The before a word beginning with a vowel always retains the first sound of e, as, The evening is mild, the air is soft. The before a consonant sound is always pronounced with the second sound of e, as, The man, the union-not the man, the union.

My, in most cases, should have the second sound of i-never that of e long, as, My pen is as bad as my paper; very much as if written, mip-pen is as bad as mippaper. I cannot spare my knife, for I am using it myself.

You, when it does not begin a sentence, is generally changed into the obscure sound of yŭ or yě, as, He blames yu for the very things he ought to praise yě.

Your is often shortened into yur, and their into thěr, as, Yur brothers' health, I understand, is good; when will you look for ther return?

Of, for, from, and by, are generally softened into uv, fùr, frùm, and bì, except before unemphasized personal pronouns, placed in the middle or end of a sentence, or when for is a conjunction: e. g., The fear ŭv the Lord is the beginning uv wisdom. For the want ŭv ǎă nail, the shoe was lost; fur the want ŭv a shoe, the horse was lost; and fur the want ŭv a horse, the man was lost. Keep thy tongue frum evil, and thy lips frum speaking guile. By the blessing uv the upright the city is exalted; but it is overthrown by the mouth uv the wicked. It is said, ǎ man is known by the company he keeps. The mind is improved by reflection, as well as bĭ reading. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

And can always be pronounced without harshness, and it may sometimes be softened into und or 'nd; but

it never should lose the sound of d, and be pronounced an or un: e. g., John, and James, und I were there; or John, und James, 'nd I were there ;-never John, an James, un I were there; nor-which would be a fault still greater-John, 'n James, 'n I were there.

Nor, and sometimes or, may be changed to nur and ur without detriment: e. g., It was neither I, nor John, nur James that did it. Who shall separate us frum the love uv Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, ur famine, ur nakedness, ur peril, or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nur angels, nur principalities, nur powers, nor things present, nur things to come, nor height, nur depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love uv God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

These words, whenever they are opposed to each other, or to other words, or rendered in any way emphatic, continue, of course, their vowel sounds unchanged : e. g., I did not say a man, but the man. I said it was my fault, not his. They went out from us, because they were not of us. Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

The preposition to should never lose its distinctive sound of oo, and be changed to te or toe.

From the preceding examples, no one can fail to observe the natural tendency of the words noticed, to soften or change the vowel sound when the same word

is repeated, or whenever it is placed close to one under emphasis.

The sounds of the words, as thus varied in the preceding examples, are after the best style of easy and familiar conversation and it is wonderful to see what a marked difference is made in the whole character of reading and speaking by so varying them, compared with the full sound of the words, as when pronounced separately. In the one case, we closely join, with few exceptions, the prepositions and conjunctions with the words that follow them; and so throw what we utter into easy and appropriate divisions of speech: while in the other, we are apt to join the prepositions and conjunctions with the words coming before; and so render the whole unnatural and harsh.

But language is often marred by suffering two vowels to coalesce. When one word ending with a vowel, precedes a word beginning with a vowel, that in the first or the second, is liable to be sunk; as, I'm, for I am; we're, for we are; he's, for he is; he'ssisted, for he assisted; I'nsist upon it, for I insist upon it; I'ppeal to any one who knows th' affair, for, I appeal to any one who knows the affair.-Sh' openeth her mouth with wisdom; an' in 'er tongue is the law of kindness; for, she openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law uv kindness.

Sometimes also language is weakened and obscured by sinking the vowel in the first word when it ends with a consonant: e. g. Instead of saying, For I am persuaded, we say, F'r I'm persuaded; If I, on the mor row, 'f I, on the morrow; For I, on the day appointed,

F'r I, on the day appointed; For he and I, F'r 'e 'n I. —In all these, and similar cases, the former syllable must be swelled and dwelt upon so as to flow distinctly into the next, without stopping the stream of sound.

In all these examples it may be observed that when for is a conjunction it does not change the vowel sound --and it may be known to be one, when because can be substituted for it without destroying the sense.

As articles, prepositions and conjunctions have no meaning in themselves except as they relate to other words, or serve to connect other words together, good taste and good sense require us to utter them with no more force than is sufficient clearly to show such relation or connection for the more force we give to unimportant words, the less are we able to bestow on those that are important. How often do we hear the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer expressed in this manner? Fur thine is the kingdom, and the power, and Expressed properly, it would be; For dom, and the power, und the glory

the glory forever. thine is the king

forever.

Some persons have contracted the disagreeable habit of stopping upon the article, preposition or conjunction till they can think of words to put with them; and when the words come, they pour them forth in a sort of spasm and this makes their talking a constant succession of nervous twitches; and it makes others nervous to hear them. This habit sometimes prevails in reading, irrespective of emphasis, and tends to give an unnatural prominence to most of those little words. What advantage it is both to the talker and the reader, always to keep his mind sufficiently in advance to embrace lan

guage enough for a full measure of speech, before any of the words escape his lips! For in no other way can they be naturally adjusted to each other, and uttered agreeably to their relative importance.

LESSON X.

WORDS CLASSED UNDER VOWELS AND CONSONANT SOUNDS.

THE following classes of words ranged under their respective sounds, are designed to help the student the better to fix in his mind their true pronunciation; and to train his organs to utter with ease the most difficult elements, and combinations of the language.-He should first express the element by itself; and then in words, till the organs obey every demand of the will.

-Fate, ale, day, freight, obey, danger, gaol, chasten, gauge, pátron, patriot, patriarch, patriotism, pastry, ere, prey, alien, convey, stranger, feign, feint, detáil. -Far, army, alms, calm, ah, aye, master, martin, guard, art, are, calf, aunt, haunt, heart, hearken, father, era, America, command, laughter. å–8 —Fall, all, awful, water, daughter, brought, sought, ought, naughty, appall, orb, lord, for, laud, law, saw, raw, flaw, draw, straw, author, autograph, morn, adorn, warn, forlorn, ball, call, tall, hall, fall, pall, caught, fought, wrought, inthral, saucy, sauce, ward, sward, exorbitant, lawn, gone, also, albeit, almost, was, war, column (collum).