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the outcry of Murder! in English, can be no stranger to its long sound. We cannot but suspect that the author's instructor in French pronunciation must have been extremely deficient. He says (p. 10) that the English terms pair and par, differ less from each other, than the former does from the French word père. This is certainly erroneous; but we shall not undertake to argue the point, as the whole of that page is incomprehensible to us. We shall only suggest that a careful discrimination of the sounds of pain, pair, the French père, and the English par, will probably induce our author to retract the opinion, that his list includes " every vowel that can be distinctly uttered."

Of DIPHTHONGS, Mr. O. gives a more numerous, though still, we think, an imperfect list: ai, aw, ai, ui, ią, ia, ie, îî, io, iw, ia (short, misprinted in) wa, wa, we, wi, wo, ww, wu, in all eighteen, are placed under this head. It is obvious, that he regards as vowels, y and w, when they have what are commonly called their consonant sounds. He enters into the argument; and, we think, demonstrates them not to be consonants: but he appears to us to fail in explaining what they are. He properly denies w to be a double u: but we apprehend it to be the sound of oo rapidly repeated, so as to press the second 00 strongly upon the succeeding vowel. In like manner, we conceive y to be our author's double i: so that, according to his orthography, well should be written wwel, and yell, iiel.

We suppose the insertion of wear as symphonious with wag, and war, to be a misprint: but we must protest against the diphthong in bough, cow, &c. being expressed by aw, that is, in common orthography, by aw-00. We apprehend, that if the author had, in this instance, substituted his u for a (after the example of Bishop Wilkins), he would have better approximated to the real sound of this diphthong; as he has done in expressing that of our long i, which forms his fourth diphthong.

The list appears to us defective, as it omits the sounds given by the best speakers to the diphthongs ei, ea, and ou. Veil and vein, should be distinguished, in pronunciation, from vale and vane. So the second syllables of appearance, and aperients, are easily discriminated by well educated persons who do not reside in the metropolis. A similar distinction should be preserved between the vowel sounds in pour, and pore; or, in four and fore. According to our author's orthography, ei would accurately describe the first, iu the second, and ou the third, of the diphthongs which he has omitted.

Of TRIPHTHONGS he says (p. 19) we have three; as in wine, wound, and kind. The last, which Mr. O. would pronounce

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as if spelled kyind, he observes," is reprobated as a corrup tion, by Mr. Nares." In the reprobation of it we heartily join; and were it not for the recollection of the adage, de gustibus non disputandum est, we should be astonished beyond measure at its adoption by a man of our author's taste. It is the more surprising, as he terms a similar pronunciation of cow, gown, &c. "very corrupt. We cannot but think that each is equally unwarrantable.

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Proceeding to CONSONANTS, Mr. O. properly admits of twenty-one, adding to those of Sheridan, the sounds of our ch, and . These, however, he denies to be equivalent to tsh, and dzh, for reasons which we do not perfectly understand. Compound consonants, like diphthongs, lose the distinctness, which attaches to their component parts when separately pronounced; and therefore should be expressed by different characters. Thus, neither the s, nor the t, is distinctly sounded in our sh, or th. Different characters for these sounds might therefore be preferable to the notation of each by two letters; and Mr. O. is inconsistent in admitting them to be equivalent to these, while he denies that ch is so to tsh. He com. mits, however, a worse error, in and expresses the last sound of ring, song, &c. by ng ;-letters which often meet when each is distinctly pronounced, as in anger. The mark which renders the Spanish liquid (like gn in French) would be preferable, to prevent ambiguity. For the sound of th, in thaw, and for that of z,he substitutes new characters; and expresses the sounds of the former in thou, and of s in measure, &c. by th and z. It would evidently have been better, had he done precisely the reverse; and better still, we think, had he expressed the latter sounds by dh, and zh; which are quite as appropriate to them, as sh is to the first sound in shine. In fact, as none of the compounded consonants ever occur in simple words, except ng, no new character is necessary for any consonant but that. In 'compound words, the terms which form them might be separated by a hyphen, as God-head; to shew that d and are to be distinctly pronounced.

Had Mr. O. classed his consonants under different heads, according to their mutual relations, he would have rendered service to his readers We shall, therefore, endeavour to supply this deficiency, by arranging the consonants of our language in the following manner.

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Nasals, Liquids.

m, n. 1, r.

(tsh) ch, j (dzh) (ng)

It is only for the sake of distinguishing and describing the various sounds of which the language is composed, and not with the purpose of recommending a new orthography to general use, that Mr O. has expressed them differently from the mode in which they are universally written, or that we have attempted to correct his plan. We cannot, however, but regret, that the numerous inventors of Short-hand, when professing to spell words as they are pronounced, and entirely at liberty in the selection and appropriation of characters, should not duly have attended to the nature of these elements of language. To prove that they have not done this, it is sufficient to observe, that all the systems we have seen, express sounds so remotely different as those of the hard and the soft g, by the same character!

Omitting some discussions which have improperly been introduced into this part of Mr. Odell's Essay, we should next proceed to that division of it which treats of Accents; but wishing to avoid a confusion of subjects naturally distinct and independent, we postpone our remarks on the remainder of his volume to a subsequent Number.

