marks to guide the reader: these, it must be allowed, are the sources of all that is pleasurable or forcible in delivery; and contain in them all the powers of impressing the mind, captivating the fancy, rousing the passions, and delighting the ear: and it must also be admitted, according to our author, that the articles most essential to a good delivery, have been entirely neglected in the graphic art.
Of the numerous instances of imperfect, or vitiated articulation, according to Mr. Sheridan, there is not one in a thousand which arises from any natural defect or impediment.
"To cure any imperfection in speech, arising originally from too quick an utterance, the most effectual method will be (Mr. Sheridan says), to set apart an hour every morning, to be employed in the practice of reading aloud, in a very slow manner. This should be done in the hearing of a friend, or some person whose office it should be to remind the reader, if at any time he should perceive him mending his pace, and falling into his habit of a quick utterance. Let him sound all his syllables full, and have that point only in view, without reference to the sense of the words; for, if he is attentive to that, he will unwarily fall into his old habit:" on which account, that he may not be under any temptation of that sort, Mr. Sheridan would have him, for some time, read the words of a vocabulary, in the alphabetical order. In this way, he will soon find out what letters and syllables he is apt to sound too faintly, and slur over. Let him make a list of those words, and be sure to pronounce them over distinctly, every morning, before he proceeds to others. Let him accustom himself also, when alone, to speak his thoughts aloud, in the same slow manner, and with the same view. Otherwise, though he may get a habit of reading more slowly, he will fall into his usual manner in discourse: and this habit of speaking aloud, when alone, will not only bring him to a more distinct utterance, but produce a facility of expression, in which silent thinkers are generally defective.—See the articles Language, Reading, Speech.
ARTIFICER is a person employed in manufacturing any kind of goods or wares, such as those of iron, brass, wool, &c. Of this description are smiths, braziers, and weavers. They are distinguished from artists, by exercising professions which require an inferior degree of taste and genius; on which account they might more properly be called artisans.
By the English laws, artificers in wool, iron, steel, brass, or other metal, leaving the kingdom, and departing to a foreign country, without license, are liable to be imprisoned for three months, and fined in a sum not exceeding one hundred pounds. Those who go abroad, and do not return on receiving notice from our Ambassadors, are disabled from holding land by descent or devise; from receiving any legacy, &c. and are deemed aliens. A penalty is also inflicted on those who seduce artificers to quit their native soil.
The author of an excellent treatise "On the Laws and Policy of England," published in 1765, on considering the effects which plenty and scarcity of provisions have on our manufacturers, justly observes, that we should endeavour to ren-
