them in my time', and been almost withered by the shade into which they cast me'; for'. . there is nothing so baleful to a small mân'. . as the shade of a great one', particularly', the great man of a city'.

America and Europe Compared.—IB.

3. On no country have the charms of nature been more prodigally lavished'. . than upon America. Her mighty lakes', like oceans of liquid silver'; her mountains, with their bright', aerial teints'; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility`; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in their solitudes'; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure`; her broad', deep rivers, rolling in solemn silence to the ocean'; her trackless forests, where vegetation puts forth all its magnificence'; her skies', kindling with the magick of summer clouds and glorious sunshine':-nô, never need an American' . . look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural scenery'.

But Europe holds forth all the charms of storied and poetical association`. There are to be seen the master-pieces of art, the refinements of highly cultivated society', the quaint peculiarities of ancient and local customs. America' . . is full of youthful promise; Europe'.. is rich in the accumulated treasures of age. Her very RUINS'. . tell the history of times gone by, and every mouldering stone'. . is a chronicle`. It is pleasant to wander over the scenes of renowned achievement—to tread', as it were', in the footsteps of antiquity—to loiter about the ruined castle-to meditate on the falling tower' -to escape', in short', from the commonplace realities of the present', and lose one's self among the shadowy grandeurs of the păst`.

Inflection. Before each of the members of the second sentence in paragraph 3d, the phrase "There are," is understood, so that each member constitutes a distinct, affirmative proposition, requiring at "lakes,” 'mountains," valleys," and so on, and at "silver," teints," "fertility," and so forth, the falling inflection, agreeably to Rule 1, page 75.

29.66

To the Teacher.-In exercising his pupils in these "Select Paragraphs," and, also, in other selections, the teacher would do well to require them to read each sentence, paragraph, or section, several times over, before they proceed to another paragraph or section. In the first reading, particular attention should be given to a distinct articulation and protraction of the elementary sounds; in the second reading, to inflection; in the third, to emphasis; in the fourth, to pause; in the fifth, to modulation; in the sixth, to time; and, lastly, let the pupil endeavour to display all the qualities of voice requisite to a happy and forcible elocution. But, inasmuch as example speaks louder than precept, let not the teacher forget the importance of illustrating every thing with his own voice before he requires his pupil to do it.

SECTION V.

PARAGRAPHS IN VERSE.

Simile.-SHAKSPEARE.

How far the little candle throws its beams'!`
So shines a good deed in a naughty world'.
Vice.-POPE.

Vice'.. is a monster of so frightful mien',
As', to be hated', needs but to be seen`;
Yet seen too oft', familiar with her face',
We first'.. endure`, then' . . pity', then'... embrace.
Fall of Babylon.-MOORE.

Wô'! wô'! the time of thy visitation'

Is come, proud Land', thy doom is cast';
And the bleak wave of desolation'
Sweeps over thy guilty head at last.

Wâr', wâr, wâr', against Babylon` !

Fame.-BYRON.

What is the end of fame? 'tis but to fill'
A certain portion of uncertain paper;
Some'.. liken it to climbing up a hill',

Whose summit (like all hills) is lost in vapour':

For this.. men'. . write`, speak`, preach', and heroes kill`;
And bards'. . burn what they call their "midnight taper","

To have', when the original is dust',

A name', a wretched picture', and worse bust`.
What are the hopes of man'? old Egypt's king'
Cheops', erected the first pyramid',

And largest, thinking it was just the thing
To keep his memory whole and mummy hid`;
But somebody or other', rummaging,
Burglariously broke his coffin's lid':

Let not a monument'. . give you or me nopes',
Since'. . not a pinch of DUST remains of Cheops'.

SECTION VI.

The Family Altar.—BURNS.

When kneeling down to heaven's Eternal King',
The saint', the father', the good husband', prays',

REMARKS ON SECTIONS V. AND VI.

9966

99 66

Final Pause.-The words "visitation,' ," "desolation," "king," and "thing," in section 5th, and "praise,' dear,"" "pride,' see, adore," beyond," "fears," "self," and "think,” in section 6th, illustrate the final pause: see page 140.

Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing','
That thus they all shall meet in future days';
There ever bask in uncreated rays',

No more to sigh', or shed the bitter tear,
Together hymning their Creator's praise'
In such society', yet still more dear',

While circling time moves round in an eternal sphere`.
Compared with this', how poor religion's pride'
In all the pomp of method and of art,
Where men display to congregations wide',
Devotion's every grace'... except the heart` !
That Power', incensed', the pageant will desert`,
The pompous strain, the sacerdotal stole';
But', haply, in some cottage far apart',

May hear', well pleased', the language of the soul,
And in his book of life the inmates poor'.. enrol'.

Bliss of the Future State.*-BYRON.

