tracting the e in met, and the i in ship, ignorance or carelessness might perhaps, with the help of our orthoepists, convert the former word into mate and the latter into sheep; and, as this would breed confusion in the language, the avoiding of the similarity may perhaps be a sufficient reason for confining these two sounds of e and i, to that short quantity in which they cannot be mistaken. But to suppose, as some do, that the protraction of u in tun would identify it with the o in tone, surpasses any notion I have of what stupidity may misconceive. With one or two exceptions, therefore, it appears to me that each of the pure vowel sounds is of such a nature, that it may be readily recognized by its own peculiar quality or tone, though it be made as long or as short as it is possible for any sound of the human voice to be. It is manifest that each of the vowel sounds heard in ate, at, arm, all, eel, old, ooze, us, may be protracted to the entire extent of a full breath slowly expended, and still be precisely the same one simple sound;* and, on the contrary, that all but one may be shortened to the very minimum of vocality, and still be severally known without danger of mistake. The prolation of a pure vowel places the organs of utterance in that particular position which the sound of the letter requires, and then holds them unmoved till we havo given to it all the length we choose.

OBS. 11.-In treating of the quantity and quality of the vowels, Walker says, "The first distinction of sound that seems to obtrude itself upon us when we utter the vowels, is a long and a short sound, according to the greater or less duration of time taken up in pronouncing them. This distinction is so obvious as to have been adopted in all languages, and is that to which we annex clearer ideas than to any other; and though the short sounds of some vowels have not in our language been classed with sufficient accuracy with their parent long ones, yet this has bred but little confusion, as vowels long and short are always sufficiently distinguishable."-Principles, No. 63. Again: "But though the terms long and short, as applied to vowels, are pretty generally understood, an accurate ear will easily perceive that these terms do not always mean the long and short sounds of the respective vowels to which they are applied; for. if we choose to be directed by the ear, in denominating vowels long or short, we must certainly give these appellations to those sounds only which have exactly the same radical tone, and differ only in the long or short emission of that tone."—Ib., No. 66. He then proceeds to state his opinion that the vowel sounds heard in the following words are thus correspondent: tame, them; car, carry; wall, want; dawn, gone; theme, him; tone, nearly tun; pool, pull. As to the long sounds of i or y, and of u, these two being diphthongal, he supposes the short sound of each to be no other than tho short sound of its latter element ee or oo. Now to me most of this is exceedingly unsatisfactory; and I have shown why.

OBS. 12.-If men's notions of the length and shortness of vowels are the clearest ideas they have in relation to the elements of speech, how comes it to pass that of all the disputable points in grammar, this is the most perplexed with contrarieties of opinion? In coming before the world as an author, no man intends to place himself clearly in the wrong; yet, on the simple powers of the letters, we have volumes of irreconcilable doctrines. A great connoisseur in things of this sort, who professes to have been long "in the habit of listening to sounds of every description, and that with more than ordinary attention," declares in a recent and expensive work, that "in every language we find the vowels incorrectly classed;" and, in order to give to "the simple elements of English utterance" a better explanation than others have furnished, he devotes to a new analysis of our alphabet the amplo space of twenty octavo pages, besides having several chapters on subjects connected with it. And what do his twenty pages amount to? I will give the substance of them in ten lines, and the reader may judge. He does not tell us how many elementary sounds there are; but, professing to arrange the vowels, long and short, "in the order in which they are naturally found," as well as to show of the consonants that the mutes and liquids form correspondents in regular pairs, he presents a scheme which I abbreviate as follows. VOWELS: 1. A, as in all and what, or o, as in orifice and not; 2. U—ürn and hút, or love and come; 3. 0vote and echō; 4. A-āh and hāt; 5. A—hāzy, no short sound; 6. E-eel and it; 7. E-mercy and met; 8. O-prove and ado; 9. 00-tööl and foot; 10. W-vow and law; 11. -(like the first e-) syntax and dutý. DIPHTHONGS: 1. I-as ah-ee; 2. U—as ee-oo ; 3. OU-as au-oo. CONSONANTS: 1. Mutes,-c or s, f, h, k or q, p, t, th sharp, sh; 2. Liquids,-, which has no corresponding mute, and z, v, r, ng, m, n, th flat and j, which severally correspond to the eight mutes in their order; 3. Subliquids,—g hard, b, and d. See "Music of Nature," by William Gardiner, p. 480, and after.

