t so
_little acquainted_ were they with the nature of our accent, that they
thought it necessary only to mark _the syllable_ on which the stress is to
be laid, without marking the _particular letter_ of the syllable to which
the accent belongs."--_Ib._, p. 59.

(4.) "The mind thus taking a bias under the prejudice of false rules, never
arrives at a knowledge of the true nature of _quantity_; and accordingly we
find that _all attempts hitherto_ to settle the prosody of our language,
have been vain and fruitless."--_Sheridan's Rhetorical Gram._, p. 52.

[496] In the following extract, this matter is stated somewhat differently:
"The _quantity_ depends upon the seat of the accent, whether it be on the
vowel or [on the] consonant; if on the vowel, the syllable is necessarily
long: as it makes the vowel long; if on the consonant, _it may be either
long or short_, according to the nature of the consonant, or _the time
taken up_ in dwelling upon it."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Eloc._, p. 57.
This last clause shows the "distinction" to be a very weak one.--G. BROWN.

[497] "If the consonant be in its nature a short one, the syllable is
necessarily short. If it be a long one, that is, one whose sound is capable
of being lengthened, it _may be long or short_ at the will of the speaker.
By a short consonant I mean one whose sound cannot be continued after a
vowel, such as c or k p t, as ac, ap, at--whilst that of long consonants
_can_, as, el em en er ev, &c."--_Sheridan's Lectures on Elocution_, p. 58.
Sheridan here forgets that "_bor'row_" is one of his examples of short
quantity.

Murray admits that "accent on a _semi-vowel_" may make the syllable long;
and his semivowels are these: "_f, l, m, n, r, v, s, z, x_, and _c_ and _g_
soft." See his _Octavo Gram._, p. 240 and p. 8.

[498] On account of the different uses made of the breve, the macron, and
the accents, one grammarian has proposed a new mode of marking poetic
quantities. Something of the kind might be useful; but there seems to be a
reversal of order in this scheme, the macrotone being here made light, and
the stenotone dark and heavy. "Long and short syllables have _sometimes_
been designated by the same marks _which_ are used for accent, tones, and
the quality of the vowels; but it will be better[,] to prevent confusion[,]
to use different marks. This mark may represent a long syllable, and this
. a short syllable; as,

. . deg. . . deg. . .