in a majority of its uses throughout the Service, is commonly dropped altogether, making an'. The a in the same word is very commonly supplanted by a short u, resulting in und; and, even still more commonly, both the a and the d being elided, gives the mere suggestion of the word in the single letter 'n'. The next word suffers in the first syllable, o being elided. The two ands following suffer as the first; nor becomes nur, and, by a change in the first syllable, Almighty becomes Ul-mighty, or Olmighty for All-mighty. The provincialisms of New England incline us, by using the short a in Father, to pronounce it Făther, and, in some of the western and southern States, Fawther, in place of the beautiful Italian ä of Fäther. Continuing, we find c'nfess again for confess, an' obedient for and obedient, ubtain for obtain, furgiveness an' mercy, instead of forgiveness and mercy. Acknowledge, as above; an' meet, an' necessary, an' beseech, unt' th' throne, for and meet, and necessary, and beseech, unto the throne, follow in order. In remedying these defects, the student should guard against the fault of producing emphasis by force or labored articulation, and distorting a syllable thus: Acknowledge, and, confess, nor, All-mighty, obtain, forgiveness. Read the Exhortation with reference to distinctness of articulation:

"Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us, in sundry places, to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God, our heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by his infinite goodness and mercy. And although we ought, at all times, humbly to acknowledge our sins before God; yet ought we chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy Word,

and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul. Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart, and humble voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying-"

Further defects in Articulation to be avoided. - Observe the tendency to slur of the and unto the in the second of the Opening Sentences. The sublimity and majesty, in the expression of this Sentence, are seriously impaired by the imperfect utterance of any of the unemphatic syllables. It imparts the effect of the cessation of the authoritative utterance for the moment. In the fourth Sentence say committed, not cummitted; lawful and right, not lawful an' right. In the eighth Sentence, and repenteth, not an' repenteth. In the tenth Sentence correct, not currect. In the twelfth, all the ands should be carefully observed in their distinctness, though not rendered with emphasis. the last Sentence, confess and forgive, in place of the same words with the short sound of u. Review the Sentences with this in mind:

In

Second Sentence: "From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my Name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my Name, and a pure offering: for my Name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts."

Fourth Sentence: "When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive."

Eighth Sentence: "Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.”

Tenth Sentence: "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing." Twelfth Sentence: "I will arise, and go to my father,

and I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son."

Fourteenth Sentence: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is not necessary to repeat the many instances in which the same syllables given above are repeated throughout the Service. The same care should, of course, be observed wherever they may occur.

The omission of the initial h of the pronouns in the Gospel narrative is another fault: "Then took he Him up in his arms, and blessed Him."

Read the following narrative with reference to the pronunciation of the h in every pronoun:

"And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw aught. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up; and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go into the town, nor tell it to any in the town."-St. Mark, viii, 22-26.

After that he

Difficult Combinations." Who hast kept with Thy servant David my father, that Thou promisedst him: Thou spakest also with Thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with Thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore, now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that Thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in My sight to sit on the throne of Israel."--1 Kings, viii, 24, 25.

"The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals,

and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house."-Isaiah, xliv, 12, 13.

"Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham; and foundest his heart faithful before Thee, and madest a covenant with him, and didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red Sea, and shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh and on all his servants, so didst Thou get Thee a name, as it is this day. And Thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land. Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and madest known unto them Thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, and gavest them bread from heaven, and brought

est forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land. Their children also multipliedst Thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land concerning which Thou hadst promised to their fathers. Nevertheless they were disobedient,

therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, and in the time of their trouble when they cried unto Thee Thou heardest them, and gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets : yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest Thou them

into the hand of the people of the lands."-Nehemiah, ix, 7-30.

"The mirth of tabret ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth."

"This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law."

"What advantageth it me?"

"Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

"So soon passeth it away, and we are gone."

"When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest, but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not."

"Inestimable benefit," "inestimable love," "all our sins, negligences, and ignorances," "innumerable benefits," "and that we may obtain our petitions, make us to ask such things as shall please Thee."

The above and similar passages, and especially all those combinations of the elements of the language which, on account of the structure of the vocal organs, or from careless habit, each individual may have found difficult to utter with ease and distinctness, should be resolutely corrected by frequent repetition, and with varied uses of the voice, until the desired power of execution is acquired. Steady practice will in time overcome all such difficulties, while protracted neglect may result in confirming nervous and muscular impediments, which, in the course of years of inattention, will be likely to become ineradicable.

As a drill exercise, the tables of elements, syllables, and words in "Vocal Culture" will be found of the greatest value. As an exercise in the formation of the vowel sounds, the repetition of the sounds beginning with ē, which requires the closest position, continuing with ā, which directs the breath about midway in the mouth, followed by ah, awe, ōh, and oo, we shall find all the spaces filled in succession from the front of the mouth to the larynx. The repe