
 Gia commincia a fcintillar. 
 
 Dopo forte fi funefta 
 Sara placida quefta alma, 
 Egodra, tornata in calma, 
 I pcrigli rammentar. 
 
 Siroe, att. I. fc. 17. 
 
 Sia lontano ogni cimento, 
 L'onda fiatranquilla e pura, 
 Buon guerrier non s'afficura, 
 
 Non fi fida il buon nocchier. 
 Anche in pace, in calma ancora, 
 L'armi adatte, i remi apprefta, 
 Di battalia o di tempefta 
 
 Qualche aflalto a foftener. 
 
 La Clcmenza di Tito, att. a. fc. 4. 
 
 The
 
 3O2 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The reafon of this will be obvious to the mu- 
 lical reader. In Englifii poetry, the even four- 
 footed verfe, in its moil ordinary form, without 
 the hypercatalectic fyllable, is adapted to fill the 
 mufical meafure of four bars (or if they are half 
 bars it is in effed the fame thing) without defi- 
 ciency and without excels. But the grace of 
 Italian poetry requiring generally the hypercata- 
 lectic fyllable to make the rima giufta or double 
 ending, that fyllable, were the firft foot complete, 
 would be hyperrhythmical, and would very much, 
 incumber the mufic. On the contrary, the firft 
 foot being truncated, the lafl iyllable of the verfe } 
 other wife hypercatalectic and hyperrhythmical, be- 
 comes a complementary fyllable, without which an 
 extenfion of time, either by quantity or reft, would 
 be neceflary to fill the cadence. Thus, with its 
 double ending, the truncated Italian verfe fills the 
 meafure of four mufical bars, like the Englilh com- 
 . plete four-footed with the fingle ending. 
 
 It will be evident, from a view equally of Italian 
 and Englim verfe in connection with mufic, that, 
 for that connection, fome occahonal fhortening of 
 the verfe, that may give opportunity for reft in the 
 mufic, at convenient intervals, is advantageous. 
 Whether this has been confidered by any of our 
 later poets, who have written for muiic, I know 
 not , tho I think it was by the elder, before the 
 gigantic genius of Handel had taught a difregard 
 for iuch niceties, by mowing that, with power of 
 
 violence
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 303 
 
 violence enough, even profe might be forced into 
 affociation with mulic, and become that which our 
 forefathers confidered as the very oppofite to profe, 
 fong. But Metaftafio has been always carefully 
 attentive to this point, and therefore conftantly in- 
 troduces the rima tronca, or fingle ending, at in- 
 tervals among his four-footed lyrics. On the 
 other hand, in Englilh verfe of this meafure, the 
 prevalence, nearly to conftancy, of the fingle end- 
 ing, which the genius of the language requires, is 
 attended with a recurrence of the paufe ungrace- 
 fully quick and uniform. Hence apparently Mil- 
 ton's nice ear has been led to prefer that mixture 
 of the complete four-footed with the truncated 
 which prevails in his Allegro and Penferofo. In 
 no other way perhaps, equally fuited to the ge- 
 nius of our language, could he have gained fo 
 nearly the advantage of the Italian mixture of the 
 double with the fingle rime. Tho the effect in re- 
 citation is very different, yet, for combination with 
 mufic, the grave fyllable, at the end or at the be- 
 ginning of the verfe, fills the time with equal con- 
 venience. 
 
 Metaftafio's farther varieties, in the even ca- 
 dence, are rarely any other than thofe produced 
 by varying the difpofition of the different kinds of 
 rimes. 
 
 The triple cadence has been in confiderable fa- 
 vor with the great poet of the Italian mufical 
 drama, and he has evidently thought it fit equally 
 
 for
 
 304 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 for fublime and for lighter fubjects. His varieties 
 of lyric verfe in it exceed thofe in the even. His 
 moll common triple meafure is that of the ce- 
 lebrated ode to Venus, heretofore noticed. The 
 following addrefs to Fortune, in his Scipio's 
 dream, is in the fame meafure, but varied, at wide 
 intervals, with the rima tronca, and fo forming a 
 different flanza : 
 
 Di che fei 1'arbitra 
 
 Del niondo intero, 
 Ma non pretendere 
 
 Percio 1'impeto, 
 D'un alma intrepida 
 
 D'un nobilcor. 
 Te vili adorino, 
 
 Nume tiranno, 
 Quei che non prezzano, 
 
 Quei che non har.no 
 Che'l baflb merito 
 
 Del tuo favor. 
 
 For analyfis of Italian verfe, as well as of Eng- 
 lim, it appears moft convenient to confider the 
 accented fyllable, when in its regular place, as the 
 laft rather than the firft of a foot, both in the even 
 and the triple cadence. Under this diviiion, the 
 firft foot of all the verfes of the odes to Venus, 
 and to Fortune wants its two grave fyllables* 
 Hence, as we have obferved in the four-footed of 
 the even cadence, the concluding fyllables are not, 
 like the concluding fyllable of the epic endeca- 
 fiiiabo, hyperrhythmical, but complementary. In 
 
 connection
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 
 
 connection with mufic, this triple meafure, like 
 the even meafure lad noticed, requires, for alliance 
 with its. firft fyllable, the accented note beginning 
 a bar. The firft, third and fifth verfes of the 
 ftanza of the Ode to Fortune are adapted to coa- 
 tefce with the notes of two bars, or two half-bars, 
 of triple time, without reft : the fecond and 
 fourth veifes, having a fyllable lefs, will require 
 either extenfion of quantity, or a reft, to fill the 
 mufical time. The fixth, having two fyllables 
 lefs, muft have its time rilled either by more ex- 
 tenfion of quantity or more reft. 
 
 A few inftances we find, in Metaftafio, of this 
 meafure, wanting conftantly one of the com- 
 plementary fyllables, and at intervals both ; and 
 the abruptncfs thus produced is fometimes advan* 
 tageous for particular expreffion, as in this example 
 from his Artaxerxes : 
 
 Non ti fon padre ; 
 Non mi fci figlio : 
 Pitta nbn fento 
 
 D'un traditor. 
 Tu fei cagione 
 Del tuo periglio ; 
 Tu fei tormento 
 
 Del gen it or. 
 
 Att. i. fc. 12. 
 
 In the connection of thefe lines with the cor- 
 refpondent mufical cadence, to fill the mufical 
 time, cither a reft is rjeceflary at the end of every 
 verfe, or a protraction of the quantity of the pen- 
 
 X ultimate
 
 306 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES 0* 
 
 ultimate fyllable. A nearly fimilar reft or pro- 
 traction, which a good ear will lead the voice to 
 give, even in reciting verfes of this meafure, pro- 
 duces the abmptnefs which cannot fail to be fink- 
 ing in them, even in recitation. 
 
 Where therefore occasion for particular expref- 
 fion has not recommended this broken meafure, 
 a more continued flow has been preferred, and the 
 over-frequency of interruption has been obviated 
 by partly filling the void in the firfb foot. One 
 grave fyllable preceding the acute of the flrft foot, 
 and another following the acute of the laft, the 
 mufical meafare is filled exactly as in the Ode to 
 Venus and the Addrefs to Fortune, tho the cha- 
 racter of the verfe in recitation is made confider- 
 ably different by the different fituation of the paufe, 
 The following example is from Metaftafio's De- 
 
 mofoonte : 
 
 Prudente mi chiedi ? 
 Mi brami innocente. 
 Lo fenti ; lo vede j 
 
 Dipeade da te. 
 )i lei, per cui peno, 
 Se penfo al pcriglio, 
 Tal fmatiia ho r.el feno/ 
 Tal benda ho ful ciglio, 
 Che 1'alma di frena 
 Capace non e. 
 
 Demof. att. 2. fc. 2. 
 
 Yhe deficiency of double rimes, and of words fit 
 for double and triple endings, tho without rime, 
 makes this meafure iefs fit for our language; yet 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 307 
 
 the meafure of the hundred and fourth pfalm, al- 
 ready quoted, differs from it' in nothing fo effcn- 
 tially as the more irregular introduction of the 
 fingle ending ; and our common four-footed verfe 
 of the triple cadence is but a duplication of it ; 
 as in this couplet of Dryden, 
 
 When prefent we love, and when abfent agree : 
 I think not of Iris, nor Iris of me. 
 
 Far feldomer among Metaftafio's fongs occurs 
 the three-footed verfe of the triple cadence ; which 
 neverthelefs he appears to have thought not lefs fit 
 for fublime than for light expreffion, tho our poets 
 have ventured upon it only for iuch fubjects as 
 thofe of Shenftone's mufe. Metaftaiio has chofen 
 it for this addrefs to Jupiter : 
 
 J tuoi ftrali, terror de' mortal!, 
 Ah fofpendi, gran padre de' numi, 
 
 Ah deponi, gran nume dc' re. 
 Fumi il tempio del fangue d'un empio, 
 Ch' oltraggio con infano furore, 
 
 Sorrmio Giove, un immago di te. 
 L'onde chete del pallido Lete 
 L'empio varchi ; ma il noftro timore, 
 
 Ma il fuo fallo portando con fe 
 
 Olimpiade, att. 3. fc. 6. 
 
 and for this fublime image : 
 
 Son quel fiume che gonfio d'umori, 
 Quando il gelo fi fcioglie in torrenti, 
 Selve, armenti, capanne, paftori, 
 Porta feco, e ritegno non ha. 
 
 X 2 Sc
 
 36S INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES 0? 
 
 Sc fi vede negl'argini flretto, 
 Sdegna il letto, confonde le fponde, 
 E fuperbo fremendo fen va. 
 
 Didone, att. i. fc. 13. 
 
 He has chofen it alfo for this more playful fen- 
 ti merit : 
 
 Ogn'amante puo darfi guerriero ; 
 r Che diverfa da quella a'i Marte 
 
 Non e molto la fcuola d'Amor. 
 Quefto adopra lufinghe ed inganni : 
 Quello inventa 1'infidie, gli aguati ; 
 E fi fcorda gli affanni paflati, 
 
 L'uno e 1'aitro quand' e vincitor. 
 
 Iffipilc, tt. i. fc. 10. 
 
 If, in Italian epic verfe, a licence is admitted and 
 a variety required, beyond what we allow to our 
 own, in Metaftalio's lyrics it is not fo : on the con- 
 trary we find there a fcrupulous regularity, a re- 
 gularity much ftricter than among our lyric poets > 
 no mixture of verfes of more and fewer feet, no li- 
 cence for more or fewer fyllables, except in regard 
 to grave fyllables following the laft foot, which 
 may be two, one, or none ; and, even in regard to- 
 this variety,- having once formed his ftanza, he 
 ftriclily preferves the form. This then is remark- 
 able of his verfes of the triple cadence. In the two- 
 footed verfe, if it concludes with what the Italians 
 call a verbo fdrucciolo, that is, if two grave fyl- 
 lables follow the laft acuted fyllable, then the firft 
 foot of the verfe always wants both its grave fyl- 
 Jables: if only one grave fy liable follow the laft 
 
 acute,
 
 "HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 309 
 
 scute, then the firft foot may have ont grave fyl. 
 table preceding its acute, but only one j a-nd the 
 form adopted for the firft foot of the ftanza, is 
 ftri&ly preferved in the firft foot of every verfe of 
 the poem. But in the three-footed verfe of the 
 triple cadence, never are lefs than two grave fyl- 
 lables preceding the firft acute ; fo that the firft 
 foot of the three-footed verfe is always complete, 
 that of t'r.e two-footed never. 
 
 The reafon of the difference, thus tonftantly ob- 
 ferved, will not be obfcure to the mufical reader at 
 all accuftomed to obferve mufic in connection with 
 poetry. It refts on the fame principle which has 
 led the Italian poets, as before remarked, to deny 
 a complete firft foot to their four-footed meafure 
 of the even cadence. If the two-footed verfe of 
 the triple cadence had its firft foot complete, and 
 had alfo a hy per rhythmical fyllable following 
 ks laft, the meafure would be altogether awkward 
 for connection with mufic; becaufe the two feet 
 would fill two bars or half-bars, - and the hyper- 
 rhythmical fyllable, from the caufe formerly men- 
 tioned, would be a fuperfluity, not readily to be 
 brought to accord with the mufical cadence. But 
 the three-footed verfe not being in itfelf adapted 
 to fill the times of mufical meafure, but always 
 wanting either extenfion of quantity, or reft, 
 the hyperrhythmical fyllable there only affifts to- 
 ward the completion of that meafure. 
 
 x 3 The
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The varieties in which Metaftafio indulges, ii^ 
 the difpofition of the indicatory accents, are nar-. 
 rowly limited. In the even three-footed verfe in- 
 deed he freely ufes the aberration in the firft foot ; 
 whether the accentuation of his language denied a 
 ftricter adherence to the more regular form, which 
 is far more adapted to coalition with mufic, or he 
 judged it necefiary fo far to concede to effecl: in 
 recitation. Very rarely however we find any other 
 aberration of the accent in that meafure. In the 
 four-footed verfe, fometimes the acute is wanting 
 on the fmgle fyllable of the firft foot. But it is to 
 be confidered that, in recitation, that fyllable is 
 rendered confpicuous, by a certain degree of em- 
 phafis, refulting from the paufe which of courfe 
 takes place at' the end of a verfe ; and it will 
 fcarcely ever be found that this fyllable, tho want- 
 ing the orthoepical, may not, without offence, re- 
 ceive the mufical accent ; as in the line given from 
 Siroe, 
 
 Sara placida quefta alma 
 
 Moreover this aberration is of rare occurrence. 
 Sometimes, but ftill very rarely, the aberration 
 is admitted in the third foot, as in the firfl line 
 quoted from the Clemenza di Tito : 
 
 Siajlontajno ognijdmento 
 
 But it will be obferved that every four-footed verfe 
 confifts of two equal hemiftics ; fo that the aber- 
 ration in the third foot, which is the firft of the fe- 
 
 * contf 
 
 ^
 
 HARMONY IN LANGtTAGE. 311 
 
 ,cond hemiftic, has privilege nearly as that on the 
 firft foot of a verfe. 
 
 In that triple two-footed verfe which wants 
 'both the grave fyllables of its firft foot, of which 
 the odes to Venus and to Fortune are examples, 
 liberty is frequently taken with the fingle fyllable 
 of the firft foot : which is often found lefs power- 
 fully acuted than the following fyllable. But here 
 hat fingle fyliable is fo rendered eminent by fitua- 
 tion, as to be not unfit for aflcciation with the mu- 
 iical accent. In the other forms of verfe of the triple 
 .cadence I -think aberration of the acute is fcarcely 
 .ever found ; and even the duplication, in Englilh 
 yerfe not uncommon, in Italian is very rare. The 
 Simplicity and regularity, in the mechanifm of the 
 Italian lyric verfe, furnifh ftrong indication that 
 the licences admitted and even required in the 
 epic, have originated in the feparation of epic 
 verfe from mulic. Wanting the varieties which 
 inuiic furniihes, other varieties, accommodated to 
 iimple recitation, became neceffary; varieties which 
 render verfe far lefs ready for connection with 
 mufic. 
 
 For DRAMATIC dialogue, as I have had occafion 
 Joobferve in treating of Englifh verfe, the Italians 
 life their endecafillabo, the even five-footed epic 
 verfe with the hyperrhythmical fyllable, varied 
 by irregular mixture of the three-footed, which 
 alfo constantly bears the hyperrhythmical fyl- 
 Jable. 
 
 * 4
 
 INQUIRY INTO TH2 PRINCIPLES 
 
 ARTICLE 3 . 
 
 t 
 
 Of the Spanifi, Portuguefe and Romanejk Lan- 
 guages. 
 
 THE Caflilian, or clafiical Spanim, and the Ro- 
 maneikjor fouthern French, hardly differ fo much 
 from the claffical Italian, that is the Tufcan 
 and Roman, as Tome dialects within Italy : even 
 the Neapolitan, bordering on the Roman, and 
 the Bolognefe, bordering on the Tufcan, are al~ 
 inoft other languages. But in all thefe the 
 principle of verification is the fame as in the 
 claffical Italian and the Knglim. The epic verfe of 
 the Spaniards and Portuguefe differs not from the 
 Italian. But the dramatic verfe of the SpanUh poets, 
 whofe dramatic works are abundant, differs greatly. 
 It is the truncated four-footed, a favorite lyric 
 meafure of the Italian poets, but never ufed by 
 them for dramatic dialogue. The Spanim poets 
 ufe it alfo commonly as a lyric meafure, generally 
 in ftanzas of four verfes, with imperfect rimes; 
 of which bifhop Percy has given a fpecimen to- 
 ward the end of his relics of antient Englifh poetry. 
 The imperfection of the rimes, common among 
 the Spanim poets, mould apparently be attributed 
 neither to negligence or unildlfulnefs in the poet, 
 .nor to defect in the language : fo far indeed, from 
 
 implying
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE, 313 
 
 implying defect in the language, perhaps they ra- 
 ther imply perfection ; indicating that the Spanifli 
 lyric poetry wants lefs affiftance from that coarfo 
 ornament than other modern European tongues. 
 
 The Romanefk is a fpeech little generally 
 jcnown ; pafling with many for an imperfect or 
 corrupt French ; but it deferves another eftima- 
 tion. Since Lewis the Thirteenth's reign probably 
 the Parifian French has been gaining much upon 
 it j and in no long time poffibly the Romanefk 
 may be worn out, as the Cornu-Britim is of late 
 years extinct, and the various Englifh dialects are 
 rapidly vanifhing. But in the fouthern provinces 
 of France the Romanefk. yet remains, nearly as it 
 flood in the time of the Provencial poets, the pa- 
 triarcs of modern European verfe. It is a language 
 between the Italian, Spanidi, and French ; in its 
 dialects approaching the SpaniQi more as it ap- 
 proaches Spain, the Italian as it approaches Italy, 
 the French as it approaches Paris; but, in its ge- 
 neral character having more of the Spaniih. Since 
 the fall of the kingdom of Aries, and the decay of 
 the courts of Aix and Touloufe, it has been little 
 cultivated but in popular fongs. But men of fu- 
 perior acquirements have Ibrnetimes amufed them- 
 felves with compcfitions in it; and one, eminent 
 among the guilty leaders of the French revolution, 
 after having mown its yet remaining powers in 
 verfe, propofed, as I have been aflured, to (how of 
 what it was capable in profe, but that circum- 
 
 ftances
 
 514 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES O* 
 
 {lances led him to views of ambition in the po- 
 litical line, and then other circumftances impoied 
 fiience upon him. By accident a genuine fpeci- 
 rnen of the language, in its rudeft and pureft itate, 
 fell in my way, which may poiiibly amufe fome 
 readers curious about languages. Mr. de Gualy, 
 of the regiment of Caftries, going to imbark at 
 Portfmouth for the unfortunate expedition to 
 Quiberon, came to vifit his kinfman, of the fame 
 name, then officer in a militia regiment ftationed 
 jn Fareham barracks. The family of Gualy is 
 noble, of the weftern part of Lar.guedoc ; the 
 chief intitled -baron de St. Rome, from a fmall 
 
 town of that name on the river Tarne, but having 
 
 * t> 
 
 his relidence at Milhaud, or Milliau, on the fame 
 river. The Guaiys being proteftants, and fo, till 
 of -late years, excluded from the French fervice, 
 the father of the militia officer had migrated to Eng- 
 land, and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 
 the Engliih fervice ; into which he alfo introduced 
 his fon, who was captain in the fecond battalion 
 of the firfl foot, before he ingaged in the militia. 
 After dinner at the regimental mefs, finging being 
 propofed, the officer of Caftries offered to bear his 
 part : he could not ling Englifh, but, if he might 
 be allowed, he faid, he would fmg a popular fong 
 of his own wild country, which his coufin, who in 
 his youth had been once to fee the chief of their 
 family at Milhaud, would remember as a favorite 
 of their common grandfather. Being pl.eafed with 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 3! jj 
 
 the air, which had far more of the character of 
 Spanifli than French mufic, I defired him to recite 
 the words, which he did, and I then requefted him 
 to write them for me. He faid that, tho fpeaking 
 the dialeft moft familiarly, he was unaccuftomed 
 to write it, and therefore he mufl fpell as he beft 
 could. Amid the difturbance of furrounding con- 
 verfation, then, he wrote as it is here given, with 
 the difference only that the accents marking the 
 cadence, as far as I could depend on my memory 
 of his pronuntiation, have been added. For it is 
 to be obferved that the Romanefk is a language of 
 cadence marked by accent, like the Italian, Spa- 
 nifh and Englifh. It may be convenient aiib for 
 moft readers to mention that confonants written 
 are never filent, as in French, and that e and tt are 
 to be pronounced always fully, as in Italian ; the 
 French u and feminine e being unknown to the Ro- 
 manefk. Mr. de Gualy has placed a d before j 9 
 ch, and g, meerly to indicate that thofe letters arc 
 differently pronounced from the French ; namely 
 j as in Englifl*, cl as in Englilh and Spanifli, and 
 g as in Englifh and Italian, The words which he 
 has written djama'i and dchangearie would be re- 
 prefented in Italian orthography by the letters 
 giamai and ciangiarie. In writing the pronoun of 
 the firft peribn you, he mentioned that the pronun- 
 tiation was precifely that of the Englilh pronoun 
 of the fecond perion, reprefented by the fame let- 
 ters. Everywhere, with him, the dipthongal nota- 
 ou and the fimple vowel u rcprefeat the fame 
 
 found.
 
 31 6 IN<^JTRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 found. 5T has been doubled in the word totttt, fim- 
 ply to admonifli that it is not filent as in French, 
 and # has been alfo doubled in the words kann and 
 pendenn^ only to warn that it is the real conformant, 
 and not the lign of the French nafal vowel, which 
 is as ftrange to the Languedocian dialed: as the 
 French and feminine e. It is remarkable of the 
 Languedocian that it confounds v and b even 
 more than the Spanifli or Neapolitan : Mr. de 
 Gualy wrote both letters alike; and in Langue- 
 docian pronuntiation it is often difficult for the ear 
 to diftinguim them. I have preferred one or the 
 other only as it would beft mark for the reader th$ 
 meaning of the word. The fong then follows : 
 
 Kann tu rifes tcutt me pla'i ; 
 
 Animarios uno Icfiko : 
 Tous uillous e toun air gai* 
 Fjbu reni I'aigo a la bouco. 
 
 EgaY, EgaV. 
 
 tncaro noun la teni mai la voli; 
 Encaro noun la teni mai 1'aouraY. 
 
 Medizou que moun rival 
 
 See ven pendenn moiin abf^en^a. 
 Lui facara'i amb' un pal, 
 
 Ss prenn a quelo lic^n^a. 
 
 Ega'i, &C. 
 Kan lou eel fe virarie, 
 
 C6mmo faou los aoumeletos 
 Djarxm'i you ne dchandgeane 
 
 L'amovir ka"i" per ma bruneio.* 
 
 The 
 
 r The following literal verfion is inteoded meerly to anf\ver 
 the purpofc -of a vocabulary : 
 
 Quand
 
 HARMONY in LANOTTASE. 
 The meafure of this fong is that moft in favor 
 with the Italian lyric poets, and almoft exclufively 
 with the Spanifli, formed into a tetraftic, which is 
 followed by a couplet in the Italian epic meafure, 
 the endecafillabo. With regard to the dialect, the 
 reader will have obferved that the difcrimination of 
 fexual terminations, preferved in the Italian and 
 Spanifli, from the Latin, has been nearly loft in the 
 Romaneik. A carelefs pronuntiation of the firft 
 vowel, a, has brought it to the found of o in the 
 fouthern language of France, and fo has prepared 
 it for the degradation to the half articulate found 
 of the feminine c in the northern, or proper 
 French. But the ability to diihiifs the pronouns 
 from its verbs is an advantage over the proper 
 French, which, even in this village fong, is flriking. 
 
 Quand tu ris tout tu me plais : 
 
 Tu anhnerois une souche, 
 Tes yeux & ton air gai 
 
 Font venirl'eau *> la bouche. 
 
 Egai", egai*. 
 
 Je ne la tiens pas encore, mais je la veux : 
 Je ne la ticns pas encore, mais je 1'aurai. 
 
 I/on dit que mon rival 
 
 S'eft venu pendant mon abfence. 
 Jel'afibmmerois avec une mafllie 
 
 S'il prenne a cclle-la quclque licence. 
 Egai, Sec. 
 
 Quand le del fe vircroit 
 
 Comme fe font les omelettes 
 Jamaisje ne changerois 
 
 L'amour que j'ai pour ma brunette. 
 
 I think
 
 318 INQUIPxY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OIF 
 
 I think it likely that in a farther invedigatiort 
 ofSpanifh, Portuguefe, and Romanefk poetry, to 
 which might be added that of the Italian and Si- 
 cilian dialects, and of all other daughters of the 
 Latin, fornc curious elucidation of the natural con- 
 nection of mufic and poetry would refult ; but 
 this labor I mil ft leave for thofe who, with more 
 Icifure, have alfo much more familiarity with thpfe 
 ipeeches. 
 