OBS. 13.-Dr. Rush comes to the explanation of the powers of the letters as the confident first revealer of nature's management and wisdom; and hopes to have laid the foundation of a system of instruction in reading and oratory, which, if adopted and perfected, "will beget a similarity of opinion and practice," and "be found to possess an excellence which must grow into sure and irreversible favour."-Phil. of the Voice, p. 404. "We have been willing," he says, "to believe, on faith alone, that nature is wise in the contrivance of speech. Let us now show, by our works of analysis, how she manages the simple elements of the voice, in the production of their unbounded combinations.”—Ibid., p. 44. Again: "Every one, with peculiar self-satisfaction, thinks ho reads well, and yet all read differently: there is, however, but one mode of reading well.”—Ib., p. 403. That one mode, some say, his philosophy alone teaches. Of that, others may judge. I

"As harmony is an inherent property of sound, the ear should be first called to the attention of simple sounds; though, in reality, all are composed of three, so nicely blended as to appear but as one."-Gardiner's Music of Nature, p. S. "Every sound is a mixture of three tones; as much as a ray of light is composed of three prismatic colours."-Ib., p. 387.

shall only notice here what seems to be his fundamental position, that, on all the vocal elements of language, nature has stamped duplicity. To establish this extraordinary doctrine, he first attempts to prove, that "the letter a, as heard in the word day," combines two distinguishable yet inseparable sounds; that it is a compound of what he calls, with reference to vowels and syllables in general, "the radical and the vanishing movement of the voice,"-a single and indivisible element in which "two sounds are heard continuously successive," the sounds of a and e as in ale and eve. He does not know that some grammarians have contended that ay in day is a proper diphthong, in which both the vowels are heard; but, so pronouncing it himself, infers from the experiment, that there is no simpler sound of the vowel a. If this inference is not wrong, the word shape is to be pronounced sha-epe; and, in like manner, a multitude of other words will acquire a new element not commonly heard in them.

OBS. 14.-But the doctrine stops not here. The philosopher examines, in some similar way, the other simple vowel sounds, and finds a beginning and an end, a base and an apex, a radical and a vanishing movement, to them all; and imagines a sufficient warrant from nature to divide them all "into two parts," and to convert most of them into diphthongs, as well as to include all diphthongs with them, as being altogether as simple and elementary. Thus he begins with confounding all distinction between diphthongs and simple vowels; except that which he makes for himself when he admits "the radical and the vanish," the first half of a sound and the last, to have no difference in quality. This admission is made with respect to the vowels heard in ooze, eel, err, end, and in, which he calls, not diphthongs, but "monothongs." But in the a of ale, he hears d'-ee; in that of an, a'-e; (that is, the short a followed by something of the sound of e in err;) in that of art, ah'-e; in that of all, awe-ē; in the i of isle, i'-ee; in the o of old, o'-00; in the proper diphthong ou, ou-oo; in the oy of boy, he knows not what. After his explanation of these mysteries, he says, "The seven radical sounds with their vanishes, which have been described, include, as far as I can perceive, all the elementary diphthongs of the English language." -Ib., p. 60. But all the sounds of the vowel u, whether diphthongal or simple, are excluded from his list, unless he means to represent one of them by the e in err; and the complex vowel sound heard in voice and boy, is confessedly omitted on account of a doubt whether it consists of two sounds or of three! The elements which he enumerates are thirty-five; but if oi is not a triphthong, they are to be thirty-six. Twelve are called "Tonics; and are heard in the usual sound of the separated Italics, in the following words: A-ll, a-rt, a-n, a-le, ou-r, i-sle, o-ld, ee-l, 00-ze, e-rr, e-nd, i-n,”—Ib., p. 53. Fourteen are called "Subtonics; and are marked by the separated Italics, in the following words: B-ow, d-are, g-ive, v-ile, z-one, y-e, w-o, th-en, a-z-ure, si-ng, l-ove, m-ay, n-ot, r-oe."-Ib., p. 54. Nine are called "Atonics; they are heard in the words, U-p, ou-t, ar-k, i-f, ye-s, h-e, wh-eat, th-in, pu-sh."—Ib., p. 56. My opinion of this scheme of the alphabet the reader will have anticipated.

