confounding it with the accents of the ancients, which were quite different things. There is no fubject of antiquity which has more puzzled the literary world, than that of the Greek accents; the marks of which have come down to us with their books, but the use of them is utterly unknown, This gave rife to a controverfy, which was carried on for a great length of time, by fome of the most learned men, in different parts of Europe; but it ended, as most controverfies do, when people are not mafters of their fubject, without producing any thing fatisfactory to the world, upon that head. It was lately revived by a very learned gentleman in England, with no better fuccefs; for whoever will take the pains of reading Dr. Fofter's Book upon Accents, though he may fee in it great marks of erudition, and deep reading, will find himself as much in the dark, as he

was

was before. These feveral controvertifts have proved their opponents to be wrong, but none have been able to establish what is right. And this arofe from the fame cause, which I have had occafion to mention before, that these men of letters were treating of a subject which regarded founds, in which they were unskilled. Let me now try, without equal pretenfions to literary merit, whether the greater attention which I have given to founds, will not enable me to clear away all the difficulties, in which this intricate fubject has been hitherto involved.

I have faid, that the chief reason of the confufion, which has appeared in the writings of all who have treated of that subject, is, that they did not fee the difference between the use of the ancient and modern. accent. Together with the term, they have alfo adopted their definition; whereas in reality they are two things utterly dif

tinct.

tinct. The ancient accents, confifted in the elevation, or depreffion of the voice: the English accent, in the mere stress of the voice, without any change of note. Among the Greeks, all fyllables were pronounced either in a high, low, or middle note; or elfe in, a union of the high and low by means of the intermediate. The middle note, which was exactly at an equal distance between the high and the low, was that in which the unaccented fyllables were pronounced. But every word had one letter, if a monofyllable, or one fyllable, if it confisted of more than one, distinguished from the reft; either by a note of the voice perceptibly higher than the middle note, which was called the acute accent; or by a note perceptibly and in equal proportion lower than the middle one, which was called the grave accent; or by a union of the acute and grave on one fyllable, which was done by the voice paffing from the

3

acute,

acute, through the middle note, in continuity down to the grave, which was called the circumflex.

Now in pronouncing English words, it is true that one fyllable is always distinguished from the rest, but it is not by any perceptible elevation or depreffion of the voice, any high or low note that it is done, but merely by dwelling longer upon it, or giving it a more forcible ftroke. When the stress or accent is on the vowel, we dwell longer on that fyllable than the reft. As, in the words, glóry, fáther, hóly. When it is on the confonant, the voice, paffing rapidly over the vowel, gives a smarter stroke to the confonant, which distinguishes that syllable from others; as, in the words, bat'tle, hab'it, bor'row.

Thus we see,
Thus we fee, that the

whole difference between the ancients and us, lies in this; that they diftinguished one

fyllable from the reft by a change of note

upon

upon it; and we diftinguish it equally well, without any change of note, by stress only. To illuftrate this, let us suppose the same movements beat upon the drum, and founded by the trumpet. Take, for instance, a fucceffion of words, where the accent is on every fecond fyllable, which forms an Iambic movement; the only way by which a drum (as it is incapable of any change of notes) can mark that movement, is by ftriking a soft note firft, followed by one more forcible, and fo on in fucceffion. Let the fame movement be founded by the trumpet, in an alternation of high and low notes, and it will give a distinct idea of the difference between the English accent, and those of the ancients.

1

The difficulty of conceiving the use of the ancient accents, arifes from our never having heard any people speak, who had taken the pains to reduce their common