attribute to it a final force, "in order that" (Gr. iva), the passage will then require a different mode of reading; viz. with a strong emphasis on the words "so," "now," and "us," and a falling, instead of a rising, inflection at the end of each clause; to show that the "so" means, not "in such a way," but "in this way,"-viz. the way just mentioned; and that we are praying for the fulfilment of God's general promise in our present and particular case. It is hard to say which of these two modes expresses the actual meaning of the composer of the Service, but easy to see that no other can be correct.

CHAPTER VI.

THE object of reading to others is to convey to them the full meaning of what is read; and it is evident, that in order to do this, the reader must himself fully enter into that meaning. Without this qualification, the powers of the most perfect voice will be used by him at random, and so in vain; since by his faulty employment of them he will express either less or more than was intended, or even the opposite of it. To reading, therefore, applies equally the dictum applied by Horace to writing :

"Scribendi recte sapere est et principium et fons :"

and to an intelligent hearer the reading of a person is generally a sure test of his understanding.

As an ideal instance of failure under that test, reference may be made to the very humorous passage in the "Midsummer Night's Dream,” in which Prologue is made so completely to confound the sense of what he is reciting; with the criticism

of Theseus, Hippolyta, and Lysander on his per

formance :

"Prol. If we offend, it is with our good will.

That you should think, we come not to offend,
But with good will. To show our simple skill,
That is the true beginning of our end.
Consider then, we come but in despite.

We do not come as minding to content you,
All for your delight,

Our true intent is.
We are not here.

you,

That you should here repent

The actors are at hand; and, by their show,

You shall know all, that you are like to know.

The. This fellow doth not stand upon points.

Lys. He hath rid his prologue, like a rough colt; he knows not the stop. A good moral, my lord, It is not enough to speak, but to speak true.

Hip. Indeed he hath played on this prologue, like a child on a recorder; a sound, but not in government.

The. His speech was like a tangled chain; nothing impaired, but all disordered."

If these remarks were as well remembered as they deserve, they might save many readers from committing real blunders almost as absurd as the ideal ones just quoted.

Hence the next rule to be laid down is, to observe stops; or rather, to mark with the voice any natural connexion that may exist, not only between different clauses, but between words also in the same clause. It is the former alone that punctuation aims at securing; but the latter is

equally important, and much more commonly overlooked in reading, to the entire sacrifice of the sense of the passage.

The following are examples under each of the two heads, some or other of which every one, probably, has observed, in the public repetition of the Church Catechism, and the reading of the Church Services.

1. In the definition of the word "Sacrament" in the Catechism, the meaning is very often perverted by the insertion of a stop after the word "grace;" making the following words "given unto us" to refer to the "outward and visible sign;" as though that alone were given us, and not the "inward and spiritual grace." Whereas the real assertion of the passage is, that in the Sacrament the grace is given, and that the sign of it was "ordained by Christ Himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof."

In a similar way the last answer in the Catechism is apt to be weakened, by repeating it as though there were a semicolon after "sins," and only a comma after "life" so that the words "have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ" are made to depend on the participle "purposing," instead of on the clause "to examine themselves, whether they." Through this mistake the passage seems to require that we should

examine ourselves merely as to our intention to "have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ," and not as to our actually having it at the time of our coming to the Lord's Supper.

A mistake is often committed by the transposition of a stop in the Exhortation in the Morning and Evening Prayer; so that the passage "yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together to render thanks for the great benefits we have received," is changed into, "yet ought we most chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together; to render thanks," &c. The effect of this change is to obscure the clearness of the passage, by making it doubtful whether "to render thanks," &c., depend upon "ought" (the second infinitive having the same grammatical construction as the first), or upon 66 assemble and meet together;" as it undoubtedly does; the objects of our thus assembling and meeting together being expressed by the several clauses which follow, down to the next full stop.

In the opening invocation of the Litany it is an inveterate mistake of parish clerks-and in some cases, it is to be feared, of parish priests also-to take away the stop after "the Father;" making the following words depend upon that; as though the title "Father of heaven" were here given tɔ