IV. FORMS OF THE LETTERS.

In printed books of the English language, the Roman characters are generally employed; sometimes, the Italic; and occasionally, the Old English: but in handwriting, Script letters are used, the forms of which are peculiarly adapted to the pen.

Characters of different sorts or sizes should never be needlessly mixed; because facility of reading, as well as the beauty of a book, depends much upon the regularity of its letters.

In the ordinary forms of the Roman letters, every thick stroke that slants, slants from the left to the right downwards, except the middle stroke in Z; and every thin stroke that slants, slants from the left to the right upwards.

Italics are chiefly used to distinguish emphatic or remarkable words: in the Bible, they show what words were supplied by the translators. In manuscripts, a single line drawn under a word is meant for Italics a double line, for small capitals; a triple line, for full capitals.

;

In every kind of type or character, the letters have severally two forms, by which they are distinguished as capitals and small letters. Small letters constitute the body of every work; and capitals are used for the sake of eminence and distinction.

The titles of books, and the heads of their principal divisions, are printed wholly in capitals. Showbills, painted signs, and short inscriptions, commonly appear best in full capitals.

Some of these are so copied in books; as, "I found an altar with this

inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD."-Acts, xvii, 23. "And they set up over his head, his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS."-Matt., xxvii, 37.

RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITALS.

RULE I.-OF Books.

When particular books are mentioned by their names, the chief words in their titles begin with capitals, and the other letters are small; as, "Pope's Essay on Man"-"the Book of Common Prayer"-" the Scriptures of the Old and New

The first word of every distinct sentence, or of any clause separately numbered or paragraphed, should begin with a capital; as, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."-1 Thess., v, 16-21.

"14. He has given his assent to their acts of pretended legislation :

15. For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

16. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for murders: 17. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

18. For imposing taxes on us without our consent:" &c.

Declaration of American Independence.

RULE III.-OF THE DEITY.

All names of the Deity, and sometimes their emphatic substitutes, should begin with capitals; as, "God, Jehovah, the Almighty, the Supreme Being, Divine Providence, the Messiah, the Comforter, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Lord of Sabaoth."

"The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee."-Moore.

RULE IV.-PROPER NAMES.

Proper names, of every description, should always begin with capitals; as, “Saul of Tarsus, Simon Peter, Judas Iscariot, England, London, the Strand, the Thames, the Pyrenees, the Vatican, the Greeks, the Argo and the Argonauts."

RULE V. OF TITLES.

Titles of office or honour, and epithets of distinction, applied to persons, begin usually with capitals; as, "His Majesty William the Fourth, Chief Justice Marshall, Sir Matthew Hale, Dr. Johnson, the Rev. Dr. Chalmers, Lewis the Bold, Charles the Second, James the Less, St. Bartholomew, Pliny the Younger, Noah Webster, Jun., Esq."

RULE VI.-ONE CAPITAL.

