Amongst us, not only the Scots, Welsh, and Irish, have their different brogues, but almost every county in England has one peculiar to itself: and that they are all difagreeable or abfurd, is evident from this, that though each by cuftom is reconciled to his own, he is either difgufted with, or laughs at the others. Thefe all take their rife from a natural principle in man, a love of variety; but where this principle acts only as a blind inftinct, nothing orderly can be expected from it.

Let us fuppofe then fuch a nation, after having introduced thofe fentential tones, fhould confider them as ornamental, and defirous to embellish their language still more, should think the best way of doing it would be that of multiplying founds of this fort, by affixing one to each word; we fhall find here a natural and eafy progressfrom fentential to verbal accents. But ftill

this is a farther deviation from Nature; and fuch multiplication of unmeaning founds, not only deprives fpeech of that clearness and energy which it had, when there was never any change of note in the voice, except what was the result of meaning or fentiment; but if these notes should be void of all relative proportion to each other, the language will, according to the greatness of their number, be fill more difcordant, and confequently more disagreeable to an unprejudiced ear, of which I have before given an example in the intonation of the Scotch, which exactly correfponds to the ftate now defcribed. Here we have the origin of verbal accents in their irregular ftate; which we have good reafon to believe prevailed for a long time in Greece, in the fame manner as at present in Scotland. Let us now endeavour to

trace

trace the causes which probably reduced them to a state of order and regularity.

Suppofing, in fuch a nation, the verbal accents to have been fo incorporated with the speech, in a long fucceffion of time, as to become infeparable from it, there is no way of rendering fuch a tongue agreeable to the ear, but that of reforming the irregularity of thofe accents, afcertaining their number, and reducing them to a mufical fcale. But what motive can there be, to attempt such a change amongst a people utterly blind to any imperfection in their fpeech? or what means can be employed, to overthrow the power of Custom, in an article where his sway is the most uncontrolled? Such a reformation would indeed baffle all the plans that the invention of man could form ; and can only be produced, by a chain of neceffary causes, acting in a

long

F

long fucceffion. In the first place the nation must be free, and all public affairs managed by speech, in public debates, When that is found to be the only road to power, all men defirous of obtaining it, will not fail to take all poffible pains to cultivate the powers of elocution. The firft efforts of oratory, will be exerted about the most effential objects, and to convince the understanding, and move the paffions, will for a long time be the chief end of its labour. In process of time, men of inferiour talents will try to fucceed by different means. They will try to balance superiour strength of understanding, by fuperiour grace. They will employ all their art, to please the ear, and captivate the fancy. They will harmonize their delivery, by well proportioned tones. The people, whofe relish for fenfual gratification, is much quicker, than for that of the intellectual kind, will listen to

them

them with delight. The plain nervous orator, will no longer gain attention; confequently will no longer have it in his power to perfuade. What must he do in this cafe? He alfo must endeavour to acquire those ornamental parts of oratory, or hope no more to appear in public with fuccefs. Thus we find all who have talents for elocution, neceffarily engaged in the task of harmonizing their speech. The accents will of course, by repeated experiments, be at length reduced to a mufical proportion, as the fureft means of delighting the ear. These proportions will at first, like mufic, be caught only by the ear; but as that grows more refined, and the ardour for the oratorial art increafes, they will, like mufic, be reduced to rule, and methodically taught. In a nation, whofe common fpeech is thus rendered mufical, mufic itself will make a proportional progrefs. The mafters in that