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3d. To break up the current of sound into small portions, which can be easily managed by the speaker, without the abruptness which would result from pausing wherever this relief was needed; and to give ease in speaking; as,

1. Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,

Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;

Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.

2. That lame man, by the field tent, is untainted with the crime of blood, and free from any stain of treason.

GENERAL RULE.

Whenever a preposition is followed by as many as three or four words which depend upon it, the word preceding the preposition will either have suspensive quantity, or else a pause; as,

He is the pride of the whole country.

Require students to tell which of the preceding rules or principles is illustrated, wherever a mark, representing the pause or suspensive quantity, is introduced in the following

EXERCISE.

1. It matters very little what immediate spot may have been the birth-place of such a man as Washington. No people can claim no country can appropriate him. The boon of Providence to the human race his fame is eter nity

and his dwelling-place

creation.

2. Though it was the defeat of our arms and the disgrace of our policy I almost bless the convulsion ✓ in If the heavens thundered ~ and the when the storm passed, how pure was how bright in the brow of

which he had his origin. earth rocked yet,

the climate

the firmament

that it cleared

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3. In the production of Washington

it does really appear

as if nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself ~~ and that all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory to the patriot of the new. Individual ̄instances no doubt there were splendid exemplifications of some single qualification. Cæsar was merciful Scipio was continent Hannibal was patient. But served for Washington to blend them all in one the lovely master-piece of the Grecian artist to exhibit in one glow of associated beauty the pride of every model and the perfection of every master.

it was re

and liko

4. As a general he marshaled the peasant into a veteran and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman he enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of general advantage. And such was the wisdom of his views

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and the philosophy of

and the statesmen

the character of the sage.

5. A conqueror

a revolutionist

he

he was untainted with the crime of blood he was free from any stain of treason

for aggression commenced the contest and his country calied

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6. If he had paused here what station to assign him zens or her soldiers the last glorious act hesitation. Who pated a hemisphere

neces

history might have doubted

whether at the head of her citi

her heroes or her patriots. But crowns his career and banishes all like Washington after having emanciresigned its crown and preferred

the retirement of domestic life to the adoration of a land

he might almost be said to have created?

7. How shall we rank thee

Thou more than soldier

upon glory's page,

and just less than sage!

All thou hast been reflects less praise on thee,

Far less than all thou hast forborne to be.

OBSERVATION TO TEACHERS.

In order to form finished readers, it will be necessary, after students have thoroughly mastered Part First, for them frequently to review the more important elements of elocution. In Part Second, they should be required to study each reading lesson, and learn the definitions and pronunciation of the words given at the bottom of the pages, and the important facts embraced in the biographical sketches, before attempting to read. The judgment and taste of students should constantly be called into exercise, by requiring them to determine what principle, or principles, of elocution, each reading lesson is best adapted to illustrate.

KEY

TO THE SOUNDS OF MARKED LETTERS.

åge or age, åt or ǎt, årt, áll, båre, åsk; wè or we, end or end, her; ice or ice, in or in; old or old, ån or on, dỗ; mute or mute, up or up, füll; this; azure; reäl; agèd.

THE

NATIONAL FIFTH READER.

JANUA

PART II.

EXERCISES IN READING.

1. THE MONTHS.

ANUARY! Darkness and light reign alike. Snow is on the ground. Cold is in the air. The winter is blossoming 'm frost-flowers. Why is the ground hidden? Why is the earth' white? So hath God wiped out the past; so hath he spread the earth like an unwritten page, for a new year! Old sounds are silent in the forest and in the air. Insects are dead, birds' are gone, leaves have perished, and all the foundations of soil remain. Upon this lies, white and tranquil, the emblem of newness and purity, the virgin' robes of the yet unstained year!

2. FEBRUARY! The day gains upon the night. The strife of heat and cold is scarce begun. The winds that come from the desolate north wander through forests of frost-cracking boughs, and shout in the air the weird' cries of the northern bergs and ice-resounding oceans. Yet, as the month wears on, the silent work begins, though storms rage. The earth is hidden yet, but not dead. The sun is drawing near. The storms cry out. But the sun is not heard in all the heavens. Yet he whispers words of deliverance into the ears of every sleeping seed and root9 that lies beneath the snow. The day opens, but the night shuts the earth with its frost-lock. They strive together, but the Dark

Air (år). Earth (êrth).- Påst.- Birds (berdz).— Virgin (ver'jin). - Scarce. Weird, like witches; skilled in witchcraft.-- Bergs, hills; an iceberg is a hill o mountain of ice, or a vast body of ice floating on the ocean.- Root.

ness and the Cold are growing weaker. On some nights they forget to work.

3. MARCH! The conflict is more turbulent,' but the victory is gained. The world awakes. There come voices from longhidden birds. The smell of the soil is in the air. The sullen ice retreating from open field, and all sunny places, has slunk to the north of every fence and rock. The knolls and banks that face the east or south sigh for release, and begin to lift up a thousand tiny palms.

4. APRIL! The singing month. Many voices of many birds call for resurrection over the graves of flowers, and they come forth. Go, see what they have lost. What have ice, and snow, and storm, done unto them? How did they fall into the earth, stripped and bare? How do they come forth opening and glo rified? Is it, then, so fearful a thing to lie in the grave? In its wild career, shaking and scourged of storms through its orbit, the earth has scattered away no treasures. The Hand that

governs in April governed in January. You have not lost what God has only hidden. You lose nothing in struggle, in trial, in bitter distress. If called to shed thy joys as trees their leaves; if the affections be driven back into the heart, as the life of flowers to their roots, yet be patient. Thou shalt lift up thy leaf-covered boughs again. Thou shalt shoot forth from thy roots new flowers. Be patient. Wait. When it is February, April is not far off. Secretly the plants love each other.

5. MAY! O Flower-Month, perfect' the harvests of flowers! Be not niggardly. Search out the cold and resentful nooks' that refused the sun, casting back its rays from disdainful ice, and plant flowers even there. There is goodness in the worst. There is warmth in the coldness. The silent, hopeful, unbreathing sun, that will not fret or despond, but carries a plăcid brow through the unwrinkled heavens, at length conquers the very rocks, and lichens grow and inconspicuously blossom. What shall not Time do, that carries in its bosom Love?

6. JUNE! Rest! This is the year's bower. Sit down within it. Wipe from thy brow the toil. The elements are thy ser

'Turbulent (ter' bu lent), raising agitation; violent.- Båre.-3 Search -Nook. Cast' ing.- Worst (werst).

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