Those compound proper names which by analogy incline to a union of their parts without a hyphen, should be so written, and have but one capital: as, "Eastport, Eastville, Westborough, Westfield, Westtown, Whitehall, Whitechurch, Whitehaven, Whiteplains, Mountmellick, Mountpleasant, Germantown, Germanflats, Blackrock, Redhook, Kinderhook, Newfoundland, Statenland, Newcastle, Northcastle, Southbridge, Fairhaven, Dekalb, Deruyter, Lafayette, Macpherson."

RULE VIL-Two CAPITALS.

The compounding of a name under one capital should be avoided when the general analogy of other similar terms suggests a separation under two; as, “The chief

• The titulary name of the sacred volume is "The Holy Bible." The word Scripture or Scriptures, is a common name for the writings contained in this inestimable volume, and, in the book itself, is seldom distinguished by a capital; but, in other works, it seems proper in general to write it so, by way of eminence.

mountains of Ross-shire are Ben Chat, Benchasker, Ben Golich, Ben Nore, Ben Foskarg, and Ben Wyvis."-Glasgow Geog., Vol. ii, p. 311. Write Ben Chasker. So, when the word East, West, North, or South, as part of a name, denotes relative position, or when the word New distinguishes a place by contrast, we have generally separate words and two capitals; as, "East Greenwich, West Greenwich, North Bridgewater, South Bridgewater, New Jersey, New Hampshire."

RULE VIII-COMPOUNDS.

When any adjective or common noun is made a distinct part of a compound proper name, it ought to begin with a capital; as, "The United States, the Argentine Republic, the Peak of Teneriffe, the Blue Ridge, the Little Pedee, Long Island, Jersey City, Lower Canada, Green Bay, Gretna Green, Land's End, the Gold Coast."

RULE IX.-APPOSITION.

When a common and a proper name are associated merely to explain each other, it is in general sufficient, if the proper name begin with a capital, and the appellative, with a small letter; as, "The prophet Elisha, Matthew the publican, the brook Cherith, the river Euphrates, the Ohio river, Warren county, Flatbush village, New York city."

RULE X-PERSONIFICATIONS.

The name of an object personified, when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital; as, "Upon this, Fancy began again to bestir herself." -Addison. "Come, gentle Spring, ethereal mildness, come."-Thomson.

RULE XI.-Derivatives.

Words derived from proper names, and having direct reference to particular persons, places, sects, or nations, should begin with capitals; as, "Platonic, Newtonian, Greek, or Grecian, Romish, or Roman, Italic, or Italian, German, or Germanic, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Genoese, French, Dutch, Scotch, Welsh:" so, perhaps, "to Platonize, Grecize, Romanize, Italicize, Latinize, or Frenchify."

RULE XII.-OF I AND O.

The words I and O should always be capitals; as, "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.”—Psalm cxlvii. "O wretched man that I am!"— "For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I."-Rom., vii, 24 and 15.

RULE XIII.-OF POETRY.

Every line in poetry, except what is regarded as making but one verse with the line preceding, should begin with a capital; as,

"Our sons their fathers' failing language see,

And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be."-Pope.

Of the exception, some editions of the Psalms in Metre are full of examples; as,

แ

Happy the man whose tender care

relieves the poor distress'd!

When troubles compass him around,

the Lord shall give him rest.”

Psalms with Com. Prayer, N. Y., 1819, Ps. xli.

RULE XIV. OF EXAMPLES.

The first word of a full example, of a distinct speech, or of a direct quotation, should begin with a capital; as, "Remember this maxim: 'Know thyself." ""Virgil says, 'Labour conquers all things.'"-"Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods ?"-John, x, 34. "Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother."-Luke, xviii, 20.

RULE XV.-CHIEF WORDS.

Other words of particular importance, and such as denote the principal subjects treated of, may be distinguished by capitals; and names subscribed frequently have capitals throughout: as, "In its application to the Executive, with reference to the Legislative branch of the Government, the same rule of action should make the President ever anxious to avoid the exercise of any discretionary authority which can be regulated by Congress."-ANDREW JACKSON, 1835.