 ARTICLE 4. 
 Of the modern and middle-aged Greek. 
 
 I HAVE heard of a dhTertation, which I never 
 met with, on the feventy-two dialects of the 
 modern Greek. A language fo ex'tenlively fpoken 
 as the Greek, among countries where other lan- 
 guages were alfo fpoken, could not but acquire 
 various, (hades in various parts, and would be likely 
 to become, in fome places, fo altered, that it might 
 be hard to fay whether it remained Greek or no. 
 Yet the Greek has not, like the Latin, branched 
 out into daughter languages. The litterary 
 Greek, remaining the language of the polite to the 
 final overthrow of the Greek empire, is flill looked 
 up to, by the well educated, as their proper 
 tongue ; and all modern deviations from it, how- 
 ever
 
 JrtARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 31^ 
 
 ever unavoidably to be practifed for the common 
 purpofes of life, are confidered rather as jargons 
 than dialects. The modern Greek, therefore, tho 
 capable of being rendered, by cultivation, equal 
 perhaps at lead to any modern European fpeech, 
 has remained almoft uncultivated. No nation 
 upon earth however probably is without its po- 
 pular fongs ; and popular poetry can exift only in 
 the common language of the people. For popular 
 preaching alfo the ipeech of the many alone will 
 ferve. In popular poetry therefore almoft only, 
 and popular preaching, the language of modem 
 Greece is to be found committed to writ ins;. 
 
 O 
 
 In treating of this language I (hall ftill prefer 
 the method taken for our own fpeech, tracing the 
 ftream from the moft modern examples upward 
 toward its fource. Thus we (hall be led through 
 what is commonly called the middle-aged Greek,, 
 which differs from the clafiical by numerous new 
 words, required by new circumfbnces, but not by 
 anything characteriftical in the language, to that 
 it will not require here any diftincT: confideration. 
 
 The mod recent examples of the modern Greek 
 language, to which I can refer, aie of the pre- 
 dicatory or oratorical kind, the proclamations of 
 Bonaparte, and of the patriarch of Conftantinople, 
 to the maritime Greeks ; both publifhed with the 
 intercepted correfpondence of the French army in 
 Egypt. The former is of the feventy-two dialecls, 
 and yet exhibits ftrong marks of the fuperior lan- 
 guage
 
 320 JNQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 guage whence it originated. The other is the po- 
 lite fpeech of Conftantinople at the prefent day. 
 
 The poetry however only of the language is our 
 proper object here, and of this the moil modern 
 examples that have fallen in my way are thole 
 given by Monfieur Guys in his Voyage Litteraire 
 de la Grece. When at Marfeille, feven and twenty 
 years ago, I had an advantageous introduction to 
 Mr. Guys, but it Hood me in little {lead. He 
 was a man dipofed to retirement, and his fituation 
 was awkward. It is indeed not eafily defcribed in 
 our language ; becaufe as the circumftances have 
 no exiftence with us, terms are of courfe wanting. 
 Mr. Guys was of a bwrgeoifc family, and having 
 acquired wealth, had purchafed a nominal office 
 under the crown, that of fecrctaire du roi, which 
 conferred what the French called noblejje, meaning 
 the rank and condition of a gentleman. He was 
 thus raifed above the hofpitable fociety of the rich 
 merchants of the then highly fiourifhing city of 
 Marfeille, and yet would be looked upon with no 
 refpect by the poor and proud noblejj'e of Provence, 
 into whofe rank he had obtruded himfelf. He lived 
 therefore at Marfeille, where, unlefs in office, no 
 others of his new rank would live, in a manner infu- 
 lated among his books ; and to me, who had pafled 
 from a polite and hofpitable reception at the houfe 
 of one of the oldefl families of Provencial noblefle 
 to the ready civilities of the Marfeillefe merchants, 
 and might pafs again and repafs (a privilege how- 
 ever
 
 fcARMONY tN LANGUAC2. 
 
 :vcr almoft peculiar then to Englifh travellers) 
 Mr. Guys was at a lofs how to mow civility. Aly 
 acquaintance with him therefore has been almofl 
 only through his book. 
 
 Mr. Guys' long refidence among the Greeks, 
 his opportunities for communication among them, 
 and his tafte and learning, fuperior as a merchant, 
 gave him advantages for feledling the fpecimens 
 which he has given of modern Greek poetry. Un- 
 fortunately however, they have been printed with an 
 incorreclnefs which feems to be accounted for only 
 by his diftance, at Marfeille, from the prefs of Paris. 
 Unfortunately alfo his tranilations of them, tho in 
 profe, are fo loofe,, even beyond the ordinary licen- 
 tioufnefs -of French tranflators, that they fcarcely 
 aflift at all toward correction of the original. 
 Neverthelefs, in the want of other fpecimens, they 
 are valuable, and, for my principal purpofe, nearly 
 perfect, becaufe the meafures are everywhere 
 clear. They are all obvioufly accentual, all adorned 
 with rime, and no way eflentially differing from 
 Italian and Englifh meafures. The following lines 
 begin a long which Mr. Guys calls the moft mo- 
 dern, compofed in compliment to a young woman 
 his neighbour : 
 
 tf xa 15 TO/ KoyoufjioV) aof 
 ATT TUV (Acniuv<rovy TCU$ fioteify cunivat y^eu 
 Na fyfM f(j T xxfafiou ntxftigtv 
 
 The
 
 322, INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 The accentual marks, reprefenting, in modern 
 Greek writing, exactly the lame affection of pro- 
 nuntiation as the fame marks in Englifh and 
 Italian dictionaries, can leave no difficulty for the 
 meafure of thefe verles to the Englifli or Italian 
 reader. 
 
 Perhaps the claffical icholar, unverfed in modern 
 Greek, may be furprizecl, and yet pleafed, to find 
 the firffc line of this modern ballad ib completely 
 claffical Greek. He would, I think, in vain look 
 for an equally complete Latin line among Italian 
 fongs. For interpretation of the others he will 
 want fome affiftance. 'Ptye' is the imperative of 
 P/4" a common corruption of the claffical word 
 PVJ, which is itfelf not obfolete. '<? TOU A&you/xow 
 is a very common modern phrafe, meaning no 
 more than tn lp\. The French have a phrafe 
 nearly analogous, de ma part, meaning no more 
 than de moi, and the Spaniards ufe ordinarily nofo- 
 trot, vofotros^ with no other figmfication than nos 
 and vos. In both editions of Mr. Guys' book 
 the next word is corrupted, and his tranflation 
 does not help in the lead toward correction. In 
 writing aV^p I have done my bed only in con- 
 jecture. MKTMV is genitive plural from /AT,-the 
 common word for an eye ; curioufly formed by 
 fyncope fore and aft, if a fea-phrafe ib exactly ap- 
 plicable may be allowed, from oy.pxTiov. 27nV/, 
 the common modern word for a houfe, is formed 
 in the fame manner from the Latin' hofyitium.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 T*r? SoAawV is analogous to the Italian phrafe alls 
 volte, at turns, oifometimes. N is the fign of the 
 fubjunctive mood, contracted from lit*. Kotpw is 
 the accufative feminine of the modern word com- 
 pounded of x and ?, with v introduced to ob- 
 viate hiatus, and declined xaw?, xa/xia, xaw, xa- 
 tvozj xa/xi'a?, xan'fo?, meaning feme. The following 
 translation renders the Greek word for word : 
 ' Bright light of the fun, beautiful fplendor ! caft 
 ' on me, thou pureft ftar, from thine eyes fome- 
 * times one golden ray, that I may find for my 
 ' fufferings fome relief.' 
 
 Another fong, in the fame meafurej has been 
 well chofen by Mr. Guys as an example of the 
 metaphorical ftile, which the modern Greeks have 
 adopted from the orientals. Tho not a model for 
 taile, it is a more advantageous fpecimen of the 
 language than any other very modern compofition 
 I have feen. The corruption in the printing is 
 therefore to be regretted ; yet the corrections, in 
 the fix lines here following, have been fmall, and I 
 think made with little rilk : 
 
 ruga tfAotguv&wav ra 
 
 dvutyior, x*a3i'*a Tra 
 i7rocr%E(ro; xXaJiii TOW fJff&S rt 
 ffafldirettrV) eycfyas KM v 
 
 Mr,
 
 324 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Mr. Guys' veriion of this fong is fb very free, 
 tl^at to difcover in it any refemblance of the origi- 
 nal is not eafy. Tho his language probably would 
 ill bear a clofe translation, yet he feems to 
 have conceded unreafonably much to the tafle of 
 his feUovvcountrymen. Word for word almoft it 
 may run in Englifh thus : * The tree of thy love, 
 
 * with leaves of faithfulnefs, gave me the fliadow 
 e of hope, of infinite purity. But now withered 
 
 * are the leaves, and I undergo the burning of 
 ' defpair, and fuffcr wrongfully. The branches of 
 ' promife have been blighted by the chill of hatred 
 ' and the fro'ft of enmity.' 
 
 Mr. Guys gives an account of a diverlion, popu- 
 lar among the modern Greeks, called the Cledona, 
 in which diilics are fung by the young women. 
 They are in the fame meafure as the foregoing, 
 and mark its popularity. The diftic which opens 
 the game may deferve notice, as indicating that 
 the-damfelsof the Greek empire have not failed of 
 their part to maintain, in the minds of the youths, 
 the antient martial fpirit of the nation : 
 
 *Avot%E rav x/.$c'*Xy vcuyi o ^a^ro^vo^ 
 'O^rJj TCI Kxrgct Trots/Mot, xai Gwt xtfiopsvos, * 
 
 This 
 
 5 The words a,*t'y- and i/*i are. not to be found among three 
 'modern Greek oiclionaries in my pofleffion, but the latter is 
 evidently enough the Italian word viene from the Latin venit. I 
 guefs only that >atyt may have been formed either from the 
 antient Greek *^, or rather from the Italian aavigare. Mr. 
 
 Guys
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 525 
 
 This may be rendered litterally in EnglifJh thus : 
 * Open the Cledona : my beloved fails to the ene- 
 ' my's camp, and comes off conqueror.' 
 
 Of one diftic more, bearing a ientiment likely 
 to be popular in a lively nation, reduced, in confe- 
 quence of the failure of martial fpirit, to the 
 prefent condition of the Greeks, I will venture to 
 attempt correction and tranflation : 
 
 T y'sMa, (AS ra Aoujunoi) /WE rriv ^xoav rj 
 
 ( Laughter with weeping, forrow with joy, in 
 f one hour were fown, and together fprang.' 
 
 Mr. Guys fays that, in fmging thefe diftics, 
 each verfe is divided into hemiftics. But had we 
 not this information, which might be neceiTary for 
 Mr. Guys' fellowcountrymen, it would be ob- 
 vious enough, to thole verfed in accentual poetry, 
 that, tho written as couplets, they are really 
 ftanzas of four verfes, like the Chevy-chace cri- 
 
 Guys has given what he calls a tranflation of thefe diftics; but 
 it is in verfe, and being of courfe not lefs pure French, in tafte 
 and in phrafe, than his profe verfions, unlefs for any who may 
 admire it as French poetry, it is utterly ufelefs* 
 
 1 rif'xa feems a corruption, preferred for rime-fake to 
 the nore claffical forms, preferved yet in politer ufe, wi*f 
 and TTtxf i. 
 
 Y 3 ticifed
 
 326 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ticifed in the Spectator, and Tickell's well-known 
 ballad :. 
 
 Of Leinfter, famed for maidens fair, 
 
 Bright Lucy was the grace, 
 Nor e'er did Liffy's limpid ftream 
 
 Refieft a fairer face. - * 
 
 with the difference only that the Greek rimes arc 
 all double. 
 
 Mr. Guys has given a fpecimen only of one other 
 jneafure, in which {ingle rimes are introduced, 
 
 Me 
 
 ME ftourava. as TO 
 
 ruv 
 
 Me EflWvcwov xaif ov, 
 M' avs.fj.wr dhxQgi 
 2.<6$ovf tcxi 
 
 This arrangement has lefs elegance, whether for 
 recitation or connection with mufic, than the 
 
 n With this fong Mr. Guys has given the Grecian mufic. 
 The word xs/*o, in his fecond edition, is in his firft XE/*O, and 
 what either may mean his translation will not inform, nor have 
 I been able to learn. Mi is a contraftion of ^ET. Koflivu is 
 to approach. It is a moft curious incident of the modern Greek 
 language that it has totally loft the infinitive mood, the want of 
 which is fometimes fupplied by a participle, but generally, as 
 here, by the fubjunftive mood. N yj*& u nofieva is laterally 
 ' J approach that I fink,' meaning * I am ready to fink.' 
 
 ordinary
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 ordinary Italian forms of ftanza : the refts are 
 divided more advantageoufly where the finglc 
 rimes are at wider diftances from the double. 
 
 A Greek fong, of a meafure different from any 
 given by Mr. Guys, is found in doctor Chandler's 
 account of his travels in Greece. It has been 
 felected with no purpofe of mowing either the" 
 language, or thofe who fpeak it, advantageoufly, 
 and will deferve notice only for the failure of other 
 examples of the meafure, which is exactly that of 
 Milton's Allegro ; 
 
 Mirth admit me of thy crew* 
 
 rou 
 
 Mnre vov fA$e 
 To, 
 
 Ta ptya.'ha yi 
 Taea TO 
 T* 
 
 The ftory is told by doftor Chandler, that a bifliop of 
 Damala, in the antient Epidaurian territory, diflatisfied with 
 the fmalnefs of the fifties brought him, would go out himfelf 
 with the fifli ing-boats. Taken by a Moorifli corfair he wa 
 fold as a flave, and, being found little capable of other work, 
 was employed as afliftant to a nurfe in rocking a child. Con- 
 templating his folly and confequent mifery, he compofed the 
 fong, which literally tranflated, runs thus : ' Bifhop of Damala, 
 neither fetife nor brain. Little ones you would not ; great 
 * ones you coveted. Turn the hand-mill ; rock the Arab- 
 child.' 
 
 Y 4 Thefe
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Thefe are all To recent that they may be con- 
 fidered as examples of the Greek verification of 
 the prefent day ; which evidently rcfts on precifely 
 the l4me principles as the Italian, and that large 
 portion of the other weftern European congenial 
 with the Italian. I propofe now then, with the 
 materials before me (more might eafily be obtained 
 by the curious, but thei'e may perhaps fuffice for 
 my immediate purpofe) to trace Greek versification 
 upward toward antiquity. 
 
 From the examples already given it will be no 
 very wide ftep to a work printed at Venice in 
 1658, a tranllatioa of Guarini's Paftor Fido, by a 
 Greek of the iland of Zant. The title runs, 
 Ilaraf 0/Jbj, rr/ovv Floi^criv ITiroj, Hra%Jwi;li<r(te\io( 0.7:0 TO 
 TO IT*!XOV, wag' spou 
 
 The whole of the dialogue is in rimed diftics of 
 the ordinary feven-footed verfe, or, perhaps we 
 fliould rather call them flanzas of alternately four 
 and three feet. We have already noticed this as 
 the molt common forr~ of modern Greek Foetry. 
 The formality of this meafure ill bears com- 
 parifon with the elegant freedom of the Italian 
 unrimed dramatic, irregularly compounded of 
 five-footed and three-footed verfes. The fpirited 
 opening of the Paftor Fido is known to all who have 
 but looked into Italian poetry : 
 
 Ite voi, die chiudefte 
 L'orribil fera, a dar 1'ufato fegrio 
 
 Pell*
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 329 
 
 Delia futura caccia j ite fvegliando 
 
 Gli occhi col corno, e colla voce i cuori. 
 
 Amplification of phrafes, and repetition of fen- 
 timents, feem ordinary and rather characteriftical 
 faults of the modern Greek poets, but efpecially of 
 the tranflator of the Paftor Fido, who has dilated 
 and weakened the foregoing nervous paflage thus ; 
 
 To QosSfPOTaTov fagio', xa,i TO TroXA 
 Ka(, xxra TO crvv$nnpas, SWJTTE TO 
 ToS Mwrr/iw Ttoxfi vf9i, KOii HX/AST oXo/ 
 To fiovxtvo vcc XVWtTrlbfr ia /jLamct va. ZUTTV 
 Kai Taf$ xafSiaij, fjCe T:J Occvsuf, xxptle v a 
 
 The lad line, with its interior rimes, may per- 
 haps excite a fmile through recollection of fimilar 
 founds in fimilar arrangement in the ludicrous fong 
 Of noble race was Shenkin : 
 
 At prifon-bafe, and football-chafe, cotfplut how hur could 
 nick it.' x 
 
 But it mould neverthelefs be recollected that 
 our forefathers were delighted with very long 
 metrical romances, fome of them bearing much of 
 the dramatic character, in a fimilar meafure ; and 
 that this meafure, however mifmanaged by the 
 Zacynthian verfifier, is the meafure of the later 
 
 y The modern Greek dipthongal notation an reprefents ex- 
 a&ly the fame fimple found as our a in the words chafe and baft. 
 AK is the termination of the accufativc plural: the dative is 
 loft in the modern language. 
 
 Chevy
 
 330 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Chevy chafe, criticifed in the Spectator, o 
 Hardiknute, and of other poems, in which it is 
 fhown not unfit even for fublime expreffion, 
 
 For the choruffes the Zacynthian has chofen 
 meafures of which I have feen no other example 
 in Grecian verfe. The prevailing form among 
 them is the Italian epic, the endecafillabo, five- 
 footed hypercatale&ic of the even cadence, being 
 the Englilh dramatic with the redundant final fyl- 
 lable, or double ending. This is adorned with 
 rime, in a fingular kind of triplet, or ilanza of three 
 verfes, the middle verfe bearing no rime. Verfes of 
 fix 'feet and of four feet are fcantily intermingled. 
 In the following fix lines, from the chorus con- 
 cluding the fourth act, one fix-footed verfe occurs. 
 The others are all the ordinary Italian epic, and fo 
 harmonious as to excite regret that this form has 
 not been ufed for the dialogue, for which it is 
 fo evidently far more advantageous than that 
 of the preceding example, which has been chofen 
 for it. 
 
 ffu ra yitya. 
 
 vrj Ti/ot 
 
 fV 0SOIV 
 
 va yevouv 
 
 Two
 
 flARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 331 
 
 Two four-footed verfes, of better efTed I think 
 than the fix-footed, occur among thefe, the con' 
 eluding lines of the fame chorus ; 
 
 CTJ TO HOMO VO, 
 
 Miv aaV OTTC'T' ano 
 xa\ (juO 
 
 7T* 
 
 To ^ 
 
 ffirxya vipat TTIVE 
 
 Thefe two paflages in the original run thus 
 
 Ma tu, deh, fpirti egrfgi 
 
 Forma ne' petti noftri, 
 Verace onor, delle grand' alme donno. 
 
 O regnator de' regi, 
 
 Deh, torna in quefti chioftri, 
 Che fenza te beati efler non ponno. 
 
 Speriam : chc il mal fa tregua 
 Talor fe fpeme in noi non fi dilcgua. 
 Speriam : che il fol cadente anco rinafce, 
 
 E'l ciel, quanclo men luce, 
 L'afpettato feren fpefl* n'adduce. 
 
 In the year 1326, fomewhat more than a cen- 
 tury before this tranflation from the Italian, a 
 translation of Homer's Iliad into modern Greek 
 was printed at Venice. In the title-page it is 
 
 ftated
 
 332, INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ilated to have been then an old tranflation, cor- 
 retted anddigefted by the publifher ; 'O/x^o 
 
 nx, TraXon lit; neivriv Xwra-izvj mi/ JE 
 
 xa iKTizia-ix. eruvcwf, Traa woAaou TOU 
 
 . And becaufe many old words, no longer 
 in common ufe, were retained, a gloffary is prefixed, 
 explaining thofe words in the more modern language. 
 The meafure is purely modern, and accentual j 
 being that of the Spanifh drama, the truncated 
 four-footed, without rime. The beginning runs 
 thus: 
 
 Toi/ 
 Hair iys 
 
 Kai sroMaj 4 /y X*5 av3f s'aj 
 5TrEiXV EJJ aSVjv, 
 KKfTi xat TOI? O^VEO:; 
 
 V E^aXB TOWTOVJ C 
 
 O 7f ZEI/J Jj 
 A^ 6t/ 
 
 O TE 
 
 KJ o 
 
 The aberration of the accent occurs, in this 
 paflage and through the poem, not unfrequently 
 in the third foot, fo as to give the acute to the 
 firft fyllable of "the fecond hemiftic, and rarely in 
 any other part of the verfe. 
 
 If
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 If it might be fuppofed that the forms of verfe, 
 in the preceding examples, were borrowed from the 
 weftern nations, by a people in the deprefled ilate of 
 the Greeks of the prefent day, yet in purfuing the 
 inveftigation upward, we find it otherwife. John 
 Tzetzes was a popular verfifier of the Greek em- 
 pire, with the reputation of a very learned gram- 
 marian, toward the end of the twelfth century, 
 about the age of the earlieft of the foregoing fpe- 
 cimens of Englifh verfe of the even cadence. 
 There remains from him what is called * a hiftorical 
 book,' in a kind of verfe which has exceedingly 
 puzzled the critics of weftern Europe in later ages, 
 becaufe it differs widely from all antient Greek 
 verfe, and they have given no attention to the 
 verfe ufed by the modern Greeks. The dil- 
 tinguifhing term for it, in the days of Tzetzes, 
 was f r%ot TroAmKot, which, in modem Latin verfions 
 is rendered verfus politicly and in Englifh perhaps 
 may be not improperly tranflated vulgar verfe ; 
 being verfe accommodated to the bulk of the 
 people jof the Greek empire in its day, but not 
 what men of education approved. It is precifely 
 * the fame accentual verie which appears to be molt 
 common among the Greeks of the prefent day, and 
 to have been fo from before the age of Tzet/.cs 
 namely the feven-footed, compofed of two hemif- 
 tics, alternately of four feet with the fmgle, and 
 three with the double ending. The feven-iooted 
 verfe of the tranflation ofirthe PaRor Fido, and of 
 
 tic
 
 334 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES O| 
 
 the Greek: fongs of more fnodern date, differ from 
 it only by their ornament of rime, which, in the 
 age of Tzetzes had not been adopted. 
 
 The hiftorical poem, a moft incoherent mixture 
 of fcraps of hiftory, profane and facred, with 
 heathen mythology and moral precept, begins 
 thus : 
 
 , 6 A?>yaTw, AvSwv 'riv 
 avsutlogov TJ 
 
 In thefe five lines cadence indicated by accent 
 is perfedly obvious j and fo regular, that farther 
 quotation feems as unneceflary to (how the kind 
 of verfe, as it is for any other purpofe little defirable. 
 Aberration of the accent is, throughout the poem, 
 or rather bundle of poems, freely ufed in the firft 
 foot of either verfe or hemiflic, and fcarcely clfe- 
 where : the regularity is fully equal to that of the 
 moft fcrupulous Italian lyric poets. The difference 
 between thefe verfes and the more modern Greek: 
 appears to be fcarcely any, beyond the adherence of 
 the elder poet to antient pronuntiation, which the 
 moderns have vitiated by often blending two vowels 
 in one poetical fyllable, after the Italian manner.. 
 Thus, in the lines from Tzetzes M<? has two 
 poetical fyllables, whereas, in the diftic of the 
 
 Cledona,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 Cledona, pixv is made a fingle fyllable ; and this 
 we find the common modern practice ; while, 
 neverthelefs, for the conveniency of rime, in 
 the firft of Mr. Guys' fongs, the fame word is 
 made two fyllables, with the acute accent on the 
 firft. 
 
 But it particularly deferves notice that this 
 accentual rneafure,_in which Tzetzes wrote for the 
 mafs of people of the Greek empire, was not the 
 kind of verfe approved by himfelf, any more than 
 by the men of education of his time in general. 
 We find him, at the end of his book called 
 Hiftorical, exprefling decidedly his difapprobation 
 of it, and complaining in ftrong terms, of the 
 growing barbarifm, and the already eftablifhecl 
 influence of bad tafle, by which it was rendered 
 neceffary to thofe who wrote for the many. More- 
 over it is highly remarkable that this complaint, 
 addreffed to the fuperior order of readers as aa 
 apology for his ufe of the vulgar verfe, is not 
 itfelf written in vulgar verfe, but in iambics ; 
 which, with juft allowance for ordinary injury in 
 tranfcription, may be called proper and good. 
 Something ieems wanting at the beginning, but 
 the paflage, otherwife lucid, is perhaps the mod 
 curious extant relating to the hiftory of verifica- 
 tion. It ftands in the 'edition printed at Bafil, 
 thus: 
 
 'II TV 
 
 CV
 
 336 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ?e jUicrFi ci%f o'vovj * 
 
 fatowka 
 
 3e 
 
 Kai raura Koiotg ; TOIJ dowuri TM?o<psif. 
 
