the fyllable, and much more the rapidity Ch. 5. with which our manner of accenting throws out the fyllable. So that truly the accented fyllable is not longer than the reft, but only louder, and pronounced with more violence.

If this be truly the genius of the English language, the reafon is plain, why we neither have, nor can have, verse made by quantity, fuch as the Greek and Latin: for by far the greater part of the fyllables being all of an equal length, we cannot fo mix long and fhort together as to make the rhythm of the antient poetry.

But what the Frenchman fays in general of all the modern languages of Europe, that their verfe is made only by rhyme, and the number of fyllables, is not true of the English verfe: for the accent is as neceffary to our verfe as the number of fyllables; and as for rhyme, it is not neceffary at all. And when I come to fpeak of our verfification, I will endeavour to fhew, that by the means of our peculiar manner of accenting, we make a better kind of verse, and of greater variety, than any other nation in Europe.

But, in the mean time, if the reader is

not

Ch. 5. not convinced by what I have faid of our verfe being made by accent, and not by

quantity, let him take any
whether blank or rhyming,

English verse,
long or short,
and let him make every accented fyl-
lable either long, fuch as some syllables
which I have allowed to be fo in the Eng-
lish language, or fhort, as he pleases, and
try whether that will alter the measure of
the verfe, the fyllables ftill continuing to
be accented; and if it does not, that, I
think, is demonftration, that it is not
quantity, but accent, which makes our
verfe. Take, for example, the first verse
of the Paradife loft: "Of man's first difo-
"bedience, and the fruit." Here the five
accented fyllables are, man's, dif, be, and,
fruit. Now, take any or all of thefe, and
alter them, with refpect to quantity, as
you pleafe, and you will not injure the
verfe. Take, for example, the first, man's,
and make it moan's, which is certainly a
longer fyllable, or make it ma's, which is
a fhorter fyllable, and the verfe is the
fame. Or take any of the unaccented fyl-
lables, and make them either longer or
shorter, and there will be no change in
the verfe. Thus, the unaccented fyllable

first is certainly, according to the rules of Ch. 5, antient quantity, longer than dif, `the accented fyllable; but make it fhorter, and the verfe will be the fame. In like manner, the unaccented fyllable dience, having a diphthong in it followed by two confonants, is certainly longer than the preceding accented fyllable be; but make it as fhort as you pleafe, and you will not hurt the verse.

As to the French verfe, what the French author fays is certainly true. For the only thing that makes verfe in French is the number of fyllables and the rhyme: for even this last is abfolutely neceffary, because they want our accents. And accordingly all their attempts in blank verfe have been miserably unfuccessful. At the fame time, it cannot be denied, that they have fome long fyllables in their language, though I think not fo many as we.

My opinion, therefore, upon the whole, is, that there is a certain hardness and want of mufic in all the languages of Gothic or Celtic extraction, or that have a mixture of these in them, which makes them incapable of verfe, fuch as by 'the flexible and musical genius of their language

Ch.

5. guage the Greeks and Romans were able

to form.

I will only add further upon this fubject, that in treating of the antient rhythm, I have confidered it as altogether different from their accents, that is, the melody of their language. So it is treated by all the antient authors; and particularly by the Halicarnaffian, in his treatise upon compofition, fo often quoted. I therefore do not approve of the defcription which Mr Fofter in his Effay has given of the rhythm of the antient languages, as if it were a mixture of accent and quantity. In matters of science, the ideas of different things fhould be kept diftinct, and expreffed by different names: for, as I obferved be fore, I am perfuaded it was fome fuch confufion in the ufe of the word profody that contributed to lead men into the error concerning the antient accents.

СНАР.

Continuation of the fubject of quantity.- The Greek and Latin verfe not read by us according to quantity, but in the manner we accent our own verse.

BUT

UT I say further, that not only we do Ch. 6. not pronounce our own verfe according to quantity, but not even the Greek and Latin, though it be admitted, that their verse is made by quantity. This is obferved by Mr Fofter in his Effay, (pag. 361). But I think the fubject deferves to have fomething more faid upon it.

And, in the first place, If it be true, as I fuppofe, that we pronounce our own verse entirely by what we call accent, and not by quantity, there is nothing more natural, and indeed it is almost necessary, that we should pronounce the Greek and Latin in the fame manner. And I would have Mr. Foster, who admits that we do not pronounce the antient verfe according to quantity, confider by what other rule VOL. II.

T t