RULE XVI.-NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or reason for their use: a century ago books were disfigured by their frequency; as, "Many a Noble Genius is lost for want of Education. Which wou'd then be Much More Liberal. As it was when the Church Enjoy'd her Possessions. And Learning was, in the Dark Ages, Preserv'd almost only among the Clergy."-CHARLES LESLIE, 1700; Divine Right of Tythes, p. 228.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.—The letters of the alphabet, read by their names, are equivalent to words. They are a sort of universal signs, by which we may mark and particularize objects of any sort, named or nameless; as, "To say, therefore, that while A and B are both quadrangular, A is more or less quadrangular than B, is absurd."-Murray's Gram., p. 50. Hence they are used in the sciences as symbols of an infinite variety of things or ideas, being construed both substantively and adjectively; as, "In ascending from the note C to D, the interval is equal to an inch; and from D to E, the same."-Music of Nature, p. 293. "We have only to imagine the G clef placed below it." -Ib. Any of their forms may be used for such purposes, but the custom of each science determines our choice. Thus Algebra employs small Italics; Music, Roman capitals; Geometry, for the most part, the same; Astronomy, Greek characters; and Grammar, in some part or other, every sort. Examples: "Then comes answer like an ABC book."-Beauties of Shakspeare, p. 97. "Then comes question like an a, b, c, book.-Shakspeare." See A, B, C, in Johnson's quarto Dict. Better:-"like an A-Bee- Cee book."

"For A, his magic pen evokes an O,

And turns the tide of Europe on the foe."-Young.

OBS. 2.-A lavish use of capitals defeats the very purpose for which the letters were distinguished in rank; and carelessness in respect to the rules which govern them, may sometimes misrepresent the writer's meaning. On many occasions, however, their use or disuse is arbitrary, and must be left to the judgement and taste of authors and printers. Instances of this kind will, for the most part, concern chief words, and come under the fifteenth rule above. In this grammar, the number of rules is increased; but the foregoing are still perhaps too few to establish an accurate uniformity. They will however tend to this desirable result; and if doubts arise in their application, the difficulties will be in particular examples only, and not in the general principles of the rules. For instance: In 1 Chron., xxix, 10th, some of our Bibles say, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever." Others say, "Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever." And others, "Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever." The last is wrong, either in the capital F, or for lack of a comma after Israel. The others differ in meaning; because they construe the word father, or Father, differently. Which is right I know not. The first agrees with the Latin Vulgate, and the second, with the Greek text of the Septuagint; which two famous versions here disagree, without ambiguity in either.*

OBS. 3.-The innumerable discrepancies in respect to capitals, which, to a greater or less extent, disgrace the very best editions of our most popular books, are a sufficient evidence of the want of better directions on this point. In amending the rules for this purpose, I have not been able entirely to satisfy myself; and therefore must needs fail to satisfy the very critical reader. But the public shall have the best instructions I can give. On Rule 1st, concerning Books, it may be observed, that when particular books or writings are mentioned by other terms than their real titles, the principle of the rule does not apply. Thus, one may call Paradise Lost, "Milton's great poem," or the Diversions of Purley, "the etymological investigations of Horne Tooke." So it is written in the Bible, "And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias."-Luke, iv, 17. Because the name of Esaias, or Isaiah, seems to be the only proper title of his book.

OBS. 4.-On rule 2d, concerning First Words, it may be observed, that the using of other points than the period, to separate sentences that are totally distinct in sense, as is sometimes practised in quoting, is no reason for the omission of capitals at the beginning of such sentences; but,

"Benedictus es Domine Deus Israel patris nostri ab eterno in eternum."-Vulgate. "O Eternel! Dieu d'Israël, notre père, tu es béni de tout temps et à toujours."-Common French Bible. "Evλoynròs el Kúpis ó Θεος Ἰσραηλ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος.”—Septuagint.