 TO aXov i^onQnrTi] roy /3w, 
 
 
 
 Referring' 
 
 * Dr. Fofter has obferved, tho I apprehend he means to give 
 the credit of the remark to Markland, that T or T is always 
 fhort, which would make an imperfection here in iambie 
 meafure, but that Tzetzes might have written Ai ri, by which 
 the imperfection would be obviated. 
 
 * The Latin tranflation, by Paul Lacifl of Verona, profeffing 
 . to be literal, is filch that it might be wifhed fome tranflators of 
 
 the claffics, in aiming at Ciceronian eloquence, had not more 
 departed from the fenfe of their original. The pafTage in the 
 text is rendered thus : 
 
 Mufe metraferens cifculatrids, 
 
 Quaspedum concimmm non fervat greflum^ 
 
 Omnes autem odit dichronos aut trichronos, 
 
 Normaque artis nequaquam illi arnica. 
 
 t quid enim quifpiam artlficiofa fcriberet metro^ 
 
 Pedes autem^fervaret ubique^ et bitemporeos, 
 
 Et omnia fubtiliter, ut opus eft, limarer, 
 
 Cum jequo in honore fuit artificiofa atque barbara? 
 
 Pra?cipue autem cum quae multum barbara funt seftimentuty 
 
 Et incondita velut fapientiflima dominentur. 
 
 Et bsec quibus? his qui credantur fapientiffimi. 
 
 Sic quod honefium eft evolavit e vita; 
 
 Sic ubique prxvaluit vilis infcitia. 
 
 Dr,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 337 
 
 Referring the reader to the note below for two 
 Latin tranflations of thefe lines, I would render 
 
 them 
 
 Dr. Fofter has, in feme degree, garbled the paflage. His 
 tranflation, which correfponds to all that he has given of the 
 original, runs thus : 
 
 Mufae circulatricis, 
 
 QUCE pedum concinnum non fervat greflum. 
 Quid vero quifpiam artificiofo fcriberet metro, 
 Pedefque fervaret ubique, et ancipites literas, 
 Et omnia fubtiliter, prout decet, limaret, 
 Cum asquali in honore fint artificiofa et barbara, 
 Et indofta velut do&a dominentur ? 
 Et hsec quibus? iis qui videntur fapientiffimi. 
 Sic quod honeftum eft evanuit ex vita ; 
 Sic ubique valuit vulgaris jnfcitia. 
 
 The more I value Dr. Fofter's book, as far as it regards an- 
 tient learning, the more I think it material to notice what appear 
 to me errors in it. I totally doubt his ancipitet literas for ^^oot<. 
 Quintilian teaches us clearly the meaning of the words tempus and 
 3oo?, as ufed in profody : * Even boys know,' he fays, 'that 
 * a fliort fyllable it of one time, a long one of two.' Now if 
 tyte? meant a doubtful letter, xvhat was the meaning of 
 T ?^?' m l ' ie preceding line, which Porter has chofen to 
 omit ? But if Ji'p^ova? meant, not anything doubtful, but a 
 certain meafure, namely, as its compofition obvioufly implies, 
 double the meafure of a fingle time, then r^xgw*; of courfe 
 would mean triple the meafure of a fingle time. Thus, as a 
 fhort vowel followed by one confonant made a fingle time, the 
 fame vowel followed by two confonants made a double time, 
 ty^evo?; a long vowel followed by a fingle confonant made 
 equally a double time ; but a long vowel followed by two con- 
 
 Z fonants
 
 38 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 them in Engliih, filling alfo, with my beft con- 
 jedture, the deficiency at the beginning, in this 
 manner : 
 
 ' Thus far my book has borne the meafures of a 
 
 * (trolling mufe, carelefs of theftep which aperfeft 
 
 * cadence would diredt. She hates the nice dif- 
 c tincYions of double times and triple times : the 
 
 * rules of antient art are in no favor with her. 
 
 * And why indeed mould any one now write in the 
 
 * meafure which that art prefcribes ; arranging feet, 
 
 * obfervant of double quantities, and polifhing all 
 ' with fcrupulous exactnefs, when barbarous verfe 
 ' has equal eftimation with claifical, or rather the 
 
 * barbarous has more general favor, and rudenefs bears 
 f the prize from tafte and learning ? And who are 
 ' thofe who lead in thefe matters ? Thofe efteemed 
 
 * all-wife ! So has the good and fair dropped out 
 
 * of life : So do vulgarity* and ill tafte prevail !' 
 
 This 
 
 foi>ants made a triple time, T^goo?. This laft diftin&ion, 
 w^iich, as we learn both from Quintilian and Dionyfius, was 
 Always noticed by thofe who profefledly inquired about 
 rhythmus, pafled ordinarily in verfe as only a double time. 
 Neverthelefs difcretion would no doubt be neceflary in the ufe 
 of it : over-frequently repeated, or in awkward arrangement, 
 it would offend the nicer ear, and hence apparently the mention 
 of it by Tzetzes. 
 
 b The word ^vJioTif, tho no claffical authority appears to be 
 known for it, may neverthejefs have been a word of claffical 
 times, being regularly formed from the claffical word pgt'&Kf. 
 It is translated by Lacifi vHit in/titla \ by Fofter, more properly 
 
 and
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 339 
 
 This remarkable pafTage follows the f hifto- 
 rical book,' and ftands as preface to a poem, 
 in proper iambic verfe, on education, which 
 is followed by a fhort poem in proper epic OF 
 heroic verfe, and that again by another in proper 
 iambics. Till the final overthrow of the Greek 
 empire by the Turks, in the fifteenth century, 
 we find the claflkal form of verfe .was cul- 
 tivated among the learned, and was alone in favor 
 among them. The epitaph compofed for himfelf 
 by John Laicr.ris, of the imperial family of Con- 
 ftantinople, acknowleging with gratitude the hof- 
 pitality which, after that melancholy event, he 
 found at Rome and Florence, while he lamented 
 the fate of his own country, will hardly tire, even 
 
 thofe to whom it is known, with repetition here : 
 
 
 
 Aao-xaf ij c&bodavrri yaw tVMa.'iQrro, yx'irp 
 "Ourf X/rjv {ei'vw u %ivs 
 f FTO |wei>j%i'v, aM* a^Gerau si 
 
 Qtpot. e 
 
 The 
 
 and yet I think not quite juftly, vulgaris infcitia. Ignorance, 
 or rather illiteratenefs, may indeed, without any great violence, 
 be confidered as implied in vulgarity; but vulgarity, or what 
 is of and belonging to the multitude, feems all that is abfolutely 
 exprefled by the term xt^anmj?. Neither Lacifi nor Foftcr 
 feem to have been aware that the modern Greek language, 
 commonly called by the modern Greek people 'P&^aota, it fa- 
 miliarly termed by the learned among them, when they write, as 
 they are fond of doing, in the anlient language, xyojua. y\ua-crt 9 
 which feems to anfwer precifcly to our phrafe wlgar-tongve. 
 
 e Four lines will hardly be found to which it were more 
 <Jiilicult to do juftice in tranflation, in any language, than 
 
 z ^ thele
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 The longer poem of Marcus Mufurus, about 
 the fame time addreffed to pope Leo the tenth, 
 may be found prefixed to Aldus' edition of Plato, 
 and reprinted by Dr. Fofler at the end of his own 
 eflay. 
 
 Neverthelefs long before the age even of Tzetzes, 
 the vulgar verfe was become the popular form of 
 verfe of the Greek empire. It feems to have been 
 about a century before him that Conftantine Ma- 
 naffes wrote his Hiftorical Synopfis, or epitome of 
 univerfal hiftory, in vulgar verfe, accentual verfe, 
 as regular, as perfedt in its form, as the moft 
 polifhed of modern times, in Greek, in Italian, in 
 Englifh, or any other language. It may indeed be 
 faid that Ovid's hexameters and pentameters, and 
 
 thefe of Lafcaris. Doftor Fofter has given this poetical 
 verfion : 
 
 Lafcaris externa terra jacet ; baud ramen ipfi 
 
 De gente externa quod quereretur erat. 
 Nee piget hofpirii. Dolet hoc, quod Graecia natis 
 
 Amplius haxid prseftat libera bufta fuis. 
 
 Whether this was his own, or whofe, I know not, but for 
 fidelity, as a poetical verfion, it does its author credit. The 
 learned reader will fee the deficiency of the following literal 
 EngUQi profe tranflation, which will yet perhaps not be much 
 mended in any other modern language : 
 
 ' Lafcaris lies here in a forein foil, where of hofpilality 
 
 * failing he had not to complain. He found kindnefs; but 
 
 * he grieved that, for the Greeks, the land of their fathers was 
 
 * no longer free.' 
 
 Horace's
 
 KARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 341 
 
 Horace's Sapphics, have an accentual cadence as 
 obvious and as regular as mofl Italian or Englifh 
 poetry. But we have the fulleft affurance that 
 this accentual cadence did not make the eflence of 
 thofe verfes. Probably it was gratifying to Roman 
 ears, as an ornament of the meafure, nearly as 
 rime is gratifying to Italian and Englifh ears, 
 allb as ornament, tho it cannot of itfelf con- 
 ftitute verfe. But the Greek vulgar verfe has no 
 regularity in the arrangement of quantities. Sim- 
 ple meafure of time therefore cannot poflibly have 
 been the conftituent of the vulgar verfe, the verfus 
 politici, as it was of the claffical verfe. On the 
 other hand the arrangement of accents being as 
 regular as in any modern accentual verfe, and 
 being alfo the fame as in the moft modern Greek 
 verfe, there can be no queftion but that accent 
 was the regulator of the meafure. 
 
 Traced in full perfection thus high, it feems 
 beyond a doubt that the accentual verfe of the 
 Greeks originated in the eaft, and did not arife 
 from any influence that the practice of the 
 weflefn nations obtained over Grecian tafte. 
 From \vhat other language it was borrowed, or 
 whether from any, feems uncertain. It may have 
 arifcn from the ftile of mufic which gained favor, 
 and its reception would at Icaft be promoted by 
 the practice of accompanying dance with fong; for 
 mufic to accompany dancing, as we have formerly 
 obierved, requires more particularly a powerful 
 z 3 indication
 
 342- INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 indication of cadence, with which fong, without a 
 time-beating arrangement of the accents of its 
 words, would ill accord. d 
 
 d At the early age when doftor Fofter's book on Accent and 
 Quantity firft: ingaged my attention, a note of his excited my 
 curiofity greatly, and led me to great difappointment : ' There is 
 
 * mentioned by Fabricius,' he fays, * Bibl. Grac. lib. v. c. 7. 
 ' p. 48, a manufcript piece of this Tzetzes, intitled Verfus foli- 
 
 * tici de pedibus &" metris poeticis^ in Bibl. Vindob. et Cod. 
 
 * Barocc. 131. Fabric, in the fame book, p. 17, 18, mentions 
 
 * likewife a MS. of his, de omni verfuum genet e, et de 'verjlbus 
 < politicis. MS. Reg. 84. A fight of this laft piece would 
 ' probably clear up this matter at once.' p. 202 of the fecond 
 edition. By this matter t-he doftor means the queftion, whether 
 accent has been the regulating power of the cadence, or, as he 
 phrafes it, has governed the quantities, of the verfus politic! ? 
 
 * On this fuppofition,' he fays, ' moft of the verfus politic! are 
 
 * tetrameter iambic cataleclic, but,' he adds, ' he ftrongly fuf- 
 
 * pe&s that inftead of iambics regulated by accent, they are 
 
 * rather loofe trochaics, as independent of it as any in Euri- 
 pides.' 
 
 Going to Paris in the year 1777, about three years after 
 the firft publication of my Thoughts on the Harmony of 
 Language, I was eager to get a fight of this work of John 
 Tzetzes ; nof having, even then, any doubt of the real cha- 
 rafler of the verfus politic!, or, of courfe, of the abfurdity of 
 the learned queftion whether they were iambics or trochaics, but 
 expefting to find from a Greek, writing while the claffical 
 Greek was yet a living fpeech, what had never been given by 
 any df more modern times, a juft account of the nature of ac- 
 centual verfe, and of its differences from verfe of quantity. I 
 had an advantageous introduction to the king's librarian from 
 my learned friend Mr. de Villoifon, and four copies of the work 
 of Tzetzes were laid before me ; the oldeft of the fourteenth 
 century, the lateft of the fixteenth. I 'looked over all, fo far 
 
 as
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 343 
 
 as to be fatisfied that not a fyllable concerning the ftrufture oi 
 the verfus politic! was to be found among them. But, tho thuj 
 difappointed, I had the fatisfaftion to find what had led Fabri- 
 cius into the miftake which had fo vainly excited doftor Fcfter's 
 curiofity and mine. All the four manuscripts bore this title : 
 
 tirctrutt 10. r%u* WO?UTI*;, TO, i Wfoof*t ^tera i r%*'i 
 iivutu. Accordingly the proem, addrefled to the author's brother 
 and fon, is found in proper hexameter heroics, and the body of 
 the work follows in vulgar verfe, verfus politici. But in the ma- 
 nufcript of the i6th century, and in that only, between the 
 proem and the body of the work, are thefe words, evidently the 
 interpolation of the tranfcriber, Tot/ at/lei; iri r^x. ut w*Txir. It 
 is manifeft that nift has been written carelefsly for , and hence 
 Fabricius's phrafe de verfibus politicis. What follows is in vulgar 
 verfe, verfus politici, without a fyllable about them. 
 
 In my note, made at the time, I find it dated that the 
 work in vulgar verfe begins with defcribing the antient 
 feet, clafling them as dilTyllabical, triflyllabical, and tctra- 
 fylkibical. It proceeds then to verfes, iambic, heroic, and 
 others commonly known, to the number of nine, as of princi- 
 pal ufe. A tenth, called Jiolic, is defcribed as a kind of rarity. 
 Then follows an article wi^J TOV x.a?.oy^iev hoyaoihKov ptT^cv. 
 
 This verfe is faid to be hexameter, but differing from the com- 
 mon hexameter in two points, both circumftances of quantity. 
 After this ample account of the various kinds of verfes in com- 
 mon ufe among the poets ufing cadence meafured by quantities 
 only, follows an article intitled vrtgl wo9iViw ri fur^n^ at the 
 beginning of- which the author inve} s vehemently againft the 
 barbarifm of the writers of his day : B^Cafo, xij o1ij, he 
 fays, they were continually vitiating the Greek language with 
 the introduction of new words. The work is then concluded 
 with an article wig) T^J iTOTAox^ T i^tr^ut vuf aXA>.. Had 
 I the opportunity now, which a variety of inviting objefts led 
 me then to neglcft, at leaft fo far that I have preferred neither 
 x 4 note
 
 344 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 note nor recolleclion of any particulars of this laft article, I 
 fhould have more curiofity for it than for any of the others; 
 for a juft explanation of the antient mixtures of poetical mea- 
 fures could hardly fail to carry with it fome elucidation of the 
 character of antient mufic, and of the connection of antient 
 mufic with poetry. 
 
 ARTICLE 5. 
 
 v 
 
 Of Oriental and Celtic Verification. 
 
 IT would require an intimate acquaintance with 
 the living founds of the eaftern dialects, for the 
 written letter alone can do little, to form any 
 opinion of the character of their verfification. 
 The learned bifhop Hare's idea of explaining He- 
 brew verfification by the laws of the Greek and 
 Latin, is an extravagance on one fide, and the 
 perhaps more learned and more elegantly critical 
 bifhop Lowth's idea that Hebrew poetry was profe, 
 and yet was the finefb of all poetry, is an oppofite 
 and even a greater extravagance, into which men 
 of their found ability could not have given, had 
 they been more practifed in the various fpeech of 
 men, and lefs habituated to form their notions of 
 language from converfe with the dead letter only 
 in their libraries. The modern Arabic, daughter 
 certainly or fitter of the Hebrew, is a language fo 
 
 extensively
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 345 
 
 cxtenfively fpoken, much more than any other on 
 earth, that dialects cannot fail to vary much in it 
 But from what little I have been able to gather, 
 moftly of the dialects of Syria and Egypt, I mould 
 fuppofe that its verfe is accentual. It would how- 
 ever he far too much thence to infer that the verfe 
 of the Hebrews was accentual, becaufe we know 
 that the verfe of the modern Italians and modern 
 Greeks is accentual, and the verfe of their anceftors 
 was not fo. The verfe of the Hebrews and Chal- 
 dees may have been regulated by fimple meafure 
 of time, as that of the Greeks and Latins was, 
 and yet the attempt to reduce their verfes, without 
 knowing anything of their pronuntiation, to 
 Greek and Latin rules, will be neverthelefs abfurd. 
 It appears however likely that the power of accent 
 to regulate cadence was introduced among the 
 Greeks of the latter empire, together with figu- 
 rative diction, to the overthrow of juft meafure 
 of time and fimplicity of expreflion, from the eaft. 
 Of the poetry of the Hebrews, no reafonable 
 doubt can be entertained that it was verfe, dif- 
 tinguifhed by regularity of meafure from profe; 
 but it may poflibly, or, we might perhaps venture 
 to fay, not improbably, have had accent for its 
 principal regulator. 
 
 The Weilh language has been reckoned by 
 fome to have affinity with the Greek; and the 
 Welfh themfelves have been fond of claiming this 
 relationfhip. As far as I have had opportunity to 
 
 look
 
 346 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 look into languages, I have been able to difcover 
 but two diftinct kinds, or, in the technical term 
 borrowed from the Latin, genera, within the 
 limits of Perfia, eaftward, and not going beyond 
 the Atlantic, weftward. The Chinefe no doubt 
 is a diftind kind. What the Malay, the Hin- 
 doo, the Shanfcrit and others may be, I know 
 not. But among the nations weftward of India, 
 I think all may be arranged in affinity with either 
 the Greek or the Hebrew. Whether the Hebrew 
 or the Chaldee have the better claim to patriarchal 
 dignity, for the prefent queftion matters not, or 
 whether the Greek or the Sclavonic. All the Teu- 
 tonic dialeds, which pervade modern Europe fo 
 extenfively, together with the Latin and the 
 antient -Cerfic, are of the fame genus with the 
 Greek. The antient Chaldee, Syriac, Punic, and 
 Celtic, with its modern branches, the Welm, 
 Erfe or Gaelic (including Irifh and Highland 
 Scotifh) Breton, and I believe Bifcayan, tho this I 
 have not been able to afcertain, are of the fame 
 genus with the Hebrew. Words indeed are found 
 in the Wei fh language, which appear to have affinity 
 with Greek words; and fo very many Greek have 
 affinity with Hebrew words. It is matter of won. 
 der whence the wide and charade riftical differ- 
 ence in the conftrudioh of the languages, and the 
 very great fuperiority of the Greek can have ari- 
 fen ; but the' charafteriftical differences are ob- 
 vioufly very great; and the Welm bears ftrong 
 8 charac-
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 347 
 
 chara&eriftical marks of affinity with the Hebrew, 
 and none of affinity with the Greek, of any proba- 
 ble later date than the feparation of the Greek itfelf 
 from the Hebrew. 
 
 The mechanifm of Welfh verfe, as far as I have 
 been able to gather, is clearly accentual. This 
 cannot have been derived from the Latin of old, 
 whofe verfe was not accentual but of quantity j nor 
 is there any fhadow of probability that it has been 
 borrowed from the Englifh. We know not there- 
 fore where to look for its origin but to the an- 
 tient Britons. One remark more only upon a fub- 
 jecc which I am ill qualified to profecute : The an- 
 tient Wclfh airs, which have been tranfmitted tra- 
 ditionarily by ignohint harpers, and all belong to 
 fongs, have all that marked accentuation which 
 might fit them for dance ; which indicates ftrongly 
 that the verfe to which they were adapted was 
 powerfully marked by accent. 
 
 I will however venture an obfervation lefs imme- 
 diately belonging to the fubjecT:. In the an- 
 tient Scotifh airs, which are juftly admired for 
 their very peculiar yet beautiful melody, there is 
 no modulation, no change of key. But in the 
 Welih, even the mod imperfect fragments, the air 
 often highly beautiful, tho far lefs ftriking for its 
 peculiarity, we find change of key frequent, and 
 fometimes very artificial modulation, fuch as the 
 modern compoler might not difadvantageouily 
 emulate. Have both been derived from a com- 
 mon
 
 348 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 mon origin, the Greek mufic. brought into Britain 
 by the Romans ? And has not the peculiar cha- 
 racter of the Scotifh arifen from the defective pow- 
 ers of the only inftrument retained by fugitives 
 among the bleak and ftormy highlands, the bag- 
 pipe, while the Welfh, holding the triple harp, but 
 in their poverty and their troubles among their 
 mountains, tho in a better climate, unable duly 
 to cultivate fo complex and troublefome, yet fweet 
 and powerful an inftrument, preferved ruins of a 
 higher ftile of mulic, but only mins ? 
 
 ARTICLE 6. 
 
 Of the Change of the Mechanifm of Verfe, from that 
 of the Latin to that of the modern Languages de- 
 rived from the Latin. 
 
 MEANS are not extant for tracing the dialects 
 of modern Italy, and the kindred languages, up to 
 the Latin, as the modern to the antient Greek. 
 The void is wide j but in the decaying Latin, 
 which remains to us, may be traced a tendency 
 toward the character which pervades the daughters 
 of the Latin ; character of pronuntiation as well 
 as character of phrafe. 
 
 The firft difference which has made itfelf ob- 
 vious to fcholars, has arifen from the feparation of 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 the eaftern and weftern empires. In the beft age 
 of the Latin language, the Auguftan age, the beft 
 poets, as we have formerly obferved from Quin- 
 tilian, were fond of varying the uniformity of the 
 Latin accentuation by the introduction of Greek 
 names ; and, as every pretender to polite learning 
 cultivated the Greek language, thofe names, fo in- 
 troduced in Latin poetry, retained, in recitation, the 
 Greek accent ; otherwile the poet's purpofe would 
 have failed. But when, after the feparation of 
 the empires, and the decay of learning amid violent 
 troubles, the Greek language was no longer cul- 
 tivated in the weft, the pronuntiation of the Greek 
 words adopted in the Latin language, and of 
 Greek names in general, would of courfe yield to 
 the Latin idiom. The accentuation both of the 
 Greek and of the Latin, having been decided by 
 the difpofition of quantities among the fyllables of 
 words, but under different rules, when the proper 
 Greek pronuntiation was loft, either the Greek ac-, 
 centuation* of thole words would be changed for 
 one accommodated to Latin rule, or, to bring the 
 words to the Latin character, without changing 
 the place of the acute accent, the quantity muft 
 be altered. Commonly then, we find, the accent 
 was retained, and the quantity altered. Thus in 
 the name He/ena, the acute being on the penulti- 
 mate, that fyllable was lengthened ; and under the 
 fame rule, in the name PJtitippHS, the acute being 
 on the ante-penultimate, the penultimate would 
 
 be
 
 35 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 be fliortened. Italian, Spanifh, and modern Greek, 
 agree in the accentuation of this name, tho differ- 
 ing in orthography, Filippo, Felipe, $I\nrwot. 
 
 Such inftances might be eafily multiplied. But 
 among many names of places in the kingdom of 
 Naples, retaining to this day their Greek accen- 
 tuation againft Latin rule, Posilippo and Taranto 
 are remarkable ; the former becaufe the place was 
 fo furrounded by the favorite refidences of the 
 Roman great of the Auguftan and following ages, 
 the other, becaufe in Roman writing, and equally 
 no doubt in fpeaking, it was altered to a Roman 
 form requiring a different accentuation, Tarentum. 
 Some inftances in the north of Italy are ftriking 
 from different circumftances. The few Grecian 
 colonies there, fcattered along the coaft by the 
 Maflilians, widely feparated from the mother- 
 country, and fecluded among barbarians, probably 
 loft the Greek language in the earlieft irruptions of 
 the Gothic hords. Neverthelefs Monaco, in a fitua- 
 tion hardly to be approached by land, has, amid cor- 
 ruption in articulation and in orthography, preferved 
 its Greek accentuation from MoWxo?, the antient 
 name ; and it has been in vain that the Latin form 
 Nic*a would require the acute on the penultimate; 
 the Greek accentuation of Ntxaia, demanding the 
 acute on the antepenultimate, has fo preponde- 
 rated, that, whether in Roman or in barbarian 
 mouths, the long penultimate has dropped from 
 the name, which remains in Italian Nizza, in 
 
 French
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 35! 
 
 French Nice. On an eminence among the moun- 
 tains between thefe two little cities, is the village 
 of Torbia, a name formed from the Greek T^cVaia. 
 Here alfo the Latin Trophaa, would require the 
 acute on the penultimate. Neverthelefs, tho let- 
 ters have been inverted, the Greek acccent holds 
 its place. The concurrence of thefe examples, 
 fcattered on a coaft of inhofpitable mountains, with 
 thole remaining among the rich and highly peopled 
 fouthern Italian colonies, and of both with the 
 practice of the modern Greeks, is a kind of phe- 
 nomenon that may be thought not unworthy the 
 obfervation of thofe who have curiofity for the 
 hiftory of languages. 
 