In darkness spoke Athena's wisest son',t
"All that we know', is', nothing can be known":"
Yet doubting pagans dreamed of bliss to come'-
Of peace upon the shores of Acheron'.

'Tis ours', as holiest men have deemed', to see'
A land of souls beyond that sable shore',
To shame the doctrine of the sadducee
And sophists', madly vain of dubious lore':
How sweet 'twill be in concert to adore'

With those who made our mortal labours light'!
To hear each voice we feared to hear no more-
Of Christian martyrs', prophets gone before!
Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight',

The Bactrian, Samians sage', and all who taught the right'!

Future Bliss.—IB.

If that high world which lies beyond'
Our own', surviving love endears';
If there the cherished heart be found",
The eye the same', except in tears';
How welcome those untrodden spheres'!
How sweet this very hour to die!
To soar from earth', and find all fears'
Lost in thy light'... Eternity!

Accent. In reading poetry, it is inadmissible to sacrifice sense to sound. Hence, care should be taken not to lay any stress upon little words that would not admit of it in prose: as in the lines

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,

As, to be hated, needs but to be seen.'

In enunciating this example, many would accent, or lay a stress upon, the words "is," "of," and "to," in order to perfect the poetick feet, or

• Altered from the original. † Socrates. + Zoroaster. § Pythagoras.

It must be so': 'tis not for self
That we so tremble on the brink';
And', striving to o'erleap the gulf,
Yet cling to being's severing link.
Oh'! in that future let us think'

To hold each heart the heart that shares",
With them the immortal waters drink',
And', soul in soul', grow deathless theirs`.

SECTION VII.

Musick.-SHAKSPEARE.

There's naught so stockish, hard`, and full of rage',
But musick', for the time', doth change its nature`.
The man that hath no musick in himself',
And is not moved with concord of sweet sounds',

Is fit for treasons', stratagems', and spoils;
The motions of his spirit', are dull as night',
And his affections', dark as Erebus` :-
Let no such man be trusted'.

Mercy.-IB.

The quality of mercy is not strained';
It droppeth as the gentle dew from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed';
It blesseth him that gives', and him that takes`.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest': it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown':
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty',
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings';
But mercy is above this sceptred sway`:"
It is enthroned in the heart of kings';

It is an attribute to God himself`;

And earthly power doth show most like to God's
When mercy seasons justice'.

Solitude.-IB.

Are not these wōōds'.

More free from peril than the envious courts'?
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam`,

render them all as regular iambuses a thing not at all designed by the poet-but this would be a gross dereliction from every principle of correct taste, and be apt to degenerate into a singsong, or mere gingling of rhymes.

REMARKS ON SECTIONS VII. AND VIII.

Final Pause.-In reading the first selection in section 8th, the final pause is demanded at "bow," " appear,' survey, scene," and " repair;" but in the selection of blank verse from Pollok, which follows it,

The seasons' difference; as the icy fang',
And churlish chiding of the winter's wind';
Which', when it bites and blows upon my body',
Even till I shrink with côld`, I smîle, and sây',
"THIS'.. is no flâttery': THESE. . are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am`.
Swêêt are the uses of adversity`;

Which', like the toad, ugly and venomous',
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head';

And this'.. our life', exempt from publick haunt',
Finds tongues in trees, books' .. in the running brooks',
Sermons in stones', and GOOD'.. in every thing."

SECTION VIII.

Anticipation.-CAMPBELL.

At summer eve', when heaven's aerial bōw'
Spans with bright arch the glittering hills below',
Why to yon mountain turns the musing eye',
Whose sunbright summit mingles with the sky`?
Why do those cliffs of shadowy teint appear
More sweet than all the landscape smiling near' ?-
'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view',
And robes the mountain in its azure hue'.
Thus, with delight', we linger to survey'
The promised joys of life's unmeasured way`;
Thus, from afar', each dim-discovered scene'
More pleasing sēēms than all the past hath been";
And every form that fancy can repair'
From dark oblivion', glows divinely there'.

The Miser.-POLLOK.

But there is one in folly farther gone,
With eye awry', incurable', and wild',

The laughing-stock of demons and of men',

And by his guardian angel quite given up`

The miser, who', with dust inanimate

Holds wedded intercourse'. Ill guided wretch'!
Thou mayst have seen him at the midnight hour'—
When good men sleep, and in light winged dreams
Send up their souls to God'-in wasteful hall',
With vigilance and fasting worn to skin

as well as in the three selections from Shakspeare, in section 7th, no such pause is allowable: see pages 140 and 141.

In the selection from Pollok, section 8th, the intervening adjunct beginning with the phrase, "The laughing-stock," and ending with, quite given up," and that, likewise, commencing with, "When good men sleep," and closing with, "their souls to God," should both be pronounced in a lower tone than the rest of the paragraph, though not quite so low as is ordinarily adopted in pronouncing the parenthetick clause