Art. V. Considerations on the Alliance between Christianity and Commerce, applied to the present State of this Country, pp. 81. Price 2s. Cadell and Davies. 1806.

THE more fully the genuine nature of Christianity is under

stood, the more will it be found to conduce, politically as well as morally, to the welfare of mankind. The principle which it is intended to counteract, is that which, in depriv ing mankind of the happiness resulting from communion with their Maker, robbed them also of the comfort of asociation with each other. Universal history is a continued proof, as well as illustration, of the miserable effects of this dissevering principle, which has never ceased to discover itself in all the gradations of human intercourse, from the domestic to the political relation. To this is to be attributed, not merely those sanguinary feuds, and personal animosities, which have in every age embittered the life of man, but that defect of civilization, which, even at this day, pervades a considerable portion of the human race. Men are, naturally, too intent upon increasing the sum of personal enjoyment, and upon defending it from the incroachment of others, to think of communicating to their neighbours a portion of those privileges which they actually possess, even where the grant would not abridge their own felicity.

How far literature and the arts can avail, in eradicating this selfishness from the heart of man, has been fully tried; and the result has shewn that they may operate as a palliative, but

not as a cure. Commerce itself, which apparently supplies the most powerful inducements to amicable association, has often been found to excite new animosities, by creating fresh sources of contention, and to spend its ardour in the gratification of the most selfish principles.

While, however, Revelation discloses the divine purpose of restoring man to his fellow in the most extensive sense, the unfolding volume of Providence shews the astonishing manner in which the world is preparing, by successive revolutions, for the completion of this wondrous design. Let infidels frown, and philosophers scoff-the pure and unsophisticated Gospel of Jesus Christ, is the blessed instrument which the wisdom and power of God will own, in conducting this beneficent process. Subordinate means will doubtless be employed, in due proportion to the aptitude which they possess, of becoming subservient to, and accordant with, the genius and progress of the chief agent.

The alliance in which commerce stands, or rather into which it may be brought, with the diffusion of Christianity, gives to it a more than intrinsic value, and affords to our island, its chief scat, a preeminence which we hope it will never forfeit. Not that we are of opinion that the spirit excited by commerce, in the present state of our country, and the views with which it is carried on, are at all favourable to the growth of Christian principle among ourselves, or the propagation of it in foreign parts. We shall not, however, enlarge on the subject, but refer the reader for our opinion, to Vol. II. p. 428, where too just a picture, we fear, has been drawn, of the effects produced by our commercial success on public sentiment and private morals.

It is with the greatest satisfaction that we announce to the public, a treatise, in which this deeply interesting topic-the alliance of the commerce of our own country with the progress of Christianity, is investigated, upon principles deduced from the Gospel itself. We hail this auspicious opening of a discussion, than which none can be more important, in the present crisis of our national affairs. It is, indeed, high time that we should awake to a perception of the agency of a divine hand, in the administration of human concerns, and to a serious consideration of what may probably be the moral ends, with regard to ourselves and others, of the present unprecedented agitations of earthly kingdoms and empires. A state of supine indifference, is, in all circumstances, a state of danger.

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The author of this tract, proceeding upon the incontrovertible position-that commerce forms the basis of our human support," and admitting the possibility of its changing its

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seat, as history shews it, in former instances, to have done, undertakes the laudable task of considering our system of commerce, as allied to Christianity," and of inquiring how we may strengthen this alliance, so as "to give a stability to the former, such as no political power can communicate."That commerce is not incompatible with Christianity, no one, we think, can deny; and that the former affords the greatest advantages for introducing a knowledge of the latter, amongnations entirely or partially unacquainted with it, is equally unquestionable. The regular manner in which the progress of commerce kept pace with that of genuine Christianity, confirms the supposition; and we agree with the author in admiring the wisdom of Providence, in" that order of events, by which the two great instruments of human intercourse, the Mariner's Compass, and the Art of Printing, were kept back from notice, until Christianity was prepared to counteract the evils," and, we add, to enlarge the benefits, resulting from the discovery. And, as Divine Providence rendered the mili tary prowess of Greece and Rome subservient to the propagation of Christianity in the world, let us foster the hope that it will employ the naval and commercial preeminence of Great Britain in advancing its destined diffusion over the face of the globe. What satisfaction does the mere supposition give to the mind of every genuine believer in the Gospel, and what an enviable distinction will the realization of it bestow upon our country! To such happiness may it be preserved, by the gracious interposition of God, notwithstanding the machinations of our implacable foe!

Nothing can be more natural or appropriate than the two following conclusions, perfectly accordant with the premises just stated: "That no commerce can be advantageous, which is adverse to the principles of Christianity, or which evidently tends to corrupt the morals."

"That a commercial nation, which understands its true interest, will bestow a part of its wealth on the promotion of religious knowledge."

The bearing which the first of these principles has upon some branches of our commerce, that of the slave trade in particular, must be obvious to every mind; nor does it less affect the means by which it is conducted. It cannot be doubted that there are points, both in the objects and modes of our mercantile pursuits, much at variance with moral rectitude; and it will be encouraging to see a sense of duty uniting with a feeling of interest, in the correction of such deviations. Omitting, however, specific instances, "we remark, in general," says our author," that the commerce most beneficial to a country will always be congenial with the spirit of

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