 Thus it feems likely enough that fome of the 
 earlieft corruptions of Latin quantity arofe among 
 the Greek words which had been adopted in the 
 language. But the growing carclefsnefs about 
 quantity, and fuperior refpect for accent, introduced 
 by the Gothic conquerors, was probably not a 
 little promoted by the ftile of mufic, of more 
 poignancy than delicacy, and of cadence flrongly 
 marked, likely to have been moft relilhed by them. 
 At the fame time thepronuntiation of words would 
 often receive change, while the orthography re- 
 mained ; and poflibly to this fhould, in many 
 cafes, be attributed the extreme irregularity of 
 fome of the later Roman verification, in which 
 even two conibnants following a vowel do not in- 
 fure the length of the fyllable. This has excited 
 
 (Iron r
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ftrong expreflion of contempt from fome modern 
 fcholars ; whom yet perhaps Cicero and Quintilian 
 would admonifh to inquire whether, in the pro- 
 nuntiation of the day, two confonants were given to 
 the ear, before they undertake to fay that the poet 
 has put a long fyllable for a (hort one> On com- 
 paring the modern language of Italy with the Latin, 
 it will appear highly probable that, in the middle 
 ages, fome confonants, which neverthelefs held their 
 'place in orthography, were no longer heard in de- 
 livery ; a circumftance not a little too familiar in 
 Englifh. orthography. It mufb follow that, in thofe 
 ages, verfification for the mafs of the people, tho 
 {till refling on quantity, could no longer be pre- 
 cifely the verfification of Virgil and Ovid. As 
 troubles and revolutions then were repeated, as the 
 original race of inhabitants became lefs, and the 
 new fettlers more numerous, the pronuntiation 
 would become more corrupted, and the popular 
 verfification muft of neceffity accommodate itfelf 
 to the pronuntiation of the day. At length the 
 accentual cadence, which is commonly found in 
 Virgil, and fcarcely ever fails in Ovid, becoming 
 the only cadence marked by the voice, the better 
 cadence of quantity ceafed not only to be per- 
 ceived, but even underftood. To adorn the ac- 
 centual cadence, rimes were added and the hexa- 
 meter became a couplet. Thus when the change 
 of language was finally completed from the antient 
 Latin to the modern Tufcan, it was a very ad- 
 
 vantageous
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 353 
 
 vantageous change accompanying it, which efta- 
 blifhed the poetical meafures of Petrarca and Taflb, 
 not on the ruin of thofe of Horace and Virgil, 
 which no longer held other exiftence than in 
 writing, but of a wretched burlefk of them. 
 
 The few words which, in the firft revival of let- 
 ters in Italy, the Italians adopted from the Greek, 
 then dill a living language with its accentuation 
 Xinqueftioned, would be likely to hold their Greek 
 tones. Thus the word idea, ufed fo early as by 
 Petrarc, has been tranfmitted equally in Italian and 
 in Englifh with its Grecian accentuation undif- 
 turbed. The names Jkfcrfcand Sophia afford fimilar 
 example : nor is quantity here at all violated even in 
 Englifh pronuntiation, but on the contrary, if 
 modern fcholars will acute the word <reipa, after the 
 Latin rule, on the antepenultimate, then, if they 
 ufe the ordinary manner of Englifh delivery, they 
 will falfify the quantity by making that fyllable 
 long. 
 
 But Italian fpeech affords examples of Grecian 
 accentuation in words which it muft apparently 
 have received through the Latin, as in Armonia j 
 and the SpaniO* feems to have had, in its early days, 
 a ftill ftronger tendency to the Grecian pradice. 
 Why a fpeech derived from the Latin mould acute 
 the names Lucia and Andalusia after the Grecian 
 manner, is not obvious. In the name hidro, 
 contracted from I<n<L>o?, the intire difmiflal of 
 the penultimate fyllable, formed with a long 
 
 A A vowel
 
 354 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 vowel fupported by a following confonant, is a ftill 
 greater violence on quantity, in favor of accent, than 
 the difmiflal of vowels preceding vowels, in the 
 Italian names Nizza and Torbia. 
 
 When the former articles of this fection were 
 committed to the prefs, I was wholly unaware of a 
 claim made by fome German poets of the prelent 
 age. It is to the Italian tranflator of the Iliad, 
 Cefarotti, I owe the information that they have un- 
 dertaken, in their rough language, to give, not only 
 the hexameter verfe of the Greek and Latin, but 
 all the lyrical meafures of Horace and even of 
 Pindar; and this not in fmall and probationary 
 attempts only, like thofe in which Sidney failed, 
 as all muft fail, in our tongue, but in whole epic 
 poems, and a complete verfion of Horace's odes. 
 But Cefarotti adds, ' It muft however be confefled 
 
 * that the Latino-Germanic profody differs fome- 
 
 * what from the antient ; and indeed I have dif- 
 ' ficulty to believe that Horace and Virgil would 
 ' know their own meafures Ib Germanized/* In 
 
 thefe 
 
 * * I Tedefchi, piii laboriofi ed oftinati de%\ 'Italian!, a forza 
 
 * d'infiftenza, pretendono d'efler giunti a rappreientar, nel 
 
 * loro verfo, tutti i metri del Latini e del Greci. II celebrc 
 
 * Klopftock, oltre aver pofta la fua Mefliade in verfo efametro, 
 
 * fcrifle anche alcune ode collo fpirito e coi metri lirici di Pin- 
 ' daro. II Prof. Ramler dell' Accad. di Berlino, ha, per cosi 
 
 * dire, rigenerato Orazio, confervandogli, nella lingua Tedefca, 
 
 * il genie, lo ftile, e fpeflb anche 1'armonia fillabica. Convien 
 
 * pera confeflare che le regolc della profodia Latino-Germanica 
 
 'fono
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 355 
 
 thefe opinions I cannot but agree with the learned 
 Italian ; and indeed, combining what I have been 
 able to gather from others, concerning German ver- 
 fifkation, with the fmall obfervation for which I 
 have had opportunity myfelf, and adding, what is 
 abundantly obvious, the complete confufion of 
 accent and quantity in all the writings of the ableft 
 German fcholars on the fubjec"t, nearly the fame 
 which has been made by Italian and EngliQi 
 fcholars, and which has not equally been made by 
 the French, I cannot doubt the fuperiority of ac- 
 cent, and the utter impotence of quantity, as 
 regulator of that harmony of which the German 
 language is capable, and principal efficient of its 
 verfe. Nor will it be any difgrace to the Ger- 
 man, and other dialects of Teutonic origin, to agree 
 in this with the Englifh, which is a fifter-fpeech, 
 and with the Italian, Spanifh, and Romanefk, 
 which were compelled to depofe the ruling power 
 of the harmony of their parent language, and re- 
 ceive new laws of verfe from the Teutonic con- 
 querors. 
 
 ' fono alquanto diverfe d'all' antica; ed bo pena a credere che 
 ' 1'orecchie di Virgilio e d'Orazio riconofceflero il loro metro 
 ' germanizzato.' 
 
 A A
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIJIES OF 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 Of EUPHONT and CACOPHONY. 
 
 ACCORDING to our preceding definitions Eu- 
 phony and Cacophony, in language, mean found 
 pleafing and unplealing, confidered as it may exift 
 in fyllables uncombined, or in the tranfition from 
 fyllable to fyllable, and therefore independent of 
 harmonical refults. Neverthelefs as the fineft mu- 
 fic, exhibited on a coarfe inftrument, may offend 
 rather than gratify the ear, fo if euphony is defi- 
 cient in a language, but ftill more, if cacophony 
 abounds, any powers of harmony it may poflefs 
 will fail of their juft effect. 
 
 Euphony arifes chiefly from vowels, cacophony 
 .from confonants. But a language confifting of 
 only vowels would pall on the ear, as unmixed 
 fweets on the palate. Among inftruments it would 
 moft refemble the mufical glaffes ; which, with all 
 the great powers they poflefs, quickly fatiate : 
 even the flute has, for moft ears, too untempered 
 a fweetnefs. Confonants therefore are neceflary, 
 not only to mark divifions of vowels, not only to 
 add force to the faint effect of vowels, but through 
 their very afperity to relieve the tedioufnefs of 
 continued foftnefs. 
 
 Euphony then, fimply confidered, may perhaps 
 be affirmed to exift in vowel found only ; but eu- 
 phony,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 357 
 
 phony, in extended recitation, depends on the 
 juft mixture of vowel and confonant founds. In 
 this juft mixture, as in moft other points, the an- 
 tient Greek language feems to have excelled all 
 others known to have been fpoken. The Hebrew 
 was fo harm, and the congenial dialects of Chaldea, 
 Syria, and Arabia, had a fimilar character, that 
 we find Jofephus confeffing he was amamed to ex- 
 hibit their founds by reprefentation of Grecian 
 characters. The Latin had powerful harmony, but 
 not without a confiderable mixture of harm found, 
 which has poffibly been too much polifhed away by 
 its faireft daughter, the Italian. The founds of 
 the Greek language may be compared to thofe of a 
 fine violin ; joining the greateft fweetnefs with the 
 moft various powers : the founds of the Latin 
 may be compared to thofe of a harm violin, of 
 power ftill great, but lefs various, and of far lefs 
 ingaging fweetnefs : the founds of the Italian re- 
 femble thofe of a fine flute, the fweetnefs ex- 
 quifite,. but the power inferior. The French, for 
 its nafal tones and want of effect of accent, might 
 perhaps be compared to the bagpipe ; or to 
 that organ-flop which has moft of the nafal effect 
 of the bagpipe; both wanting the powers of ac- 
 cent. I am at a lofs for an inftrument to which 
 to compare the Englifli, becaufe its virtues and 
 its vices are both fo great. For both, the opinions 
 of foreiners will deferve much consideration. In 
 an account of Paris, lately publifhed, it is faid, 
 A A 3 * The
 
 358 INQUIRY INTO THZ PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ' The French complain that the Englifh fpeak fo 
 ' much between their teeth, that they cannot un- 
 < derftand them :' adding, in their own quaint 
 expreffion, TAnglois eft la feule langue pour qui 
 ' il ne faut pas une langue/ It is impoffible not 
 to acknowlege that there is much juftice in this 
 imputation. Yet I am inclined to think that we 
 are not a little indebted to the French themfelves 
 for the habit of fpeaking thus indiftindly. For 
 a century paft, the fafhion of learning to fpeak 
 French, as a part of very early education, has been 
 growing among us ; but more efpecially in the laft 
 half century, it has been, for girls, univerfal : 
 thofe who learn anything, learn at lead a little 
 French. It is a remark of Cicero that the pu- 
 rity of the fpeech delivered from our forefathers has 
 been everywhere beft preferved among women. 
 What then is likely to be the effect of the 
 cultivation of the French language upon our 
 fpeech ? The nrft direction, commonly given, in 
 teaching French pronuntiation, is to open the 
 mouth for the letter a ; but not fo wide as for our 
 own firft vowel : therefore, tho the open a is of 
 more frequent occurrence in French than in Eng- 
 lifh, yet in the way of power to open the mouth, 
 nothing is gained. Of the next vowel, e y the pro- 
 nuntiation in French is various : but it is for the 
 feminine ,a found peculiar to the French language, 
 that inftruction is moft wanted by foreiners, and 
 this is not among the founds that will open the 
 
 mouth,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 359 
 
 mouth, or give any grace to pronunciation. The 
 Frenchman who was witty upon the muttering of 
 the Englifh within their teeth, and the needleff- 
 nefs of a tongue for fpeaking their language, was, 
 ho doubt, from habit, unconfcious of the character 
 of fuch phrafes in his own language as ' je ne le 
 ' veux pas j cela ne fe peut pas.' The fonorous 
 brevity of the correfponding phrafes in Italian, *non 
 ' lo voglio: non fi puo,' might ftartle him. The 
 French u has much difficulty for all foreiners ; for 
 none more than Italians ; but neither is that a vowel 
 to open the mouth ; on the contrary it requires a 
 protrulion of the lips, for which I have known a 
 French teacher give direction by a very apt finiili- 
 tude, too coarfe for mention here. 
 
 Giving however fome credit to French criticifm 
 on the vices of Englifh pronuntiation, I will quote 
 a learned and able foreiner of another country for 
 its virtues, but its virtues of three centuries ago. 
 Polydore Vergil, legate of Rome at the court of 
 king Henry the feventh, and afterward cardinal, in 
 his Hiilory of England, quoted always with refpecl 
 by our belt hiftorians,oblerves that three languages 
 were fpoken in Britain, the Englifh, the Welfh, 
 and the Erie. For their comparative merits he 
 could judge only of the found j but the terms in 
 which he attributes fu peri or euphony to the Eng- 
 lifli deferve notice J * Angli, Latinos re<fce imi- 
 * tantes, parum infra labia voccm exprimunt, 
 A A 4 * qua?
 
 360 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 e qua? audientibus fuavem recldit fonum.' If it 
 might bs fuppofed that he had here in view the 
 negative merit only of freedom from the harlh 
 gutturals of Welm and Highland Scottifli pronun- 
 tiation, a few pages onward he mows clearly that 
 he meant higher eulogy : c Angli,' he fays, * fono 
 1 lingua Italis perfimilesV The teflimony alto- 
 gether is clear, that the founds of Englifh fpeech, 
 in that age, were foft and pleafant to an Italian 
 ear, and that the character of the pronuntiation 
 nearly refembled the Italian. The queflion re- 
 mains, whether the preient fpeech preferves this 
 advantageous character, or in what points it has 
 degenerated ? 
 
 I have had occafion heretofore to notice the 
 miftakes often made for want of keeping clearly 
 diftin<5t, in mind and in expreflion, uttered founds, 
 and letters the reprcfentatives of thofe founds. I 
 remember to have found a notion prevalent among 
 fome learned and informed Italians at Rome, that 
 the Scotch had a greater facility for Italian pronun- 
 tiation than the Englifh ; which could not but 
 furprize anybody acquainted with Scotifh accen- 
 tuation, fo widely different from anything Italian, 
 and with the difficulty which thofe bred in Scot- 
 land have to accommodate their organs to any other 
 manner of tones. It prefently however appeared 
 
 * Pol. Vcrg. Hift. Angl. 1. i. p. 15 and 29. Ed. Duaci, 1603. 
 
 that
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 3$! 
 
 that this notion was founded on nothing more 
 than that thofe educated in Scotland, juft as thofe 
 till of very late years educated at Winchefter, had 
 been taught, in reading Latin, to give to the feve- 
 ral vowel characters nearly the Italian enuntiation, 
 which is not the practice of Englifh fcholars in ge- 
 neral. And I found, upon queftioning particularly 
 the old Roman formerly mentioned, that Scotch- 
 men who had come early to Rome, bringing with 
 them the accent of their country, pronounced 
 Italian ftill, after thirty years practice there, in his 
 opinion, very ill ; but younger men, who had con- 
 verfed early among Englishmen, fo as to have loft 
 their Scotim accentuation, fpoke it well. For Eng- 
 lifh fpeech pofTefles every vowel found ufed by the 
 Italians, tho its founds are often very differently repre- 
 fented by written letters ; and that its accentuation 
 bears the fame affinity with the Italian as formerly, 
 its verfification clearly mows. Thus far therefore 
 the general refemblance of found, in the two lan- 
 guages, probably remains nearly as it flood three 
 centuries ago. 
 
 But if we proceed farther to compare ourprefent 
 with our elder verfification, we fhall find innova- 
 tions, whence, in fome points, the refemblance 
 muft be now lefs clofe, and the language is become 
 at the fame time lefs deferring of the learned 
 cardinal's eulogy, and more obnoxious to the 
 Frenchman's fneer. Perhaps the verfification of 
 Spenfer, tho he wrote later, may, for the idiom he 
 
 *"* A A 5 chofe,
 
 362 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES Of 
 
 chofe, be among the bed keys remaining to the 
 Englim pronuntiation of Polydore Vergil's time. 
 Let us take then the following lines : 
 
 Scarce had he faid, when hard at hand they fpy 
 That quickfand ligh, with water covered. 
 But by the checked wave they did defer/ 
 It plain, and by the fea difcolored. 
 It called was the quickfand of Unthriftihead. 
 
 Fairy Queen, b. 2. c. 12. v. 18. 
 
 The verfe here neceflarily requires the pronunti^ 
 ation of that fyllable of the words covered, checked, 
 difcolored, and called, which the modern fafhion 
 of fpeech, difcarding its vowel, has abolifhed, tlio 
 the modern fafhion of orthography retains its full 
 reprefentation. In Shakefpear's age, tho the prac- 
 tice of eliding the vowel in delivery was evidently 
 already ordinary in familiar communication, yet 
 the advantage of retaining it, for folemn fubjects, 
 was ftill permitted to the poet. The following 
 pafTage, whether Shakefpear's or not, being of his 
 age, may ferve for example : 
 
 This dreadful lord, 
 Retiring from the fiege of Orleans, 
 Was round incompafled and fet upon. 
 No leifure had he to inrank his men. 
 He wanted pikes to fct before his archers ! 
 Inftead whereof fharp (lakes pluckt out of hedges 
 They pitched in the ground confufedly. 
 
 Part I. of king Henry vi. Aft i. 
 
 Here the meafure indicates the fame difference of 
 elder from modern pronuntiation, in the words 
 
 incompajfedj
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 36$ 
 
 incompaffid, pitched, and confufidly y as in thofe be- 
 fore noticed in the pafTage from Spenfer. The 
 pronuntiation of the vowel e being allowed, as 
 it was when the paflages were written, and as it 
 rauft be ftill to make them verfe, the words will 
 have no difficulty for an Italian voice to articulate, 
 nor for Italian orthography nearly to reprefent. 
 But the modern elifion produces a harfhnefs at 
 which Italian organs revolt : we are ourfelves un- 
 able to pronounce pitch* d: in articulation we are 
 reduced to fubftitute a / for the orthographical d. 
 For diftinct reprefentation alfo, not only Italian, 
 but our own orthography fails. The modern ufe 
 of the mark of elifion, fpiit ting words offenfively for 
 the eye, and embarraffing the indication of found, 
 as in confusedly, has, fortunately for our language, 
 not yet obtained univerfal acceptation. Perhaps 
 the word confufedly, euphonous with its four fylla- 
 bles complete, might yet be allowed to a poet ; 
 but, in the want of means to affure the reader's eye 
 at once that four fyllables are intended, there 
 might be fome hazard of his indignation at what 
 might appear, at firft fight, a defective verfe. 
 
 In the fecond paifage we find an elifion in the 
 word pluckt, and boldly prefented by fubflituting 
 the /, which articulation requires, for the orthogra- 
 phical d, which, deprived of the preceding vowel, 
 cannot be articulated. A very cacophonous ter- 
 mination indeed is thus produced j the ill erTedt of 
 which however, by judicious arrangement, is ob^ 
 
 viated ;
 
 364 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 viated ; for a vowel following, without an interven- 
 ing paufe, the harlh combination of k and /, does not 
 ftand as a termination, nor ungracefully check the 
 flow of the voice into a found produced without 
 effort of organ. The fpirit of Italian euphony in- 
 deed, too faftidious, refufes the mute c a place before 
 the mute t, even in the middle of words, and for the 
 Latin c, fo fituated, fubftitutes another /; as in fatto, 
 petto, fmtt9, from faffits, peftus, fruftus. But the 
 Greek did not wholly refufe the variety and force 
 for which fuch combinations afford means. Never 
 indeed allowing a mute to terminate a word, it will 
 not, like the Latin pleftit and pleftunt, countenance 
 the phrafe pluckt-out. Taking however the phrafe 
 intire, phickt-out-of hedges, the incipient vowels 
 throughout obviating the harmnefs of the termin- 
 ating confonants, it has perhaps hardly more caco- 
 phony than fome Greek phrafes. 
 
 It has been remarked by Samuel Johnfon and 
 Gregory Sharpe, that the letter e is the letter of 
 mofb common occurrence in human fpeech. If 
 thofe learned men would have gone on to fay of 
 which of the various founds reprefented by that 
 charader,- in the various languages inwhofe ortho- 
 graphy it is found, they meant to fpeak, it might 
 be pomble to decide whether we admit or deny 
 the affertion. In the two neighboring languages 
 of England and France only, from the Engliih e in 
 me, through the French in mes, me, en, and the 
 Englifh again in there, men, err, the range is wide. 
 
 But
 
 HARMON* IN LANGUAGE. 365 
 
 But I believe that in Italian, the vowel reprefented 
 by the letters, will rival in frequency of occurrence 
 that reprefented by the letter e s and it is the vowel 
 to which Dionyfius of Halicarnafius attributes pre- 
 cedence in merit. How much more the Italian pro- 
 rmntiation affects that found than the French, may 
 be gathered from a comparifon of the French verb 
 aimer with the Italian amare y through their moods 
 and tenfes ; or, for a pleafanter example, we may 
 take the following flanza of Taflb, defcribing what 
 we write a reveille, and our honeft foldiers, who 
 cannot twift their mouths to French pronuntiation, 
 call a revally : 
 
 Gia 1'aura meflagiera erafi defta 
 
 Per annunziar che fe ne vien 1'Aurora. 
 Ella in tanto s'adorna, e 1'aurea tefta 
 
 Di rofe colte in Paradifo infiora. 
 Quando il campo, che a 1'arme omai s'apprefta, 
 
 In voce mormorava aha e fonora, 
 E prevenia le trombe, e quefte puoi 
 
 Dier piu lieti e canori i fegni fuoi. 
 
 This frequency of the noblefl of the vowels, in 
 the Italian language, appears to have been derived, 
 through the Latin, from the ^Eolian and Dorian 
 Greek. It is apt to ftrike Englimmen, on firft 
 going into Italy, as producing too much vocifera- 
 tion ; a kind of bawling effect. In the declama- 
 tion of the theater, even at Florence, while new to 
 me, I remember it appeared too predominating : 
 the Attic Greek never had an equal proportion of 
 
 the
 
 366 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 the fame found. Neverthelefs it certainly afiifts 
 much to obviate the character of effeminacy, which 
 might arife from the deficient proportion of confo- 
 nant founds in Italian fpeech. 
 
 The fault of the Englifh, in point of euphony, 
 is exadtly the reverfe of the Italian. The noble 
 found of the firil vowel is fcarce, and confonants 
 overabound. But it is in terminations only that 
 they fo abound as to produce conliclerable caco- 
 phony j and here the French, it mud be allowed, has 
 a great fuperiority. In other points the French has 
 great and peculiar defects. The French language is 
 fingular in the pofleffion of that ofFenfive vowel, 
 which can only be defcribed as the French ; no 
 known alphabet having a character or combination 
 of characters to reprefent it. The French is alfo re- 
 markable for the poffefiion of that other found, 
 which, tho not at all a confonant, is hardly half 
 a vowel, incapable of production, incapable of 
 connexion with a following confonant, called by 
 French grammarians the feminine e It is more- 
 over remarkable for its nafal found, indicated by 
 the letter , flill more offenfive than either of the 
 former. Tho indicated only by a confonant cha- 
 radter the French critics appear juftly toaflert that 
 it is not a confonant, but meerly a nafal affedion 
 of the preceding vowel. All thefe are of very 
 frequent occurrence in the language, and form the 
 charaderiflical features of its found, which dif- 
 tinguiih it, at wide diftance, from all other lan- 
 guages.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 367 
 
 guages. The difference between the hiding mutter 
 of the pronoun je in French, and the clear fweetnefs 
 of the correfpondent pronoun to in Italian, yo in 
 Spanim, if they are derived from the fame Latin 
 word, is extraordinary. 
 
 The language of our Anglofaxon forefathers had 
 many cacophonous terminations, and modern fpeech 
 has not only preferved but very confiderably added 
 to them. Hume, partial to France, has unfoundedly 
 aflerted that the greatefb and bed part of the Englifh 
 language has been derived from the French , and 
 Johnfon, who more than reafonably hated and 
 abufed the French, has, apparently through idJe- 
 nefs, deferred more to the French language in the 
 derivation of our words, than on juft examination 
 will be found to be warranted. The form of the 
 Englifh language has hardly in any degree been 
 derived from the French. Numerous words in- 
 deed have been introduced from it. But it would 
 be eafy to mow that a very large proportion of 
 thofe originating from the Latin, have not pafTed 
 through that to which Johnfon has negligently 
 referred them, a French medium : moreover among 
 thofe which have come through the French, are 
 fome of the moft cacophonous of our language. 
 We may take for inftance the WQtdjitdgf. This, 
 bad enough certainly, is however not worfe than 
 the French, whence it comes ; till, in ufing it as a 
 verb, we add the confonant indicating the paft tenfe, 
 without allowing found to the vowel which mould 
 
 proceed,
 
 368 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 proceed, as in judgd. Then it muft be confefled 
 that French cacophony has nothing refembling it* 
 Neverthelefs it may deferve obfervation what part 
 of this cacophony we owe to the French, In bor- 
 rowing kindred words immediately from the Latin 
 we get no fuch cacophony : inftead of judge ', 
 judgd, judgement, we have adjudicate^ adjudicator., 
 adjudicated, adjudication. 
 
 It is remarkable that fome of our mod cacopho- 
 nous terminations are derived from the mod eupho- 
 nous language ever fpoken ; but then they come 
 through a bad medium, the French. It muft 
 however be acknowleged that tho the medium is 
 bad, tho the grace of the original is wholly loft in 
 it, yet the French words have been formed with a 
 juft confideration of analogy in their own lan- 
 guage 5 cacophonous indeed, yet they are adapted 
 to pronuntiation by French mouths. But the 
 words adopted in Englifh, cateckifm> mechanifm y 
 and all others in tfm y have no analogy with any old 
 Englifli words, nor are orthographically pronounce- 
 able. The common people therefore ordinarily 
 take the not unfair liberty of difmilling the final 
 m, of which they do not underftand the ufe, and 
 pronounce catechiz. Politer Englifli pronuntia- 
 tion, not yet become fo French as to admit the 
 feminine e at the end of the word, yet, in its effort 
 to pronounce the m after the J, is compelled to the 
 ufe of that half articulate vowel, or fomething very 
 like it, where no letter is orthographically acknow- 
 leged,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 36$ 
 
 leged, between the s and the m : thus we imitate 
 the French fo far as to make the combination al- 
 together more than one fyllable and yet lefs than 
 two. Had analogy and euphony been at all to- 
 gether confidered, we have, within our language, 
 what might have indicated the means of accom- 
 modating both. The power, admitted in fome 
 cafes, of writing a y to be pronounced, inftead of 
 an e to be filent, often accommodates euphony 
 greatly ; as conveniency and redundancy, for conve- 
 nience and redundance. If indeed the Latin termina- 
 tion in tia were required to authorize the Englifh 
 termination in y, it would not anfwer,for the ad- 
 dition of that vowel to the. words catechifm and 
 meckanifn. But the fpirit of formation of words 
 received in Englifh fpeech has not been al- 
 ways fo fcrupulous ; and it would have been ad- 
 vantageous for the language, if, in derivation, and 
 in everything,- it had more aliened an analogy of 
 its own, inftead of fervilely deferring, in the fafliion 
 too much fandioned even by Samuel Johnfon, to 
 the rules or practice of other tongues. 
 
 The confideration of euphony and cacophony 
 might lead into length far beyond what would be 
 fuitable here. I will therefore touch upon one point 
 only more. The hiding found of s has always been 
 reckoned among the moft ungraceful of confonants, 
 and yet it abounds in moft languages. It is frequent 
 in euphonous Greek; more frequent in Latin; far 
 B Jefs
 
 37O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 lefs in the modern Italian, and yet, even there fome- 
 times very pointedly forced upon the ear, ftanding 
 alone as indicant of the negative in compofition,. 
 inflead of the Latin fyllable dis. But in Spanifh, 
 one of the mofl euphonous of modern fpeeches, 
 s abounds. Its frequency has fometimes been 
 reckoned among the difgraces of the Englilh. I 
 think not its fimple frequency, but rather the 
 combinations in which it is found, is among the 
 difgraces of the Englifl*. S is among thofe let- 
 ters which antient grammarians intitled SIR- 
 VILE. It has been obferved, on a former occa- 
 fion, that s is the only confonant which can be 
 combined by the voice in pronuntiation with two 
 other confonants. It has fuch aptitude to co- 
 alefce in pronuntiation with other confonants, 
 that it is capable of fupplying the place often 
 of that obfcure vowel found, nearly refem- 
 bling the French feminine e, which will fol- 
 low a mute confonant, if nothing elfe follows. 
 Hence apparently the extenfion of that inelegant 
 corruption, now rapidly fpreading from the fpeecli 
 pf the vulgar of the metropolis, by which an s is 
 continually added to words to which it of no right 
 belongs, generally at the end, but, in compound 
 words, often in the middle. In fpite of Johnfon, and 
 all our beft lexicographers, numerous words are 
 inriched with a final s unknown to our forefathers. 
 9 To
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 To all terminations, formerly in ward, as inward^ 
 forward, toward, an added s begins to obtain even 
 in claflical books. A learned lawyer would not 
 write afeflions for afeffion: but his editor will print 
 it fo. It is curious to obfcrve how corruption arifes. 
 Sedlon and Summons are words commonly coming 
 into ufe together. Seflion is from Se/fio, Summons 
 from Summonitio, and, analogy confidcred, were per- 
 haps more properly written fummonce. But the s, 
 having obtained in the fingular of fummons, his 
 crept into ufe as an addition to the proper fingular 
 offeJ/ioH ; and now in the fame learned law-books, 
 where we find authority for writing a fcflions, we 
 find alfo authority for writing, inftead of the old 
 verb tofummoH, the new verb to fummom b . 
 
 The founds which we are accuftomed to hear in 
 the fpeech of the polite, gain favor with our ears, 
 as the drefles of the prevailing fafhion in our eyes ; 
 but if we diveft ourlelves of this prejudice, we fhall 
 
 b A mod curious inflance of the defpotifm exercifed in thefe 
 matters by the editors, occurs in the quarto edition of John- 
 fon's D'ftionary. The verb tofummon ii given, in its proper 
 place, without a hint of any authority for a final / : yet under 
 the word bring, among the explanations, occurs the verb to/um- 
 rnons, with the s added. Johnfon being thus made to furniflx 
 authority againft himfelf and againft all the authorities to which 
 he has referred, it is no wonder that learned lawyers, who have 
 little leifure for fucrh little matters, (hould have been unable, in 
 their publications, to defrnd their language againll fuch inele- 
 gant corruption. This inffonce, iho among the aloft remark- 
 able, is far from being fingular in its kind. 
 
 B B t often
 
 372- INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 often find an attention to euphony in the fpeech 
 of the vulgar, which in polite fpeech has given 
 way to cacophony not more reafonable than the 
 buckram coats and immenfe periwigs, and pinch- 
 ing flays and cumbrous hoops, long fmce julily 
 exploded. The modern vulgarifm I fay,' 
 is offenfive only on account of the mouths it 
 is commonly heard from : with foreiners unac- 
 quainted with its vulgarity, it will have due cre- 
 dit for euphony. The deficiencies of our gram- 
 mars, formed after thofe of other languages, without 
 juft inveftigation of our own, has led to cacophony 
 in polite fpeech, which the vulgar yet avoid. In all 
 languages fome things have been admitted under no 
 other rule than that of euphony, many things for- 
 merly in our own ; but now, with an affectation of 
 correctnefs, often widely miftaken, all conceffion 
 to euphony is denied. 
 
 Englifh fpeech has rarely any material cacophony 
 in the middle of words, except what may arife 
 from the too common practice of indiftindt deli- 
 very; but in terminations it too certainly abounds. 
 Much however may be obviated or concealed by ju- 
 dicious difpofition. A well-eared poet will of courfe 
 avoid cacophony in rimes, and in the confpicuous 
 parts, efpecially the laft fy liable, of any verfe. A 
 long vowel in the final fyllable of a large proportion 
 of the firft verfes of Paradife Loft, contributes not 
 a, little to the grandeur and folemnity of the effect. 
 
 Pope
 
 . HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 373 
 
 Pope has had general credit for what are called rich 
 rimes; tho his higher refpect juftly directed to that 
 powerful clofenefs of phrafe, in which he Iingularly 
 excels, has led him to admit fome rimes rather caco- 
 phonous. The word KING is certainly not eupho- 
 nous, nor of dignified found ; the vowel is fhort and 
 clofe, and the following confonant, one confonant 
 exprefled by two characters, the moft cacophonous 
 in our pronuntiation. ; Neverthelefs the idea con- 
 veyed obviates any impreffion of lownefs. Whe- 
 ther however it was for the dignity of the idea or 
 the oppofite quality of the found, that Pope chofe 
 it for the firft rime of his Eflay on Man, with ca- 
 cophony doubled by an added J, appears doubtful. 
 He has indeed not fcrupled the termination in />/, 
 for the firft rime of his tranflation of the Iliad, but 
 the example is not to be recommended. Termi- 
 nations in a long vowel, or a liquid confonant pre- 
 ceded by a long vowel, will be moft euphonous. 
 The termination in a liquid confonant preceded by 
 a fhort vowel, tho lefs rich, will make a pleafant 
 variety. That of a mute preceded by a long 
 vowel will be wholly unobjectionable, rich with- 
 out any cacophony, if a vowel begin the following 
 word, as in the firft verfe of Paradife Loft. Thefe 
 however would, in our language, be limits too 
 narrow for the poet ; and the ear practifed in our 
 verification will take no offence at the conclufion 
 of the fecond line of Paradife Loft, where a long 
 vowel is followed by two conlbnants within the 
 
 B B 3 fame
 
 374 INQUIRY IHTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 fame fyllable, and two confonants begin the next 
 
 verfe. But here it is reljeved by the whifpered 
 
 fyllable which muffc follow the mute /, and which, 
 
 at the end of a verfe, at leaft to ears habituated to 
 
 it, may be not without its grace. The judicious 
 
 poet however will be fparing of fuch accumulation 
 
 of confonants. The reft of the opening of the 
 
 Paradiie Loft is perhaps among the moft perfect 
 
 models of the beft euphony, as well as of the beft 
 
 harmony, of which our language is capable.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 * 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 Of GRAMMAR. 
 
 THE Harmony of Language is materially in- 
 terefted in GRAMMAR, inaimuch as the varieties of 
 grammatical form and grammatical order furnifh 
 the principal means for the harmonious arrangement 
 of words in fentences. A wide field is thus indi- 
 cated, in which however it is not intended here 
 either to expatiate or to take any regular road ; 
 fome obfervations only are propofed, and not a 
 treatife. 
 
 In the earliefl ages of Englifh litterature, the 
 analyfis of the language could not but ingage fome 
 attention from thofe required or defirous to write 
 in it. Neverthelefs Ben Jonfon's compendious 
 grammar, printed among his works, is perhaps the 
 oldeft now extant. But tho already in his time 
 the language had been cultivated with a fuccefs 
 which, in fome branches, has not been fince 
 equalled, yet in our univerfities and principal 
 fchools it remained wholly neglected. Scholars 
 might gain its grammar, if fancy fo directed their 
 diligence, by comparing its forms and phrafes 
 with thofe of two very different fpeeches, the 
 antient GreeK and Latin. But the inconvenience 
 refulting from the neglect was not fmall. While 
 B B 4 a few
 
 376 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 a few men of extraordinary talents availed them- 
 felves of the inherent powers of the language to pro- 
 duce fome unrivaTled works, it was in general writ- 
 ten and fpoken inelegantly and incorrectly ; info- 
 much that Swift, eflcemed the pureft writer of that 
 commonly called the golden age of Englifh letters, 
 has expreffed his opinion of the depravity of the 
 common practice of his time, in ftrong terms. 
 His project for an academy of the language, in 
 imitation of the Italian and French, has not been 
 generally confidered with favor by our men of 
 letters who have noticed it * the French academy 
 itfelf has been the feoff of fome eminent wits 
 even of its own nation : and yet I cannot fcruple 
 to declare my opinion that the French language 
 owes much to its academy, and that the Englifh 
 might have profited from a fimilar inflitution con- 
 ducted with equal judgement. 
 
 But the fpirit of trade, among its extraordinary 
 operations in this country, has done that for the 
 litterature, which the fpirit of litterature itfelf feems 
 rather to have fcorned. A fociety of bookfellers, 
 employing Samuel Johnibn, produced that highly 
 valuable work, imperfect as it is, a (inpendous 
 work for a fingle man, his Englifh dictionary. 
 About the fame time, Harris, Sheridan, and others 
 
 * 
 
 contributed to make the ftudy of the Englifh 
 tongue an object for the Engliflk fcholar ; but the 
 attention of our univerfities feems to have been 
 roufed to it principally by the claffical authority of 
 
 bifhop
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 bimop Lowth. That eminent critic was the firft 
 to mark for the fcholar's attention the importance 
 of the Anglofaxon tongue, the groundwork of 
 the. modern language, on which its analogy wholly 
 refls. He firft exhibited in juft light the precifion 
 which tne Engllfti derives from its articles, beyond 
 any other known language, even the antient Greek. 
 He firft completely vindicated the cafes of the 
 nouns againft the miftakcs of former writers, fome 
 of great authority, which had produced lome injury 
 to the fpeech, and threatened much more. He went 
 beyond all before him in explanation of the fupe- 
 rior merits of the Englifh VERB. Samuel Johnfon 
 has, with a kind of dignified carelefsnefs, noticed 
 the difficulties of the Englifh future, as what he 
 was unable completely to explain. Every Englifh 
 child feels the difference ofy7/#// and ;///, and 
 ufes each in its proper place ; yet Johnfon's ex- 
 amples, to which he refers for all explanation, have 
 been found of little avail todireft foreiners, or even 
 the Scotch and Irifb, to the proper practice. 
 Lowth has gone far beyond Johnfon ; but even his 
 explanation, juft, and perhaps complete in logical 
 diftinclion, has been found infufficicnt to direcl ufe. 
 A manulcript treauie on Englilh grammar, un- 
 fortunately little more than begun, by the hue 
 Mr. Thomas Whateley, fecretary of the treafury 
 under Mr. George Grenville, was feveral years 
 ago, but not till after the author's death, put into 
 my hands. It promifed to have been, had it been 
 
 finifhecj,
 
 378 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OP 
 
 finiftied, the completeft analyfis extant of any 
 language. I have often regretted that I did not 
 profit more from it while I had the means ; I made 
 no notes from it, but his explanation of the Eng- 
 lifh future has remained in my memory. Aux- 
 iliary verbs, he faid, are none of them meer aux- 
 iliaries ; all have their proper powers as principal or 
 fubftantive verbs. To will is yet in Englifh a 
 complete verb, declaring the act of volition in ge- 
 neral. Shall is no longer a complete verb, but its 
 independent meaning is neverthelefs clear ; it de- 
 clares volition alfo, but volition directed to a par- 
 ticular object, indicating the intention to compel. 
 Englifh verbs then, not having, as thofe of fome 
 other languages, the convenience of an appropriate 
 form to indicate futurity, are affifted by the ex- 
 pedient, common in other languages for other 
 tenfes, of introducing an auxiliary verb. The 
 verb to will prefented itfelf, marking futurity 
 clearly, and, for the fecond and third perfons, com- 
 modioufly ; becaufe, as we can exercife no volition 
 for others, its power of indicating volition intro- 
 duces no ambiguity ; it can imply futurity only. 
 But for the rirft perfon it is far from equally 
 commodious ; becaufe it cannot there mark futu- 
 rity exciulively of volition, llefort therefore was 
 had to the verb fliall> which indicates futurity 
 equally as will; and, as we cannot exercife volition 
 for others, fo neither do we exercife compulfion 
 upon ourfelves. In the firfl perfon, therefore,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 379 
 
 Jkall indicates fimple futurity, as clearly as will in 
 the fecond and third. The proper Englifh future 
 tenfe then is not, as it ftands in all our grammars, 
 IJhall or will go ', thoujhalt or wit f go, and fo forth. 
 The phrafes I will go, thou flialt go, he Jhall go, we 
 will go, you JJiall go, they Jhall go, are not future 
 tenfe ; the verbs will and JJiall, in thofe phrafes, 
 are not auxiliary but principal verbs, declaring 
 volition concerning the aclion indicated by the 
 verb go. The proper EngliQi future runs fimply, 
 / jliall go, thou wilt go, he will go, we Jhall go, you 
 will go, they will go. 
 
 In this expofition I fear my memory may not 
 have ferved me to do juftice to the clearnefs and 
 preciiion of Mr. Whateley ; tho I hope the fub- 
 ftance of his idea will be found explained fuffi- 
 ciently to be ufeful. I fhall proceed to a few 
 farther obfervations, without being able to fay, 
 from niy recollection, whether, he had touched on 
 any of them. 
 
 The diftin&ion of/fo// and will, conflantly made 
 in Englifh fpeech, tho hitherto fo deficiently ex- 
 plained in grammars, gives a clear fuperiority of 
 precifion to the Englifh over all thofe languages 
 which have the advantage, in form, of expreffing 
 the future by a fingle word ; for in the future tenfe 
 of all with which I am acquainted, the declaration 
 of volition is confounded with the fimple future. 
 Our grammars of other languages therefore, in 
 tranUating the future tenfe, are correct, in giving 
 
 JliaU
 
 380 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Jhall or willy throughout the perfons ; becaufe the 
 futures of thofe languages imply both y#rf// and will, 
 leaving diftinction to be gathered from the context. 
 But as inEnglifh the diflinction between /fo// and 
 will is ftrong and clear, that diftinftion ought to 
 be exhibited in every grammar in which it is pro- 
 pofed to explain another language by the Englifh, 
 or the Englifti by another language, as well as in 
 grammars limply Englifh. 
 
 It thus appears that the confufion of JJiall 
 and willy commonly made by the Scotch and 
 Irifh, is, in the more ordinary occurrencies of 
 fpeech, no more than is equally made in thofe 
 languages which we admire as the moft perfect, the 
 Greek and Latin, and in the principal daughters 
 of the Latin, the Italian, Spanim, and French. 
 But as neceffity fometimes will occur in all lan- 
 guages to exprefs clearly and decidedly the dif- 
 tinction between volition or intended compulfion, 
 and the fimple future, all the languages more 
 commonly known among us, have their refources 
 for the purpofe, which are occafionally brought 
 into ufe. All have a verb congenial with our verb 
 to will. The diftinct force of Jhall is very nearly 
 exprelTed in French by the verb devoir^ and 
 in Italian by dovete. In Latin the gerund and the 
 future participle affift. But in our language, were 
 the Scotim confufion of/^// and will to grow, in- 
 ftcad of being, as at prefent, fuperior to all others 
 in the conftant precifion of its future tenfe, it 
 
 would
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 381 
 
 would be inferior, and indeed very defective ; as 
 it would Want the advantages which the French, 
 Italian, and others actually poflefs, and which all 
 languages need, for occafional difcrimination ". 
 
 Analogous to the diftindion ofJJiall and will, is 
 that of Jliould and would. The proper Englifh 
 conditional is not / Jliould or would ', thou Jhouldeft 
 or wouldeft, and fo forth, but / Jhould go, thou 
 wouldeft go, he would go, ive Jhould go, you would 
 go, they would go. But here is to be obferved a 
 diftinction wholly unnoticed by Lowth. The irre- 
 gular verb JJiould, befide its proper fenfe as the 
 conditional of JJiall, has, from early times, ob- 
 tained ufe in another fenfe as equivalent to ought. 
 When it bears this fenfe, it is not properly an 
 auxiliary in any perfon, and therefore cannot, in 
 
 1 The modern Greek, among its misfortunes, having loft the 
 future form of the parent fpeech, has been reduced to feek an 
 auxiliary for expreffing future time. The verb $iA, analogous 
 to the Englim ou/77, has been adopted, and, as the parent lan- 
 guage, equally with the Latin and its daughters, confounded 
 the fimple future with the future of volition and compulfion, 
 more difcrimination was not fought by the modern Greeks : 
 they fay 9/Xw ya4"' I "^ a ^ or W 'N write, $*Xfi? y^a^n, thou 
 flialt or wilt write, SI'AH y^tt, he (hall or will write, $Aofu 
 yg4>u, and fo forth. They have indeed a more elegant form, 
 tho lefs ufed, Si-yga^w, Sb-jfc^tK* Si-yfa^n. This, were the 
 language more cultivated, might poffibly gain more ufe, which 
 would be attended with the advantage of leaving the verb 9*'** 
 more difingaged for the neceflary purpofe of diftinclly exprefling 
 volition. 
 
 any
 
 382 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 any perfon, be changed for the verb would. If in 
 the firft perfon, I JJiould go is faid for I ought to go, fo 
 equally in the fecond and third perfon, it muft be 
 thou Jhouldeft go, he Jhould go. It had been better 
 for the precifion of the language if this fenfe of 
 the word JJiould had never obtained, but were li- 
 mited to the verb ought> which is appropriated to 
 it \ 
 
 The learned French printer Eflienne, who has 
 called himfelf Stephanus, and whom our learned 
 commonly call Stephens, and, it mould be added, 
 to whom the caufe of letters has great obligations, 
 flattered his fellowcountrymen, and perhaps him- 
 felf, with the idea that the French verb has pecu- 
 liar congeniality with the Greek. I think it may 
 eafily be mown that the French verb, holding clofe 
 congeniality with the parent Latin, has little with 
 the Greek ; but that the Englilh, fuperior to all 
 by many advantages, inferior to all by fome de- . 
 ficiencies, has altogether far clofer congeniality 
 with the Greek than the French, the Italian, the 
 "Spanifli, or their parent the Latin. Our grammars 
 of modern languages abound, not lefs than thofe of 
 the antient, with erroneous verfions of tenfes ; a fault 
 imputable much lefs to the authors of thofe gran> 
 
 b The Scoticifms /'// be obliged to you and Pd le obliged to you, 
 have been of late years creeping into polite life among carelefs 
 polite fpeakers, perhaps heedlefs whether they inteud them as 
 abbreviations of / ivill or 7 Jball, I --would or / Jhculd. Any 
 growth of the practice would be very injurious to the language. 
 
 . mars
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 383 
 
 mars than to the deficient inveftigation of Englifh 
 grammar itfelf. In any converfation with foreiners, 
 however, the fact will become obvious. I remem- 
 ber being in company where a French officer faid 
 to an Englifh officer, ignorant of the French 
 language, ' How long arc you in the fervice ? f 
 . The Englifhman mowing that he did not under- 
 ftand the queftion, the Frenchman reforted to a 
 clofer tranflation of the phrafe he" would have ufed 
 in his own language, ' How long is it that you arc 
 ' in the fervice ?' The Englimman replied, * You 
 
 * mean to alk how long / have been in the fervice.' 
 
 * I dare fay I do/ replied the Frenchman, ' but/ 
 turning then to another, who had been converting 
 with him in French, he added, ' were I to fay in 
 ' my own language, ' Comme longtems y-a-t-il 
 ' que vous avez ete au fervice ?' it would imply 
 
 * that you are no longer in the fervice.' 
 
 Here is indicated an important diftincYion be- 
 tween the French tenfe formed with the auxiliary 
 avoir and the Englifli formed with the auxiliary 
 have, which ought to be noticed in all grammars, 
 and is noticed in none. The French fai fait, and 
 the Italian ho fatto, are truly preter-perfed j but 
 the EngliQi I have done, is not preter-perfecl:, but 
 flridly prefent-perfect. In French and Italian 
 they fay, * je - 1'ai fait hier/ c 1'ho fatto venti anni 
 
 * fono.' But in Englifh, * I have done it yefter- 
 ' day/ or, ' I have done it five minutes -ago/ would 
 
 be
 
 384 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 be a folecifm. l I have done/ can be faid only of 
 the prefent completed : if a certain time paft, 
 howfoever fhort, is indicated, the phrafe muft be, 
 according to circumftances, k I did,' or 'I had 
 ' done.' The Englifh, differing here from the Latin, 
 equally as from the French and Italian, accords ex- 
 actly with the Greek. 
 
 But the Englifh does not correfpond exactly 
 with the-. French, Italian, or Latin, in any tenfe 
 of the indicative mood, except perhaps that called 
 phi-perfect. Scribo, fcrivo, j'ecris, are to be tranf- 
 lated fometimes / write, fome times I am writing; 
 the fenfe differing occaiionally in all the languages, 
 the form in .Englifh alone. The Italian indeed has 
 a power beyond the French and Latin, atcl ap- 
 proaching, perhaps reaching the Englifh, in its 
 p\\wfejlofcrivendo. Analogous to this is the G reek; 
 Tjy^xvca y^oiQuv. Phrafes io get their fhades of* 
 meaning from the cuftomof the day and place, and 
 the Greek language was fpoken through fo many 
 centuries, and over fo many countries, that to fay 
 any Greek phrafe was confined to any precife 
 meaning, from Homer's age to that of Longinus, 
 in all the parts of the world where Greek was the 
 common fpeech of the polite and -learned, would 
 be too much, perhaps, for the fcholar of the moft 
 extenlive reading and moft tenacious memory. 
 Hence poffibly this ufe of the verb ruy^uvu is fo 
 little noticed in dictionaries . Hence alfo ap- 
 parently
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 patently the Greek language remains altogether fo 
 defe<flively illuftrated in them e . 
 
 Proceeding with the tenies, we find the Italian 
 cantavo and cantai, and the French je chantois and 
 je chantai, mark distinctions which not only the 
 Englifli cannot exprefs, but neither the Latin, tho 
 they are formed from the Latin cantabam and cantai'i, - 
 nor, I think, the Greek. It will be obvious, in 
 translating French and Italian, that cantavo and je 
 ehantois are to be tranilated fometimes I jing, fome- 
 times I was Jinging ', cantai andyV chantai,are always 
 fimply I fung, but have a more limited ufe. The 
 Englifli has a precifion neverthelefs in the phrafe 
 / was Jinging, which the French cannot reach; tho 
 poflibly the Italian may by the pivaie^/fotv cantando. 
 The neceffity of explanation for the barbarian con- 
 querors of the Roman empire, who did not readily 
 comprehend the diftinclions of the fimple tenfes, 
 appears to have produced the compound tenfe, 
 ho cantata, fai chant e; and hence perhaps the laxi- 
 tude of its import in all the daughters of the 
 Latin, in which it fo remarkably differs from the 
 Englifli tenfe compounded with have. Ha cantalo, 
 hofcritto, il a chante,fai ecrif, muft often be translated 
 by the Englifli aorift, he fung, I wrote; perhaps 
 oftener than by the prefent-perfecl, he has fmig, 
 
 c I have been told that the learned author of the Lexicon 
 Ariftophanicum fet out with the bold purpofe of goinj through 
 the principal Greek Claffics in the fame way in which he has 
 executed that excellent work. The project is of magnitude 
 enough to require the united labors of many learned men, and 
 would indeed be worthy of a uaiveifity. 
 
 ++ C C / ''.-
 
 386 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 I have written, whofe import is ftrictly limited. 
 Thus different languages have their peculiar powers, 
 with diftinclions which thofe who fpeak them feel, 
 but fometimes too nice for defcription. 
 
 The French critics have claimed, for their lan- 
 guage, a fuperiority over the Italian and Spanim in 
 the precifion of their tenfe derived from the Latin 
 preter-perfedr., je chant ai, jefis: it cannot be ufed, 
 they fay, but in fpeaking of time paft at leaft by a 
 day: to defignate time within the exifling day, the 
 compound tenfe muft be employed, fat chante^fai 
 fait. If this definition of the limitation is accurate, 
 I muft own I am not aware of its value. The ad- 
 vantage of designating precifely the prefent-perfeft, 
 and committing the paft to an aorift, as in Greek 
 and Englifli, is what thofe whofe language pofTefles 
 Tt will mifs in a language where it fails. But in 
 claiming a precifion with regard to the defig- 
 nation of paft time by the fimple tenfe, whjch, 
 if at all exifling, is peculiar to the French, the 
 laxitude of the compound tenfe is admitted. The 
 difference feems to be that the fimple tenfe can 
 indicate only the paft-perfect ; the compound tenfe 
 may indicate either the prefent- perfect, or the paft- 
 perfeft. 
 
 A paffage in Pliny's preface to his natural hiftory, 
 where he fpeaks of the fignatures of the antient 
 painters and fculptors upon their works, appears to 
 indicate that he confidered the Latin tenfe, com- 
 monly called preter-imperfect, as equivalent, or 
 nearly fo, with the Greek aorift, and the Latin pre- 
 ter-perfe <5t as correfponding or nearly correfponding 
 
 with
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 387 
 
 with the Greek perfect. It behoves us to refpect 
 any information on fuch a fubject from fuch autho- 
 rity, which it were moft abfurd for a modern to con- 
 trovert ; but we mould be careful not to take it for 
 more than has been intended. We may gather, 
 I think for certain, among the Greek tnd Latin 
 authors, that thofe tenies were far from correfpond- 
 ing always and exactly in the two languages. In 
 narration, we find, among the Greek writers, the 
 aorift is of much more frequent ufe than the per- 
 fect, and, on the contrary, among the Latin 
 writers, the perfect is of much more frequent ufe 
 than the imperfect. Difference appears thus de- 
 cidedly indicated. What the difference was can 
 only be gathered from obferving how thofe tenfes, 
 in the two languages, muft, in their various com- 
 binations with other words, be rendered in our 
 own language. Frequently then the Latin imper- 
 fect is found correfponding with that Englifh tenfe 
 which is compounded with the prefent participle ; 
 as in Horace, ' Ibam (I was going) forte via facra,' 
 whereas I doubt if ever this Englifh tenfe will be 
 found correfponding with the Greek aorift. Again 
 the Latin perfect frequently, indeed moft fre- 
 quently, requires to be rendered by the Englifli 
 fimple tenfe, ' I went, he made,' and the Greek 
 aorift is generally found correfponding with the 
 fame Engliih tenfe. But the Greek perfect tenfe 
 will, I believe always, require the Engliih com- 
 pound tenfe, c he has made.' 
 
 With regard to the double aorift and double 
 future of the Greek, I will venture to own I accede 
 
 ** c c z intirely
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 intirely to Mr. Payne Knight's opinion, that they 
 are two in form only, and one in import ; being 
 but varieties of dialed:, which have happened both 
 to obtain the fandion of common ufe in the new 
 Attic, on its becoming the univerfal language. 
 
 o o o 
 
 Nor is our own language without analogous 
 circumftances. We have a double genitive cafe, 
 that of the Saxon idiom, ' Peter's brother/ and 
 that of the Norman, ' the brother of Peter.' 
 We have a double mode of comparifon, * fairer, 
 ' faireft,' and { more fair, moft fair;' and for feveral 
 tenfes of our verbs we have a choice of form, c I 
 ( loved' and I did love.' 
 
 But, in hazarding thefe remarks, efpecially thofc 
 en the Greek tertfes, it might appear a deficiency to 
 omit notice of Samuel Clarke's propofed explana- 
 tion of them, among his mil notes of that edition 
 of Homer, which has procured him a high reputa- 
 tion throughout Europe j tho I cannot fpeak of it 
 without incurring perhaps greater hazard, by de- 
 claring that his explanation is, in my opinion, not 
 only very unfatisfactory, but full of error. It has 
 evidently been Clarke's misfortune, in common 
 perhaps with fome other confiderable claffical fcho- 
 lars, to have been fcantily verfed in any modern 
 language, even his own. Had he had any familia- 
 rity with Englifh fpeech, in any extent of commu- 
 nication among men, he could not have given 
 phrafes fuch as // is in building, it was in building^ 
 it will be in building^ as tenfes of the verb to build. 
 It were fuperfluous to notice his French. The 
 Greek tenfe commonly called preter-perfeft, he has 
 
 conceived
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 389 
 
 conceived and explained well, but exemplified ill ; 
 as ill in Latin as in French ; and well in Englift, 
 only in his examples of improper phrafe. One ge- 
 neral caution, however, he gives, which deferves 
 attention: ' Temporum, in fermonis contextu, 
 * ratio turn conftat, cum inter fe refpondeant tem- 
 ' pora ; non quas iifdem nominibus fint a gramma- 
 ' ticis definita, fed quse apto connexu, & appo- 
 ' fitead fcribentis mentem expcnendam, cohsercant.' 
 But, to judge of this, there muft be fomething be- 
 yond grammatical theory, that feeling of language, 
 which children fo readily catch, and adults fo 
 hardly. By that alone, I apprehend, it can be 
 determined that, to fay in French, f il le fit ce 
 4 matin,' is improper; but the correfponding phrafes 
 in Italian, * lo fece quefto mattino,' and, in Eng- 
 lifh, * he did it this morning,' are good j while, in 
 French, ' il Fa fait hier,' and in Italian * Fha 
 ' fatto jeri,' are both proper, but in Englifh, 
 ' he has done it yefterday,' is an intolerable fo- 
 lecifm. Neither in Latin, nor in any modern lan- 
 guage that I know, can the Greek tenfes of the 
 infinitive mood and participle be illuftrated ; 
 whence even to conceive thofe feveral (hades of 
 meaning, by which undoubtedly they contributed 
 to the precifion of that incomparable fpeech, is 
 now become difficult. I remember, in the high- 
 lands of Scotland, meeting with an Englifh inn- 
 keeper, an intelligent man, who had been efta- 
 blifhed there fome years. In conflant communica- 
 tion among the highlanders, and under continual 
 c c 3 neceflaiy
 
 39 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 neceflity for ufing words of their language, he had 
 hardly learned to put three properly together ; 
 while his children, with no other inftruction than 
 what arofe from the fame communication, had ac- 
 quired facility of fpcaking Gaelic equally as their 
 native fpeech, and ferved him as interpreters. Per- 
 haps, were the Greek learnt at a very early age, 
 a child might acquire, from practice among the 
 beft writers on fubjects not beyond his capacity, 
 a feeling of the differences indicated by the 
 various ufe of the Greek tenfes of the infinitive 
 and participle. 
 
 We are apt to overlook peculiarities in our own, 
 and to be ftruck with circumftances, whether of ex- 
 cellence or deficiency, in other languages, in pro- 
 portion as they differ from our own. Thus the want 
 of the prefent tenfe in Hebrew and the agnate lan- 
 guages, including the Welm, furprizes us. The in- 
 ability of the Welfh to fay fimply *I believe in God,* 
 whence the firft article of the creed is exprefled by 
 the future, ' I will believe in God,' appears almofl 
 a portentous anomaly. But it is little obferved 
 that, in our own language, which has no fimple 
 form appropriated to the future, the prefent is 
 fometimes ufed with a future fignification. The 
 phrafes ' What do you read tomorrow ? I go to 
 ' London next week ; He returns to Oxford after 
 ' the vacation ;* are perfectly authorized by cuf- 
 tom ; and being as clearly intelligible as if the 
 auxiliary indicant of futurity were ufed, that aux- 
 iliary is perhaps not inelegantly omitted. 
 
 The
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 391 
 
 The advantage poffeffed by the Englifh over 
 the daughters of the Latin, in its genitive cafe, 
 tho fometimes involving cacophony, is yet often 
 for power of expreffion, often for variety, and often 
 for means of poetical harmony, highly valuable. 
 But the Englifli has a mode of bringing two fub- 
 ftantives together, without either genitive cafe or 
 prepofition, unknown equally in Greek and Latin, 
 and in all the languages derived from the Latin. 
 It is called by Lowth, the fubflantive * becoming 
 
 * an adjedtive, or fupplying its place ; being pre- 
 ' fixed to another fubflantive, and linked to it by 
 ' a mark of conjunction ; as fea-water, land-tor -toife, 
 
 * forejl-tree.' I do not recoiled where I have feen 
 this mode of fyntax called ' the concord of fubftan- 
 
 * tives by appofition.', It has great conveniencies, 
 and has hardly, I think, received from grammarians 
 the attention it deferves. 
 
 Our language poffefles another advantage over 
 the daughters of the Latin in its forms of compa- 
 nion for fo large a proportion of its adje&ives. Its 
 choice of forms, and power of ufmg both, may 
 give occafional advantage, perhaps even over the 
 
 Latin and Greek; as in this example from Young ; 
 
 / 
 
 Of Friendfhip's faireft fruits the fruit moft fair 
 Is Virtue, kindling at a rival fire. 
 
 In a recent grammar, Lindley Murray's, which 
 
 feems to have obtained a merited vogue for fchool- 
 
 ufe, it is well obferved that phrafes warranted by 
 
 the cuftom of general fpeech, however apparently 
 
 c c 4 anomalous,
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 anomalous, mould not lightly be altered under the 
 idea of reducing them to grammatical rule. In- 
 deed we ought to be very fure of what we are about 
 before we attempt to exercife on our language the 
 fpirit of what the French ufed to call purifm. If 
 \ve fearch deep enough we mall generally find that, 
 tho our forefathers were fometimes wrong, for 
 xvrong will mix itfelf among the works of men, yet 
 they were often right where, from alterations 
 through time, it is not now immediately obvious 
 to e very-one how they were right. The author 
 of that grammar himfelf affords an inftance, 
 which I mail the lefs fcruple to notice, becaufe 
 the general merit of the work might well bear 
 the indication of a greater deficiency. He has 
 explained ingenioufly, and yet I think not truly, 
 the ground on which, contrary to the general rule 
 of the language, the article is often prefixed to the 
 adjective many, and yet the proper explanation is 
 ready in Johnfon's dictionary. It is there fhown 
 that many, in our old language, was a noun fub- 
 ftantive, meaning a multitude : it remained fo in 
 Shakefpear's time, and perhaps may be not im- 
 properly ufed fo ftill. It is however now moftly 
 ufed as an adjective, but with more than one cir- 
 cumftance indicating its former rank ; for not the 
 article only, but an adjective at the fame time, is 
 often joined with it, as a great many. When a 
 fubftantive follows, indeed, the particle of, as fign of 
 the genitive cafe, is not admitted : we fay a great 
 
 many
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 393 
 
 many men., a great many horfes. But this feems 
 meerly an Anglofaxonifm, preferred in familiar 
 fpeech. In the old language the phrafe corre- 
 fponded exactly with the Latin magna multitude 
 hominum. With us the diflinguifhing form of the 
 genitive plural is loft, and the cuftom of fpeech 
 has omitted, in this phrafe, to introduce the fupple- 
 mentary prepofition. But how is it then that we 
 prefix the article to the word few as well as to the 
 word many ? I think meerly from the frequent ufe 
 of the word few in 'oppofition to the word many ; 
 whence has arifen the imagination of an analogy 
 which has no exiftcnce ; for a great few would be 
 an offenfive anomaly : with the word few, as a 
 proper adjective, we ufe an adverb and not another 
 adjective, to indicate quality ; we fay not a great 
 few., but indifferently very or a very few. It were 
 well for our language if falfe notions of analogy 
 had done it no other mifchief. 
 
 Augments, efpecially the vowel a, were formerly 
 often prefixed to words meerly for euphony ; with 
 better judgement than in modern times, they have 
 been through an unadvifed fpirit of purifm omitted. 
 It is ftill cuftomary in colloquial language, and 
 even necefTary to the fenfe of phrafes, to prefix the 
 augment a where hardly anybody any longer dares 
 to write it ; tho Samuel Johnfon, in his dictionary, 
 mows his own approbation of the practice, and 
 warrants it by high authority. ' A? he fays, * is 
 ' placed before a participle or participial noun ;' 
 
 adding,
 
 394 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 adding, f it is confidered by Wallis as a contra&ion 
 ' of at, when it is put before a, word denoting an 
 ' adtion not ye-t finilhed, as / am awalking* This 
 opinion of Wallis carries far more fhow of reafon 
 than the learned Clarke's propofed purification in 
 his plarafe // is IN building. But how is it applica- 
 ble to fuch words as alike y alive, anew, afrejk, 
 aloud ? of which it is fo become a component part 
 that it cannot be difplaced. I think, for the fo- 
 lution, we need go hardly farther than the very 
 firft article of Lye's Anglofaxon dictionary : ' Aj 
 fays that able antiquarian, ' is an initial augment, 
 ' commonly altering nothing in the fenfe of the 
 
 * word ; whence in the modern language it is ge- 
 
 * nerally omitted : Thus from the Saxon abjizecan 
 ' we have the Englilh to break. And it is to be ob- 
 ' ferved that a y be, for, je, and to, are often indif- 
 
 * ferently and interchangeably prefixed to the pafled 
 ' tenfes of verbs, to participles of the pafled tenfe, 
 ' and to verbal nouns.' ' EC,' then he fays, under 
 its proper head, ( is commonly, in compofition, a 
 
 * meer expletive which was afterward changed into 
 ' fimple^, as jepjuten mto ywritten, jeclypob into 
 ' ycleped, gebjiocen into y broken' But it feems 
 evident that the harm hiding found of g, for which 
 our prefent fpeech feems to have been indebted, 
 doubtfully whether to the French or Italian, but 
 perhaps to both, was unufed by our Anglofaxon 
 forefathers ; the Saxon 5, like the gamma of the 
 modern Greeks, having, before e and /', the foft 
 
 found
 
 HARMONY IK LANGUAGE. 395 
 
 found only of our^. The augments je and a there* 
 fore, in the pronunciation of our forefathers, were 
 not fo wide in found as the modern g would make 
 them ; and having been interchangeably ufed, they 
 might eafily, among the irregularities of our old 
 orthography, come to be indifferently reprefented 
 by a or y. 
 
 The Saxon y fcems to have been purely a vowel. 
 In its modern power, when prefixed to other 
 vowels, contefted among grammarians whether 
 a vowel or a confonant power, it is evidently the 
 genuine fucceflbr of the Saxon 5. In Chaucer's 
 age we find a fimple^ the common prefix to par- 
 ticiples, which was affected ftill by Spenfer. In 
 Shakefpear's works, as they have been printed, it 
 is I think no longer found ; but the prefix a is 
 common, and not at all confined to familiar dia- 
 logue or the mouths of low characters. Wolfey 
 fays, 
 
 His greatnefs is aripcning : 
 and Macbeth, 
 
 I 'gin to be aweary of the fun : 
 
 and Henry the Fourth, 
 
 Not an eye 
 But is aweary of thy common fight. 
 
 This augment, patronized in Addifon's time by 
 eminent writers, and not yet wholly obfolete, is 
 often efifential to euphony, often favorable to 
 harmony, and fometimes even necefiary to exprefs 
 or afcertain a meaning. But the printers, whofe 
 miftake may better find excufe than the ne- 
 gligence
 
 39$ INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 gligence of authors, made the augment a feparate 
 particle, inftead of a part, as it properly is, of 
 the following word, and thus contributed not a 
 little to fpread their own miftake, and inhance 
 the growing confufion. The augment thus ap- 
 pearing an awkward anomaly, and the fpirit of 
 purifm growing while the trouble of inquiry 
 was avoided, tho the voice ftill gives it fearlefsly 
 to the ear, the prefs hardly dares any longer 
 offer it to the eye. In lord Melcombe's diary, 
 this phrafe occurs : e The princefs and the children 
 went walking* I can hardly think lord Melcombe 
 wrote fo. Went hobbling, is an Engliih phrafe : 
 went walking, may be an Englilh phrafe too, but 
 conveying a fenfe different from what the context 
 fhows the writer to have intended. Neither Swift 
 nor Addifon would have fcrupled to write the 
 phrafe as it is ftill fpoken, and muft be by thofe 
 who defire to be underftood, went awalking. For 
 the augment is here clearly not an expletive : it may 
 be tried in the other phrafe, went ahobbling ; where 
 the fenfe is perverted by its infertion, as nVthe 
 phrafe from lord Melcombe by its omiffion. 
 
 But it is obferved by Samuel Johnfon, in his 
 grammar, that e there is a manner of ufing the 
 ' active participle, which gives it a paffive figni- 
 ' ficati'on : as the grammar is now printing, Gramma- 
 ' ticajam nunc chartis imprimilur : the brafs is forging, 
 ' ara excuduntur. This,' he proceeds, * is, in my 
 ' opinion, a vitious expreflion, probably corrupted 
 * from a phrafe more pure, but now fomewhat ob- 
 
 1 folete:
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. , 397 
 
 ( fblete : the book is a printing ; the brafs is a forging ; 
 ' a being properly at, and printing and forging ver- 
 ' bal nouns tfgnifying action, according to the 
 ' analogy of this language.' The learned lexico- 
 grapher appears to me clearly right in pronouncing 
 the phrafes vitious, where the augment is omitted, 
 and purer where it is inferred ; and tho I doubt his 
 analyfis of the purer phrafes, yet I cannot hefitate to 
 declare my opinion that their having become, as he 
 fays, fomewhat obfolete, is a misfortune to the lan- 
 guage, which it were advantageous, would impe- 
 rious cuftom allow, to repair, by reftoring the cre- 
 dit of a practice authorized by all our beft writers, 
 till within the eighteenth century. 
 
 That power of tranfpofing words and inverting 
 phrafes, which the Greek and Latin fo eminently 
 poflefs, ufeful often for expreflion, is efpecially ad- 
 vantageous for variety of harmony. Modern lan- 
 guages fail in it, principally through the lofs. of 
 the cafes of nouns and participles, but none 
 equally with the French. Hence perhaps it is, in 
 fome meafure, that the French has not like the 
 Italian and Englim. as well as the Latin and Greek, 
 a poetical diction different from its profe diction. 
 The French critics allow no phrafe in poetry which 
 may not be admitted in profe A . The power of both 
 the Italian and Englim to admit inverfions in 
 
 poetry, 
 
 * Voltaire feems to have had this in view, when, to a remark 
 xuited by a different matter, ' La poefie Franjoife eft trop 
 
 ' genee/
 
 398 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 poetry, tho far below that of the Greek and Latin,' 
 is neverthelefs confiderable. Barretti, in his gram- 
 mar, has given an example very ill chofen, to 
 (how the fuperiority of his fpeech : ' None,' he 
 fays, * of the modern European languages fuffer fo 
 e many tranfpofitions of words as the Italian. We 
 ' may fay, for inftance, and with almoft equal 
 ' propriety; 
 
 Io fono tmante di Laura. 
 lo fono di Laura amante. 
 Io di Laura fono amante. 
 Io di Laura amante fono. 
 Di Laura amante io fono. 
 Di Laura io fono amante. 
 Amante io fono di Laura. 
 Amante di Laura io fono. 
 
 Neverthelefs he admits that, even in Italian, inver- 
 fions mould be fparingly ufed in profe. In poetical 
 diction then the Engliih can give, not only almoft 
 word for word every Italian variety of this very 
 phrafe, but, through the power of its genitive 
 cafe, it can add varieties of which the Italian is in- 
 capable. We can very well fay in Englifh, 
 
 I am the lover of Laura. 
 I am of Laura the lover. 
 I of Laura am the lover. 
 
 Of 
 
 1 genee,' he has added,' et tres fouvent trop profa'ique.' Note 
 on the character of Voiture, in the catalogue of writers of the 
 age of Lewis the fourteenth.
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 399 
 
 Of Laura the lover am I. 
 Of Laura the lover I am. 
 Of Laura I am the lover. 
 The lover am I of Laura. 
 The lover of Laura am I. 
 I am Laura's lover. 
 Laura's lover I am. 
 Laura's lover am I. 
 
 If Barrett! had been truly fenfible of the beauties 
 of his own language, ho would rather have brought 
 forward fome brilliant paflage from Ariofto or 
 Tafib, than reft upon fuch a filly phrafe. The 
 defcription of the angel's miflion to Godfrey, in 
 the firft book of the Jerufalem Delivered, imitated 
 from Virgil and emulated by Milton, admirable in 
 all, but I think clearly fuperior in Taflb, has 
 beauties of fuch ingaging fplendor as hardly to 
 allow the reader's mind to fink to the confideration 
 of the grammatical conftruftion of the words in 
 which they are conveyed : but after having admired 
 the building, it may perhaps be worth his while, 
 efpecially if he is himfelf an artift, to look a little 
 at the materials, and the manner in which they are 
 put together, to produce fo fplendid an effed:. I 
 will give here only a ftriking fentence or two. 
 
 Umane membra, afpetto uman fi finfe, 
 Ma di celefte maefta il compofe : 
 Tra giovane e fanciullo eta confine 
 Preic, ed orno di ra^gi il biondo crine. 
 
 Ali
 
 40O INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 All biancne vefti, ch 'han d'or le cime, 
 Jnfaticabilmente agili e prefte, 
 Fende i venti e le nubi e va fublime 
 Sovra la terra e fovra il mar con queftc. 
 Cofi veftito indirizzofli all' ime 
 Parti del mondo il meflaggier celefte* 
 Pria ful Libano monte ei fi ritenne, 
 E fi libro full* adeguate pcnne. 
 
 Dio meflaggier mi manda : io ti rivelo 
 
 La fua mente in fuo nome. Oh quanta fpcnc 
 
 Aver d'alta vittoria, oh quanto zelo 
 
 Dell' ofte a te commefla or ti conviene ! 
 
 Tacque, e fparito rivolo del cielo 
 
 AUe parti piu cccelfe e piu ferene. 
 
 Refta Goffredo a i detti, allo fplendore, 
 
 D 'occhi abbagliato, attonito di cuore. 
 
 The reader who will take the trouble to confider 
 how thefe lines are to be exprefTed in Englifh and 
 in French, will anticipate any remarks I could 
 make on them. The fuperiority of the Italian 
 will appear moft ftriking in comparifon with the 
 French, becaufe in words they differ little more 
 than as two dialects of one language, and the con- 
 jugation -of the verbs and declenfion of the nouns 
 are precifely the fame in both. The two great ad- 
 vantages of the Italian confift in its powers of tranf- 
 pofition, and in the ability of its verbs to difpenfe 
 with a preceding pronoun ; lefs to be fpared by the 
 French, notwithstanding its apparent richnefs in 
 conjugation, than even by the Englifh. In con- 
 
 ftruction
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 46! 
 
 ftruction with verbs, whether for fimplicity, or 
 variety, the Englifh cannot approach the Italian. 
 In nouns, by its genitive cafe and its concord by 
 apportion, and in adjeclives by its forms of com- 
 parifon, the Engliih has the advantage. 
 
 In PRONOUNS, where they become neceffary, the 
 Englifh excels and the French fingularly fails. 
 Englifh, French, and Italian, have all preferved the 
 accufative cafe of the peribnal pronouns. But the 
 French pronoun of the firft perfon, in the nomina- 
 tive fingular, is of fo defective a found as to be 
 incapable of receiving cmphafisj whence the re- 
 fource of aflbciatkig- the accufative, fonorous, if 
 not euphonous, whenever emphafis is requifite. 
 Lofaro, I will do it, limply exprefling the deter- 
 mination of the fpeake^r to do anything, will be in 
 French je leferai. But if that oppofition to fome 
 other perfon's doing is to be marked, which will 
 require, in Italian, the expreffion of the pronoun, 
 and, in Englifh, ernphafis on it, lo faro io t I will 
 . do it, thtn in French the accufative muft be 
 aflbciated, and the phrafe will be tnoije leferai, or, 
 jd Ic feral woi. The fame re fource has been found 
 ufeful alfo to afiifl the weaknefs of the nominatives 
 of the other perlbns in the fingular, and to relieve 
 the frequent deficiency of decifion of numbers in 
 the third perfon (il leferoit, and Us le feroient being 
 in found the fame) tho the pronouns of the firft 
 and lecond perfon plural are of themfelves fonorous 
 as well as euphonous ; and hence it has gained ufe 
 D D through
 
 4O2 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 through the perfons of both numbers. But in 
 power of emphafis, and ufe of the accufative, 
 I think the Englifh excels even the Italian. The 
 following example happens to occur : 
 
 Whether the fun, predominant in heaven, 
 Rife on the earth, or earth rife on the fun, 
 He from the eaft his flaming rode begin, 
 Or fie from weft her filent courfe advance, 
 With inoffenfive pace, that fpinningfleeps 
 On her foft axle, while flie paces even, 
 And bears tbee foft with the fmooth air along, 
 Solicit not thy thought with matters hid : 
 Leave them to God above ; htm ferve and fear. 
 
 Par. Loft, b. viii. r. :6S,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 403 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 Of ANALOGY in Language; ORTHOGRAPHY; COMPOSITION 
 of WORDS; Eifeft of MONOSYLLABLES ; MUSICAL TIME ; 
 DIALECTS. 
 
 ANALOGY, a harmony in ftruclure, an obvious 
 fitnefs of parts throughout a language, is a virtue 
 in which the Englifh is principally deficient. The 
 oldeil languages generally excel in it, and the new 
 fail, commonly in proportion as they are in larger 
 and more even parts compounded of different 
 fpeeches. In completenefs of analogy the Hebrew 
 Hands foremoft ; the Greek among languages com- 
 monly known, perhaps next ; the Latin follows at 
 wide interval ; and again at wider ftill its pureft 
 offspring the Italian. Analogy has been broken 
 in the Spanifh by the large irruption of Arabic, 
 and in the Englifh yet more by that mixture of 
 Norman French which Hume has reckoned fb 
 advantageous. The French itfelf has not received 
 
 O 
 
 equal injury from fimilar intrufion : its failure, of 
 which Voltaire, fomewhere among his critical 
 works, has ftrongly marked his feeling, was moftly 
 born with it, through its lefs pare derivation from 
 the parent Latin. He has illuftrated his remarks 
 by examples to which I regret that I cannot turn : 
 but the compounds of the verb rogo perhaps may 
 ferve. In Englifh we have abrogate, arrogate, ds- 
 p D 2
 
 404 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 regale, and prorogue ; but, having no theme of 
 any of them, they ftand as primitives, uncon- 
 nected with other words and with one another. 
 So the French abroger^ arroger^ dtroger, and fro- 
 roger, the theme roger not being in the language, 
 are, fcarcely lefs than the Englifh words, mutual 
 ftrangers. The Italian, among its law-terms, ac- 
 knowleges the verb rogav-e ; but with a meaning 
 ib limited, that its words of more general ufe, 
 abrogare^ arrogare^ derogare, and prorogue, not in- 
 deed quite fuch pilgrims as the correfponding 
 words in French and Englim, (land however very 
 much infulated in the claffical part of the language. 
 
 It may be obferved here, that our words abro- 
 gate, arrogate,, and derogate., bear, in themfelves, 
 , evidence that they have come to us immediately 
 from the Latin, and not through the French ; for 
 their formation is not, like that of the correipond- 
 ing French words, from the Latin verb, but from 
 the participle. Prorogue has been derived from 
 the verb; and yet whether it has come from the 
 French, whole found of the g in that word is ib 
 different, or from the Italian, whofe found ot that 
 letter is the fame as in Englifli, or immediately 
 from the Latin, appears very doubtful. 
 
 Nor may it be wholly uninftruclive on our fub- 
 jecV. to notice the terms, in which Hume's eulogy 
 of the mixture of French, in the Englifh language, 
 is expreffed. They are, in the fourth chapter of 
 his Hiflory of England, thefe : * That great mixture 
 * of
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 405 
 
 of French, which is at prefent to be found in the 
 Englifli tongue, and which compofes the greateft 
 and bed part of our language.' Of twenty-five 
 words here, exclufively of proper names, four at 
 moft, prefent, compofes, part, and language, may 
 have been derived through the French : mixture is 
 meerly Latin : all the reft are Saxon. 
 
 Neverthelefs be it acknowleged that we owe to 
 the French many polyfyllables, advantageous to 
 the harmony of our language, through the relief 
 which they afford againft the prevalence of mono- 
 fyllables in the part derived from the Saxon; a 
 benefit that may perhaps balance the evil of caco- 
 phony introduced with them. The great attending 
 injury has been to the analogy of the language; 
 whofe foundation is ftill purely Saxon, while the 
 fuperftrufture is compofed too much of uncon- 
 nected and even diicordant parts. The variations 
 qf our nouns, the comparifon of our adjectives, 
 the conjugations of our verbs, the fyntax of our 
 fentences, are all Saxon. The reft, French, Latin, 
 and Greek, is little more than a magazine of words; 
 rarely ihowing, except as in declenfion, compa- 
 nion, or conjugation, they have been Saxonized, 
 any relation to the reft of the fpeech, or even to 
 one another. What analogy exifts is almoft all 
 Saxon; what is not fo is in far lefs amount French 
 than Latin. 
 
 The French language, fince the brilliant days of 
 
 Lewis the fourteenth, has obtained the praife of a 
 
 j> D 3 fuperior
 
 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 fuperior aptitude for focial intercourfe, and of a 
 clearnefs and precifion, making it peculiarly fit for 
 public treaties and all communication between 
 nation and nation ; for which great purpofe it has 
 been allowed to fuperfede the Latin, formerly the 
 common language of the diplomacy of Europe. 
 But the former praife appears to me owing, not to 
 the merit of the language, but to the talent of the 
 people ; relieving their language, poor in words, by 
 phrafes ingenioufly devifed ; fometimes pleallng by 
 their elegance, fometimes amufing by their oddity; 
 difmiffed as they grow trite, and fupplied ftill 
 with fuccefifors that find favor, through the fruitful 
 ingenuity of the fpeakers. The latter praife I am 
 difpofed to allow to the language as it is written, 
 but for the living fpeech I fuppofe it cannot be 
 aflerted. That the language has equal precision in 
 fpeech as in writing, cannot poffibly be maintained. 
 No language within my knowlege Co abounds in, 
 what for oratory cannot but be highly difad- 
 vantageous, words alike in found which in fenfe 
 differ wholly. One word in French fpeech bears 
 the feveral meanings of the feveral Englifh words 
 have, has, art, is, and. But for the written lan- 
 guage its able cultivators have eftablifhed all the 
 Englifh diftindtions and more; it prefents to the 
 eye the various words at, aye, ayes, ait, nyent, es, 
 eft, et; which, for the ear, if a confonant begin the 
 next word, are one. Their objed undoubtedly 
 has been to maintain, in the written language, 
 
 means
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 407 
 
 means for clearnefs with concifenefs, of which the 
 living fpeech is incapable; and they have evidently 
 fucceeded. Poffibly an ingenious and ready fpeaker 
 may find expreflions for all occafions, free from 
 uncertainty of import ; but that it may be done 
 ib eafily, ib varioufly, or always fo concifely, in 
 fpccch as in writing, cannot be contended. With- 
 out iceking for examples, I will mention one more 
 accidentally occurring. One word in French 
 fpeech, one only in found, if a confonant follow, 
 has fix various fignifications ; four of which are in- 
 dicated by the Englilh words blood, fenfe, without, 
 a hundred, and the others, phrafes in orthography, 
 but fimple fyllables in fpeech, are not to be ex- 
 actly rendered in Englifli ; fang, fens, fans, cent, 
 e'en, sen. Certainly the advantage of the written 
 over the fpoken language here is not fmall. 
 
 The care and judgement with which the French 
 have preferved everything ufeful in their ortho- 
 graphy, difmilled everything of meer incumbrance, 
 added marks indicating the different powers of the 
 fame character, always refpecting etymology, but 
 always jealouily aflerting the proper analogy of 
 their language, may well delerve our emulation. 
 In one point indeed they have gone to an abfurd 
 extreme, barbarizing claflkal names, fo as fome- 
 times utterly to difguile them. This practice 
 among us, once in vogue, has long fmce fortunately 
 ceafed. But, of whatever they have done well, 
 we have done the contrary. Inftead of mAmtain- 
 D D 4 ing
 
 408 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ing the analogy of our own language, we alk for 
 rule rather from any other whence, well or ill, 
 we have borrowed words. Inftead of preferving 
 everything ufeful in our orthography, and difmiff- 
 ing incumbrances, we rather cherifh incumbrance, 
 and difmifs the ufeful. Two hundred years ago 
 Ben Johnfon complained of the intrufion of g, 
 without any warrant from etymology or common 
 fenfe, into fo many of our words where cuftorn 
 commands the barbarous combination gh to fhow 
 itfelf in writing; tho fortunately the fancy of thofe 
 who would make our fpeech bend to what he 
 juftly calls our pfeudography, has not yet prevailed 
 fo far as to procure it any refpedt in pronuntiation. 
 Other fuch intruders have, fince his time, been as 
 whimfically eftablifhed, while fome letters ufeful 
 for indication of found have loft their places. It 
 will be difficult to fay how the ufelefs h has found 
 its way into the name 'Thames, unlefs from the 
 abfurd imagination of analogy between Thames 
 and Thomas ; or why, of the letters with which 
 our forefathers, as late as Swift's time, wrote the 
 word JJiooe, one neceflary to indicate the pronun- 
 tiation has been difmiffed, and the fuperfluous 
 one preferved ; unlefs to make our orthography 
 amufmg as a riddle. The prevailing orthography 
 of the word fliew^ to which Samuel Johnfon has 
 declared his preference of Jhow, appears to reft on 
 fimilar ground. And indeed -Jhew feems to have 
 been originally no more than the preterit ofjfaw ; 
 
 as
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 409 
 
 as knew of know, grew of grow, blew of blow, 
 and fo alfo Jlreiv of Jlrow, and chew of f/^iy or 
 chow * ; tho the modern practice of editors would 
 make fir civ and chew the themes of the verbs. 
 Fafhion favors the introduction of French words, 
 and defers often more than reafonably to French 
 rule, and yet fometimes, where mod reafonably it 
 might, will not admit it. We find the orthogra- 
 phy of words, adopted from the French, where it 
 happens to aflbrt with Englifh pronunciation, 
 changed to fomething utterly out of reafon, as 
 forain and foverain, to foreign and foverelgn. On 
 the contrary where the French orthography, becaufe 
 out of all analogy with anything Englim, has been 
 altered by our forefathers to an Englim form, our 
 modern editors will reftore the myfterious fpelling ; 
 and the adopted words poniard, puny, account, are 
 to put on what appears among Englim words a 
 kind of mafqueracie drefs, and be writ ten poignard, 
 puifne, accompt. 
 
 Our forefathers could generally find, within our 
 own language, appofite words and phrafes to ex- 
 
 " Thus Shakcfpear, in Troi'Ius and Grenada: 
 
 Perchance, my lord, I Jhew more craft than love, 
 
 And/t7/ fo roundly to a large confeffion, 
 
 To angle for your thoughts. Aft iii. fc. 3. 
 
 And in an old tranflation of Plutarch's life of Themiftocles: 
 Within thele feas the brave Athenians./kw 
 Their matchlefs valour, when they overthrew 
 The numerous nations that from Afia fpring. 
 
 prefs
 
 410 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 prefs ideas fuggefted in other languages ; or, as the 
 French and Italians do (till, would bend the forein 
 words and phrafes to their own idiom. But the 
 fa (hi oh of the prefent day requires all the preferva- 
 tion of French found and accent that Englifn 
 mouths can give ; it will adopt French corruption 
 of German, Italian, and even oriental names; tho 
 Englilh mouths are very apt to fail, and even be- 
 come ridiculous, in aping French pronunciation. 
 The phrafe Belles Lettres, foppifh enough in its 
 own language, has been fanctioned by academical 
 authority as an Englifh phrafe, in a part of our 
 iland where fcience, in all branches long and ably 
 cultivated, has been directed with much learning^ 
 and talent and diligence to the inveftigation of the 
 general principles of language. It feems not yet 
 however to have gained eftablimment at Oxford 
 or Cambridge ; where a juft, or indeed any 
 graceful pronuntiation of the phrafe would certainly 
 put many learned mouths to hard trial. Abfurdity 
 commonly induces difficulty and thence new ab- 
 furdity. Plurals have moftly, in French, no other 
 enuntiation than their (ingulars ; being diftinguifhed 
 only by the preceding article. For the phrafe 
 belles lettres, indeed, this fignifies little ; beca-ufe 
 neither of the compound words has yet obtained 
 any feparate reception in our language : they are 
 acknowleged only in combination, with a meaning 
 no' more admitting variety of number than our own 
 equivalent phrafes, polite learning) or polite literature. 
 
 But
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 But we have feparate words, introduced lately*, by 
 very high authority, for which a plural, to be dif- 
 tinguifhed in fpeech fomehow, is indifpenfable. 
 We are not yet advanced enough, apparently, even 
 for a fecretary of ftate to venture upon the intro- 
 duction of the French article, as an incident to 
 Englifh fpeech. Nothing remains then but to 
 add the found of our own common fign of the 
 plural, an s for the eye, but a z fur the ear, to a 
 word otherwife of French pronuntiation. We are 
 in a way thus o add not a little new intricacy to 
 the fcience of Englifh orthography, which has long 
 been complained of by foreiners as of a difficulty 
 almoft infuperable, and even among ourfelves is in 
 no fmall degree a myftery. The new fpeHing-book 
 muft inform youth that pot no longer fpells always 
 pot-, it is fometirnes no more than po, as in depot 
 ' and entrepot. In this new perverlion of analogy in 
 orthography then, we gain, in the plurals, fome- 
 times confufion of meaning, and fometirnes a 
 kind of mule found, too much French to be Eng- 
 lifh, and yet not by any poffibility to be made 
 completely French. The newly adopted French 
 word depot, becomes, in the plural, an old Englilh 
 word, depofe. But no voice can add the Englifh 
 indication of the plural to the French nafal , or, 
 as they call it r the nafal vowel. Wherever that 
 found is the laft of an adopted word, it muft in the 
 plural neceffarily be changed, that the audible 
 fign of the plural may follow. Thus the fafhionable 
 
 pronuntiation
 
 412 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 pronuntiation of- the word environs is now nei- 
 ther Englifh nor French j tho already in Shake- 
 fpear's time, at lead as a verb, that word had ac- 
 quired a completely Englifh enuruiation, and is 
 often found among our bcfc poets, where the new 
 pronuntiation, not recommended certainly by eu- 
 phony, would deftroy theyerfe. 
 
 With fiiihion, words and manner of pronuntia- 
 tion fornetirnes come and go. Within the lafc 
 half century the phrafe a-propos had fo obtained 
 favor with polite mouths, that fcarcely a comedy of 
 the day was without it. If the new words depot, 
 entrepot, projet, precis, with the phrafes of a fpeech 
 little capable of compounding words, phrafes which 
 in their adoption by us mud fland as fingle words 
 and primitives, aide-de-camp, charge-d* affaires, and 
 aJl others of the fort, having fufficiently anfwered 
 their purpofe of exhibiting the learning of the in- 
 troducers, and expofing more than ninety-nine in a 
 hundred of thofe under neceffity of ufing them, 
 to ridicule for inexpertnefs in the peculiarities of 
 French pronuntiation, might fall quietly into the 
 ^eglect and contempt in which a-propos now lies, 
 our language would be fortunate. 
 
 The Englim language is monofyllabical in larger 
 amount than, for the intereft of its harmony, were 
 delirable. Neverthelefs Pope's example of ill effect 
 in accumulation of monofyllables, 
 
 And ten low words oft creep in one dull line, 
 
 the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 415 
 
 the terror of every young poet, has brought upon 
 them perhaps a more general reprobation than they 
 deferved, or than he in any probability intended ; 
 for they are found filling his verfes fometimes with 
 effect every way different. This indeed has not 
 pafi*ed without notice from, later critics. ' It has 
 ' been laid,' fays Webb, in his Obfervations on 
 Mufic and Poetry, * that monofyllables are fit to 
 ' defcribe a flow and heavy motion, and may be 
 c happily employed to exprefs languor and melan- 
 ' choiy. What inference are we to draw, mould 
 s it appear that they may be as happily employed 
 *' on the oppofite motions and affections ? 
 
 No : fly me, fly me, far as pole from pole. 
 
 I mould anfwer that monofyllables are, forharmo- 
 nical purpofes, various in character. But more- 
 over they have their peculiar virtues. They re- 
 ceive emphafis with fuperior effect. When not 
 emphatical, they admit remiffion of the acute in 
 all the degrees in which the fyllables of any poly- 
 fyllabical word admit or require it. Their forts, 
 for harmonical purpofes, are characterized either 
 by quantity or by accent ; and by accent in all its 
 varieties, from the flrongeft emphafis, to the 
 lowelt remiffion of tone. Their effect then, in the 
 flow of language, verle or profe, will depend on the 
 manner of combining their various forts. With- 
 out an acute accent a monofyllable becomes, in 
 harmonical effect, a part of the preceding or fol- 
 lowing
 
 41 4 IN T QUIRV INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 lowiag word ; as the word me, in the line quoted 
 by Webb from Pope ; whence the phrafe^-w*?, is 
 as effectually to the ear one euphonous difly liable 
 as the word Jlimy or briny. In th'e fpirited and 
 eafy flow of that line thus, its monofyllabifm is 
 apt to efcape the ear's notice. And indeed the ten 
 fyllables are only in grammatical analyfis ten words : 
 the voice in proper delivery makes them, in effect 
 for the ear, but five ; namely, one monofyllable, 
 two diflyllables, a triflyllable, and again a difiylla- 
 ble j or, as fome perhaps would think the delivery 
 beft, the phrafes fly-me-fly-me., without fenfible 
 flop between them, would become one quadri- 
 fyllable, the penultimate only bearing the .empha- 
 tical accent. So alfo in Milton's famous defcrip- 
 tion of Eve : 
 
 Grace was in all her fteps, heaven in her eye, 
 In 
 
 Nor does it appear eafy to fay where, in the ac~ 
 cumulation of monofyllables, with good combina- 
 tion, excefs will begin ; tho to venture upon fifty 
 together will hardly be to be generally recom- 
 mended, however we may admire it in the follow- 
 ing paflage of Shake fpear : 
 
 Good friend, thou haft no caufe to fay fo yet. 
 
 But thou (halt have ; and creep time e'er fo flow, 
 
 Yet it fhall come for me to do thee good. 
 
 J had a thing to fay : but let it go. - 
 
 The fun is in the heaven, and the broad day 
 
 Attended ' King John, Aft iii. 
 
 Mufical
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 415 
 
 Mufical time having been, in the early part of 
 this work, much referred to and refted upon, for 
 iiluftration of the nature of poetical cadence, I 
 (hall defire to add a remark, pofiibly not ufelefs 
 toward obviating mifconception. In the notation 
 of mufic, now in ufe, the indications of meafure, 
 prefixed to every air, are, in a great degree, arbi- 
 trary marks : but formerly, when mufic was per- 
 haps more ftudied as a fcience, tho lefs perfected 
 as an art, the indications ufed had a more regular 
 and obvious reference to what was indicated. The 
 fimpleft common time was marked either by the 
 letter C or the figure 2 ; the fimpleft triple time by 
 the figure 3. When the air was fuch as to give 
 the notes an arrangement in larger combinations, 
 to that the recurrence of the mufical accent, for- 
 merly noticed, inftead of being on every fecond, 
 occurred only on every fourth note, for inftancc 
 every fourth crotchet, or portion of time equal to 
 a crotchet, the performer was admonifhed of it by 
 
 the prefixed mark *; judicioufly accommodated 
 
 to its purpofe, becaufe where the principal muficai 
 accent is on every fourth note, or portion of time 
 equal to a given note, there will be an inferior 
 accent on every fecond. So alfo in triple time, if 
 the return of the principal indicatory accent was 
 more diflant, fo that any perceptible inferior accent 
 
 intervened, the mark was *, and this was the old 
 
 and proper indication of what is called minuet' 
 
 time.
 
 416 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES O? 
 
 time. Now this time is in its nature more com- 
 plex than mulicians, for the purpoies of mufic 
 alone, have had occafion to notice. The move- 
 ment is not fimply triple, but a compound of 
 triple and common time ; the inferior accent 
 marking what are in effect (perceptible enough 
 when the ear attends for the purpofe, tho other- 
 xvife nearly hidden by the general effect) three 
 fmall bars of common time within each bar of 
 triple time; and fometirnes indeed indicated in no- 
 tation by the manner of connecting the notes, thus 
 J"~3 J~~ol J J That particular character of air, 
 diftinguifhed by the name of Polonefejs a ftill more 
 complex triple time, in which the common time 
 within the triple is more ftrongly marked for the ear. 
 The proper indication of it would be that now ap- 
 propriated to minuet-time, |; the character 01 
 
 the air depending much upon the occasional 
 and frequent introduction of four notes for the 
 complement of the interior cadence ; as thus, 
 J""JJ J M "2~ < J~ < 2 J J. As then the minuet is a 
 triplication of common time, fo the jig is a 
 duplication of triple time; and, inftead of 
 would be mod properly marked * It is remark- 
 able that the fimpler arrangements of time are thofe 
 of the mod cultivated mufic, and alone fit for 
 great and folemn effect. The Poloneie is fuited 
 
 onlv
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 417 
 
 only to dance, or burlefk fong ; and in thefe a 
 cadence yet more complex, for variety, may 
 fometimes pleafe, a triplication of triple time 
 
 3 m m N. 
 
 found more among the rnuflc of the wilder than 
 of more cultivated people, and perhaps moft in 
 Irifli dances. 
 
 In every extenfive nation, where the influence 
 of a great metropolis does not extend, in perpetual 
 circulation, through every part, DIALECTS will be 
 various. In antient Greece, a narrow country, 
 but very much divided by mountains and by poli- 
 tics, the four dialects, acknowleged as claffical, 
 were far from being all the varieties of the lan- 
 guage. Thucydides informs us that the fpeech of 
 JEtolia was hardly intelligible in any other part of 
 Greece ; and fome fpecimens preierved by Xeno- 
 phon, Ariftophanes, and others, mow that the La- 
 cedaemonian differed confiderably from the claffical 
 Doric. Nor will this appear wonderful to thole 
 who have had opportunity for any acquaintance 
 with the varieties yet exifting, tho faft wearing- 
 out, within England itfelf ; a country little moun- 
 tainous, and for centuries united under one go- 
 vernment and one fyllem of jurifprudence. Even 
 at this day converfation would be difficult between 
 a peafant fror.i the Yorkfhire dales, and one from 
 the vale of Taunton or the hills of Dorfet. In 
 
 E K other
 
 418 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLE! OF 
 
 other countries differences will be found yet greater. 
 In Italy, even in Lombardy, where one river runs 
 the length of the level country, a Piedmontefc 
 peafant from the wefhern end, meeting a Venetian 
 from the eaftern, could hold- little colloquial inter- 
 courfe. It is indeed remarkable of Italy, a coun- 
 try fo divided by impracticable mountains, that 
 the harfheft dialed: of its language, and the fofteft, 
 the Piedmontefe and the Venetian, each extreme 
 in its character, are fpoken within one plain. But 
 the Neapolitan is almoft utterly unintelligible 
 beyond its own diftrict, tho through all Italy the 
 language is of Latin origin, with a few words only 
 in one place more than another of Grecian, Gothic, 
 or Saracenic birth, and the fpeech acknowleged 
 by the polite and lettered is everywhere the fame. 
 But cultivated and uncultivated dialects will 
 little admit comparifon; and cultivated branches 
 from the modern European flocks are very few. 
 While the courts ofAix and Touloufe exifted, 
 the Romanefk was a cultivated fpeech j but whether 
 to be called a dialed rather of the French or 
 of the Spanifh, or a diftinct language, as the Por- 
 tuguefe, may be matter of queftion. Of the 
 branches of the Italian, the Venetian alone has 
 been in any degree cultivated. Perhaps no fe- 
 condary dialect of Europe can better claim a 
 claflical eftimation than the Scottifh branch of the 
 Englifh. ' The diftinction of fouthern and northern 
 
 Englifh
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 419 
 
 Engiifh has already been noticed. The former 
 has varieties, weftern, eaftern, and midland ; the 
 latter, fpreading almoft from the middle of Eng- 
 land over all the lowlands of Scotland, may per- 
 haps be ftill more fubdivided. But the cultivated 
 dialects of the language are only two, the Engiifh 
 of the government and jurifprudence of England, 
 and the Englim of the government and jurifpru- 
 dence of Scotland. * 
 
 David Hume, who has rated Shakefpear's merit 
 altogether lower, I think, than any other Britifh 
 critic, reckons among his faults a deficiency in 
 harmony. Samuel Johnfon's opinion differed 
 widely : 4 To Shakefpear,' he fays, * we muflafcribe 
 4 the praife, unlefs Spenfer may divide it with him, 
 4 of having firft difcovered to how much fmooth- 
 
 * nefs and harmony the Englim language could be 
 c foftened. He has fpeeches, perhaps fometimes 
 4 fcenes, which have all the delicacy of Howe, 
 ' without his effeminacy. He endeavours indeed 
 4 commonly to ftrike by the force and vigor of his 
 
 * dialogue, but he never executes his purpofe 
 4 better than when he tries to footh by foftnefs.' I 
 will own my intire concurrence with Johnlbn, 
 and I am perfuaded it was not without a view 
 to the fuperior harmony of Skakefpear's verfifica- 
 tion, that Milton has called him ' fweeteft Shake- 
 fpear.' Neverthelels I think the difference of 
 Hume's opinion may be accounted for, and it will 
 
 E 2 not
 
 420 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 not be beyond the purpofe of our inquiry to obferve 
 how. 
 
 In fpeaking of the extenfion of the Anglofaxon 
 conqueft over the lowlands of Scotland, Hume 
 has faid that the prefent Scottifh dialect is the 
 pureft Anglofaxon anywhere now fpoken. I 
 wholly doubt this. Between the claflical Englifh. 
 and the cultivated Scottifh, the difference is too 
 frnall to be eafily appretiated. Of provincial dia- 
 lects, Hume probably knew only the Scottifh. I 
 believe it will b>e found that the weftern Englifh,. 
 and perhaps fome of the eaftern, is hardly lefs Saxon 
 than the pureft of Scotland or the north of England. 
 Numerous Saxon words and phrafes indeed, un- 
 known in the fouth, are found in the north, but 
 many alfo exift in the fouthern fpeech which are 
 peculiar to it. 
 
 This then is remarkable of the Saxon part of 
 both dialects : with all the wide difference in the 
 character and pitch of tones, the fituation of the 
 cadence-marking accent ' is found almoft uni- 
 verfally the fame. But in words derived from 
 the French and Latin it is otherwife, and the 
 difference has been evidently increafing fince 
 Chaucer's time. Perhaps it cannot be better il- 
 luftrated than by two occurrences in the Houfe of 
 Commons within memory. It was when fir 
 Fletcher Norton was fpeaker, that the lord advo- 
 cate of Scotland, Montgomery, moving for a com- 
 mittee
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 mittee of inquiry to be appointed, gave the flrong 
 accent, after the Scottifh manner, to the firft fyl- 
 lable of the words committee and inquiry ; at the 
 fame time ufing, in the fecond lyllable of the latter, 
 the (hort found of the fourth vowel, inftead of the 
 long found of the firft diphthong, which fouthern 
 Englifh pronuntiation requires. The fpeaker, tho 
 in early life not without familiarity with the fpeech 
 of the north of England, was puzzled by this dif- 
 guife of the words ; nor, tho they were, at his re- 
 quifition, thrice repeated, was he inabled to put 
 the queftion, till a member near the chair whifpered 
 him, with the Englifh accentuation, what the 
 learned mover meant. The other circumftance oc- 
 curred in the conteft of parties following the con- 
 clufion of the American war. A Scottim member, 
 more remarkable for a powerful eloquence, than 
 for pure Englifh pronuntiation, in the courfe of a 
 fpeech faid, ' I will not give my fupport to a cabal; 
 ' I will give my fupport to adminiftration.' This 
 declaration, the part he meant to take having been* 
 before dubious, produced a marked fenfation, with, 
 a cry of * hear, hear,' which excited the curiolity 
 of a member juft then entering. Turning to old 
 Pearfon the doorkeeper, who happened to be at his 
 elbow, within the door, he a/ked what the fpeik- 
 ing member had faid ? ' I do not know,' anfwered 
 Pearfon, * what he has been talking about ; only 
 * I juft heard him fay he would give a ball and 
 i E 3 'a fupper
 
 INQUI'RY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 * a (upper to adminiftration.' This ftrange 
 perverfion of the words, as jocular as it may ap- 
 pear, the old man made without any purpofe of 
 cither joke or perverfion ; mifled intirely by the 
 learned member's Scottifh pronuntiation of the 
 words cabal and fupport, with a long vowel in 
 the fecond fyllable of the former, as in the 
 words ball and bawl, and the ftrong accent on 
 the firfl fyllable of the latter, as in the word 
 flipper. 
 
 I have been told by thofe who have con- 
 verfed with David Hume that his pronuntiation 
 was perfect Scottim. The language of Shake- 
 fpear abounds in words of Latin origin, in the 
 opinion of fome critics, rather to excefs. How 
 the harmony of his verfe would often be over- 
 thrown by .pronuntiation fuch as that of the 
 eminent perfons juft mentioned, will be ob- 
 vious. It is owing to the prevalence of the Saxon 
 idiom that, as the cadence of Scottim poetry is 
 generally ready for the fouthern voice and pleating 
 to the fouthern ear, fo the fouthern Englifh poetry 
 does not commonly offer material difficulties in its 
 cadence for northern organs. 
 
 But an opinion has obtained currency, that it is 
 of the genius of the Englifli language to throw the 
 acute accent as far back in the word as may be. 
 All the ableft writers on the fubject contradict 
 this, and invefligation in our poetry, upward to 
 
 Chaucer,
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 423 
 
 Chaucer, will prove that the opinion is errone- 
 ous; yet it holds and feems even to be extend- 
 ing itfelf. The injury hence threatened td the 
 whole body of our poetry is incalculable. The 
 cafe of the word fubjeft, may deferve confidpration. 
 All our dictionaries concur with all our poetry in 
 aflerting that the word fo written, when a noun, 
 fhould have the acute on the firft, but, when a 
 verb, on the fecond fyllable, Neverthelefs the new 
 fafhion, which has already eftablifhed itfelf in the 
 oratory of the bar, and of both hoiifes of parlia- 
 ment, gives the acute to the firft fyllable of the 
 verb, equally as of the noun. Let the confequence 
 be obferved in the following paflages : 
 
 The angel 
 
 Led them direft, and down the cliff as faft, 
 To ihcfubjefied plain. 
 
 Milton, Par. Loft. 
 
 Think not, young warriors, your diminifh'd name 
 Shall lofe of luftre by fubjeSing rage 
 To the cool dictates of experienced age. 
 
 pryden. 
 
 In one fhort v]ew,/ul>Jee<t to our eye, 
 Gods, emperors, heroes, fages, beauties lie. 
 
 Pope, 
 
 Suffice that Reafon keep to Nature's road, 
 Subjeft, compound them (the pajfiom) follow her and God. 
 Pope's Eflay on Man, b. z. v. 216* 
 
 IB 4 It
 
 424 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 It is obvious how, in the three firft examples, 
 the new accentuation injures the meafure, which, 
 with the old, is perfect, and how, in the laft, it 
 makes the fenfe doubtful, which., with the old ac- 
 centuation is clear. The orthography, indeed, of 
 the word/z^/V<3, in the too common way of Englifh 
 orthography, prefents doubt to the eye ; not at all 
 diftinguiming the verb from the noun. The able 
 cultivators of French letters have not fcrupled to 
 bring, from another language, a mark ufed there 
 for a very different purpofe, to indicate, in their 
 language, the different founds reprefented by their 
 character e ; blameable perhaps only for preferving 
 to it the name of accent, of which, in its ufe in their 
 language, it has nothing of the nature. Their 
 diligence, applied to the cultivation of Englifli 
 letters, would, with unqueftionable propriety, 
 have introduced the fame mark for its original 
 purpofe, the diftinction of accent ; and then the 
 verb fitbjett would have been difcriminated from 
 the noun fubjeft, for the eye as well as for the 
 ear. The advantage would probably have follow- 
 ed, that the eftablimment of the mark for the eye 
 would have prevented the corruption of the found 
 for the ear, and the harmony of Englifh poetry, froni 
 Shakefpear to Cowper, would not have incurred 
 its prefent danger of becoming (hortly as problem- 
 atical as that of Chaucer. As the famion flands, 
 our language, without advancing at all toward the 
 3 precifion
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 425 
 
 precifion of the French on paper, is lofing its own 
 precifion in fpeech. That accentuation of the words 
 committee, inquiry, andfupporf, which a few years ago 
 made the words unintelligible to Englifli ears, 
 may become eilablilhed in EngliQi delivery, and 
 the ableil men of the next century may be as unable 
 to comprehend the harmony of Shakefpear's, 
 Milton's, Dryden's, and Pope's verfes, as fir Flet- 
 cher Norton was to catch the purpofe of the lord 
 advocate's motion. 
 
 But through the unfortunate incorrednefs of the 
 early editions of Shakefpear's works, which, of late 
 years, the beft abilities have been exerted, advan- 
 tageoufly indeed, yet ftill with very deficient 
 effect, to remedy, it is often impoffible to know 
 what failure in harmony mould be attributed to 
 the poet, and what to his editors. Higher matters 
 have principally ingaged the criticifm of others ; 
 I will add a few words on his harmony. Shake- 
 fpear has the credit of the invention of that form of 
 verfe, which has been noticed in this inquiry as 
 the Englim dramatic verfe, diftinguifhed from the 
 epic or heroic. ' He feems,' fays Dennis, as 
 quoted by Samuel Johnfon, * to have been the 
 ' very original of Englifli Tragical harmony, that 
 * is, the harmony of blank verfe, diverfified often 
 ' with difiyllable and triffyllable termination. For 
 f this diverfity diftinguithes it from heroic harmony, 
 ' and, by bringing it nearer to common ufe, makes 
 
 'it
 
 46 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 ( it more proper to gain attention, and more fit for 
 ' action and dialogue/ Johnfon adds, * Perhaps 
 
 * it would not be eafy to find any author, except 
 ' Homer, who invented fo much as Shakefpear, 
 who fo much advanced the ftudies which he 
 ' cultivated, or eflfufed fo much novelty upon his 
 ' age or country. The form, the characters, 
 ' the language, and the (hows of the Englifh 
 
 * drama are his.' But it is obfervable that not one 
 of his plays is, throughout, either profe or verfe : 
 all are here one, there the other. Johnfon has ob- 
 ferved that in many of them there is an evident 
 inferiority in the latter part, occafioned probably 
 by hafte to bring the work to a conclufion, either 
 for fulfilling an ingagement, or to ufe a tranfient 
 opportunity for profit. But generally his -harmony- 
 is good j often exquifite ; and, in his higher- 
 wrought paffages, often lingularly adapted to the 
 expreffion required by the fentiment. Neverthelefs 
 this appears to me, among the excellencies of his 
 verification, not leaft remarkable, that, without 
 the aid of rime, the common crutch and ftilt of 
 poetry in all the languages of modern Europe, he 
 could make not only Horace's ' fermoni propiora,' 
 diction approaching common fpeech but com- 
 mon fpeech itfelf, the commoneft fpeech, pleafing 
 by its poetical mufic. Examples abound in his 
 works, not in the comic only, but in the tragic 
 ftile. In the former they are large and linking in 
 
 i the
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 
 
 the third aft of As-you-like-it : in the latter they 
 are larger and more ftriking in the fecond aft of 
 Henry-the-eighth ; where the fpeech of the duke 
 of Buckingham to the people is a fingular model 
 of the fineft oratory, adapted to understandings 
 the moft uncultivated. In both comedy and 
 tragedy they are unparalleled by any other poet in 
 the Englifh, perhaps in any language. Has it then 
 been by a lucky chance only that Shakefpear wrote 
 often fo harmonioufly ? or has he employed labor 
 and ftudy on humble language, and comic fubjefts, 
 which he would not beftow where fplendid diction 
 and lofty fentiment would make any fault in verfi- 
 fication more glaring and more intolerable ? or is 
 it not more probable that he, whofe organs led him 
 to fingular fweetnefs of compofition, where fome 
 rudenefs might beft have excufe, would be offended 
 beyond others at the violation of meafure to .be 
 found in fome of his fublimeft pafTages, as they 
 ftand publimed, and that at leafl the greater part 
 of fuch irregularities mould be attributed to his 
 editors ? 
 
 I have known it held by fome men of refpeftable 
 tafte and learning, that, of all modern dialects, 
 the Scottim-Englifh moft approaches the Dorian 
 Greek in its peculiar fitnefs for paftoral poetry. 
 Broadly ftated, I think this involves error concern- 
 ing both languages, tho; with modification, I 
 believe it true of both. I imagine that if Gawin 
 
 Douglas
 
 4*8 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 
 
 Douglas had been told that the Scottifh, or Tyr- 
 tus that the Doric, was particularly fuited to 
 paftoral poetry, they would have been at a lofs to 
 conceive on what ground it was aflerted. The 
 language of general polite ufe, as has often been 
 obferved of Virgil's, muft always appear out of' 
 place in paftoral ; and the languages of Gawin 
 Douglas and Tyrtsus were thofe of polite ufe 
 among the people for whom they wrote. But an 
 uncultivated dialect, whatever may be the poetical 
 reputation of Arcadian herdmen, can fuit no poetry 
 for a cultivated people. The fpeech of the high- 
 lands of Cyllene and Erymanthus would probably 
 have been as unintelligible in the polite courts of 
 Alexandria and Antioch, for which Theocritus 
 wrote, as that of the Yorkshire dales or the 
 Cheviot hills in the court of London, and, if un- 
 derftood, would have offended by its coarfenefs. 
 Theocritus ufed the language of Syracufe, the 
 largeft city of the Grecian name ;* with a few words 
 only added from the fpeech and fongs of paftoral 
 men. The Syracufan Doric, tranfported to Alex- 
 andria, or wherever the new Attic was the language 
 of the polite and learned, and the dialed: of Edin- 
 borough, tranfported to London, or wherever the 
 fouthern Eiiglifh may prevail, with the advantages 
 of cultivation, would unite that deviation from ge- 
 neral polite ufe which' the character of paftoral 
 poetry requires. To this combination then I think 
 
 is
 
 HARMONY IN LANGUAGE. 429 
 
 is owing, whether intirely I will not fay, but far 
 principally, the peculiar fitnefsboth of the Scottifh- 
 Englifh and of the Dorian-Greek for paftoral 
 poetry. Had Alan Ramfay been injudicious 
 enough to have ufed the dialects of Galloway or 
 Aberdeen, he would have failed equally with 
 thofe who have attempted paftoral in the provincial 
 dialects of the fouth of England. 
 
 The kingdom of We flex prevailing in the Saxon 
 heptarchy, Winchefter being the principal feat of 
 political and jurifprudential bufinefs, Oxford the 
 chief refbrt of the learned, London afterward fu- 
 perfeding Winchefter as the capital, and Cam- 
 bridge rivalling Oxford as a feat of. learning, the 
 weftern and eaftern Anglofaxon dialects became 
 compounded to form the foundation of our pre- 
 fent fpeech. Had the kingdom of Northumber- 
 land maintained the afcendancy it had once ac- 
 quired, and preferved its dominion over the low- 
 lands of Scotland, York might have become the 
 capital of Great Britain, and London remained only 
 the principal commercial town. The northern 
 would then of courfe have been the cultivated dia- 
 lect, the fpeech of the polite and learned. France 
 apparently would have had a very fuperior lan- 
 guage, had Touloufe become the capital inftead of 
 Paris. Italy could not have been more fortunate than 
 in the prevalence of the Tufcan, nor perhaps Spain 
 than in that of the Cattilian. As the Englifh was 
 
 to
 
 430 INQUIRY INTO THE PRINCIPLES OF 1 
 
 to be founded on fome of the rough dialefts of the 
 Teutonic hords, the general prevalence of the 
 weftern dialed: has been perhaps altogether ad- 
 vantageous. The we&ern indeed has been efteem- 
 ed a dialed: of peculiar coarfenefs, but its coarfe- 
 nefs is of a kind readily admitting polifh ; in found 
 arifing chiefly fr.om the broadnefs of vowels and 
 the frequency of diphthongs; in phrafe from ir- 
 regularities which polite ufe would of courfe ar- 
 range. It has given us nothing of the offenfive 
 guttural of the German, nothing of the offenfive 
 nafal of the French, nothing of that ftrong pecu- 
 liarity of tones which diflinguifh its northern fifter 
 from all other dialefts. Such as our language is, 
 it is the fpeech of a people fpred in all quarters of 
 the globe, a principal remaining bond of two 
 divided empires, and, for the benefit of both, 
 richly fraught with excellent writings on all fub- 
 jects. This fpeech it becomes us to cherifh and pre- 
 ferve; to know its merits, that we may know how 
 to ward it againfl injury, and how to maintain, if 
 we cannot improve, its advantages. May the mite 
 here offered contribute to hofe purp6fes ! 
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 ( 43* ) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 AWARE of the hazard of criticifing language, but 
 efpecially a forein language, the rifle of onefelf miftaking, 
 and the rifk of failing to make onefelf underftood by 
 others, for explanation of the hypothefis ventured, in the 
 firft article of the fifteenth fe<tion (p. 290.) concerning the 
 lofs of accent in the French language, I defire to refer to 
 example within the Englifh language. The two words 
 analogy and enallage (tho the latter is of rare ufe, it may 
 anfwer the purpofe) have, in the flow of fpeech, found fo 
 nearly the fame, that the ear, unaflifted by context, will 
 hardly difcriminate them. Alike in number of fyllables, alike 
 in fituationof the acute, alike in proper pronuntiation of the 
 eminent fy liable <?/, the difference in the other fyllables is too 
 little marked to afcertain the word. If then the context 
 does not mark it, if clear difcrimination by found becomes 
 neceflary, the refource for the Englifli fpeaker is fomething 
 very like ordinary French pronuntiation. Analyfing the 
 word into fyllables, with an equal tone on each, an-al-o-gy 
 or en-al-la-ge^o. dictinction becomes obvious. 
 
 In the fame fe&ion and article (p. 291.) it is faid that, in 
 derivative words of the Englifh language, the accent always 
 adheres fteadily to fome one fyllable of the root. A necef- 
 fary diftin&ion has been overlooked here : the afTertion is 
 juft only of words of Teutonic birth : in words from Latin 
 roots, whether immediately or through a French; medium, 
 varieties are found. Thus in the words necfj/ary, ni:ejjarlly, 
 ntce/ity, necejjitous, necejjitate^ there is a change from the firft 
 
 to
 
 43* APPENDIX. 
 
 to the fecond fyllable : mfcnate,fenator,fenatonal, from the 
 firft to the third: in orator, oration^oratoricalyj'ociable^ajjociate^ 
 Society ^ ajjociation ; various, varioujly, variegate, variegated, 
 variety, variation, from the firft to the fecond and third. 
 
 I am aware of the rifkl incur by the freedom with which 
 I have fpoken of the French language. The greateft ble- 
 mifhes of that language, thofe defects which unfit it for feri- 
 ous purpofes, and efpecially for public fpeaking, are the delight 
 and admiration of many, for the amufement they afford. Emi- 
 nent among thefe amufing defects are its abundant double 
 meanings, which the Englifh certainly cannot emulate, nor 
 perhaps any other language. Holding their exiftence in 
 the efience of the language, in fpeech, thefe blemifhes have 
 unfortunately been beyond the controul of its able cultiva- 
 tors, who, enough aware that they are blemifties, have, in its 
 reprefentation by letters, judicioufly obviated them. Were 
 thofe admired double meanings to be looked for in writing, 
 the Englifti, through the abfurdity of its orthography, 
 would beat the French far. The defcription in the earl of 
 Northumberland's fpeech, in the beginning of Shakefpear's 
 Henry-the-fourth, is well known : 
 
 Even fuch a man, fo faint, fo fpirklefs, 
 
 So dull, fo dead-in-look, fo wobegone, 
 
 Drew Priam's curtain in the dead of night, 
 
 And would have told him half his Troy was burnt, 
 
 I have been aflured there is in print a French tranflation 
 of this play, whofe author has been greatly relieved in the 
 Yerfion of this paflage by being led into a curious error, 
 
 through
 
 APPENDIX. 433 
 
 through the prevailing fafliion of our orthography to exhibit 
 compound words decompounded. The difficulties of the 
 paflage, for turning into French, which will be obvious to 
 all acquainted with the French language, are ftrongly (hown 
 in Le Tourneur's tranflation, which, in half as many words 
 again, reprefents the original feebly, tho, as a French tranf- 
 lation, with tolerable fidelity, thus : 
 
 * Tu as 1'air de ce Troyen qul, fans voix et fans haleine, 
 
 * defaillant et confterne, la mort dans les yeux, le defefpoir 
 
 * danstous fes traits, ouvrit dans les ombres de la nuit pro- 
 
 * fonde les rideaux du lit de Priam, et s'effbr^oit de lui dire 
 queTroye etoit a moitie embrafee.' 
 
 Here l fo wobegone' is rendered by the phrafe * le defefpoir 
 ' dans tous les traits.' Whether indignant at the laxitude 
 of this verfion, or how otherwife led fo to deviate from the 
 common French practice, the other tranflator, faithful to the 
 words of his author, as they ftand printed in fome editions, 
 h.as rendered them * Ainfi, Doujeur ! va-t'en,' 
 
 Not having been fortunate enough to find opportunity 
 for obtaining afliftance from any native Greek, fince I re- 
 fumed my inquiry with a view to its immediate completion, 
 it muft of courfe be with fome hazard that I undertake any 
 explanation of the modern Greek language ; and yet I am, 
 unwilling to omit fuch afliftance as I may beft give, to any 
 who may have curiofity about the living relics of that fpecch 
 to which, in the dead letter, we owe fo much. In jhe tranf- 
 lation of the beginning of the Paftor Fido, given in the fourth 
 article of the fifteenth feclion (p. 329.) I take the word 
 'A/ttsm to be a word not of common ufe, but rather a poetical 
 word, formed from the claffical sl/ju. I fuppofe H-O^TE, in 
 the fame line, to be a contraction of KM were, nov being ufed 
 f Cometimes
 
 434- APPENDIX. 
 
 fometimes for who or wbich> tho more commonly for 
 In the third line, the lafl fyllable of o-ywiS^aj is the pofleffive 
 pronoun, united with the preceding word, according to the 
 common manner of the modern language, in confequence 
 of lofing its accent. no'%i> in the fourth line, I reckon a 
 contraction of "TIUJ i-/j l - Of the following word I take the 
 firft or two firft letters to be the fign of the iubjunr.ive mood 
 va, which occurs twice in the next line intire, as preceding 
 a confonant, and once in the laft line with the vowel elided, 
 becaufe a vowel follows j v aypunvvcrouv. Of the remainder 
 of the word or phrafe which ftands printed vxffi, I cannot 
 venture to explain my conjecture, farther than by referring to 
 the following litteral tranflation of the whole paflage : * Go 
 ' you, worthy herdmen, who have inclofed in toils the terri- 
 ' We and highly incenfed animal, and, according to our cuf- 
 ' torn, give the fignal of the hunting, where it is to be, and 
 
 * do it altogether. Let the bugle-horn be founded, that eyes 
 
 * may be awakened, and let voices be exerted to roufe all 
 ' hearts.' The * disjec~ti membra poetse' are here fo hardly, 
 difcernible, that it may be due to the original to fhow the 
 reader, unverfed in the Italian language, its fuperiority, as it 
 may be fhown even in a tranflation the moft litteral : l Go 
 
 * you, who inclofed the horrible beaft, and giye the accuftomed 
 f fignal of the future chace. Go, awakening eyes with the 
 
 * horn, and hearts with the voice.' Should the Englifii 
 fportfman deiirc explanation pf the manner of hunting here 
 adverted to, he may find it very completely and very amuf- 
 ingly given in Riduiger's prints, -sreprefenting the manner of 
 huntijig in the fouth of Germ..ny at this day. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 T.u!:e TIanfard, Printer, 
 Crcat Tuniltiie, LiiicoinVlan 'Fields*
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
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