questions, it is not easy for the reader to go wrong, and it requires very little training to read out a question in a lively and intelligent way. In the case of assertions, which require the falling inflection, the great danger for the reader is that of falling into a sing-song, with a dull monotonous slide-down at the end. Nothing is more unpleasant than to hear sentence after sentence delivered in this way. The chief and almost the only corrective is to make the reader speak the sentence, without the book, and as if it were his own; and, if that is not sufficient, to make a sentence for him of the same build and character, but on a more familiar subject, and give him that to speak. The following exercises have been constructed with the view of training the pupil to an easy and natural delivery of another person's sense; and it is believed that, if the sentences in these exercises are fully mastered, the pupil will be able to read aloud sentences of the highest degree of complication in an easy, intelligent, and intelligible manner. The clearest possible articulation must be demanded from the pupil; the pauses must be attended to; and the sentences must be spoken well out. At first, even a pompous utterance and ceremonious style, provided always it be clear and distinct, may be encouraged. This can very soon be toned down, and will of itself disappear, as the interest of the pupil grows in the meaning and in the feeling of what he reads. No one manner must be allowed to predominate, lest it grow into a mannerism.

I. LEVEL AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT.

As nine-tenths of all statements are of this character, copious exercises have been given. The chief qualities to be required in the reading are (1) clear articulation, (2) right emphasis, and (3) proper pauses. The reading of each statement may be prefaced by three questions:

(a) Is there any emphatic word in this sentence? and if so, what is it ?

(b) Is this sentence prose or verse?

(c) Where should the pause or pauses come?

Most of the sentences given are in verse; if a child can read verse rightly and feelingly, almost any prose whatever will be easy to

6.

7.

8.

9.

from land to land.2

The dew was falling fast, the stars began to blink.

Her eyes are wild, her head is bare.

3

So all day long the noise of battle rolled
Among the mountains by the wintry sea.
The sun begins to show his glorious head.
10. Now day is done, and night is nighing fast.

11.

12.

13.

14.

Yet tears to human suffering are due.1
No stir in the air, no stir in the sea.2
Day glimmers on the dying and the dead.
To-night will be a stormy night.3

A traveller came to the well of St. Keyne.
Up to the throne of God is borne
The voice of praise at early morn.

The ancient spirit is not dead."
The sun in heaven was shining gay,
All things

All good men

were joyful on that day.5
praised him."

This Tarquin was a great and mighty king."

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

And he drank of the cup

24.

25.

26.

27.

Myself, well mounted, hardly have escaped.
None of these things moved him.

and died.8

28.

29.

30.

And King Offa reigned thirty-nine winters.
We'll lay before this town our bones.

So weary bees in little cells repose.

The third of April died your noble mother.
Their fortunes grew old and feeble with themselves.
(a) Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe."
(b) Joy sparkled in the prancing courser's eyes.
(c) The poor hart toils along the mountain-side.
(d) Upon his side the hart was lying stretched.

What he hath won, that hath he fortified.

31. The man that hath done this thing shall surely die.

32. Amber, science declares,10 is a kind of petrified resin, distilled by pines that were dead before the days of Adam; which is now thrown up, in stormy weather, on that remote coast.

33. A tight house, warm apparel, and wholesome food, are sufficient motives to labour.11

34. The end of government is the good of mankind.

35. That he had resolved to take command of the army in Irewas soon rumoured all over London.

land

36.

37.

Arise, go forth, and conquer as of old.

And whiter than the mist
Had held 12 the field of battle

that all day long

was the king.

38.

39.

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS.

I heard the ripple washing in the reeds, And the wild water lapping on the crag. A doubtful throne is ice on summer seas.1 40. And his words fell soft upon the ear

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

37

as snow upon the ground." public haunt, in the running brooks, in everything.3

And this our life, exempt from
Finds tongues in trees, books
Sermons in stones, and good
Why, let the stricken deer go weep,
The hart ungallëd
For some must watch, while some
Thus runs the world away.

play;

4

must sleep :

They also serve who only stand and wait.5
Britannia needs no bulwarks,

No towers along the steep;

Her march is o'er the mountain waves,
Her home is on the deep."

The night winds sigh, the breakers roar,
And shrieks the wild sea-mew.

46. They could take their rest, for they knew Lord Stratford watched. Him they feared, him they trusted, him they obeyed.

47.

48.

Alone, alone, all all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.7

Deep in the shady sadness of a vale,

Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn,
Far from the fiery noon and eve's one star,
Sat grey-haired Saturn, quiet

as a stone.8

48a. Full of spirit, and high in hope, we set out of life.

on the journey

49. The habit of examining our own conduct as accurately as that of another, and judging of it with the same impartiality, cannot be acquired without a degree of patient attention, not greater indeed than the object deserves, but greater than the generality of men are willing to bestow.

50. The wages of sin is death.9

51.

Blessing she is; God made her so;
And deeds of week-day holiness
Fall from her noiseless as the snow;
Nor hath she ever chanced to know
That aught were easier than to bless. 10

52. Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye.-MILTON.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

The gloomiest day hath gleams of light;
The darkest wave hath white foam near it;
And twinkles through the cloudiest night
Some solitary star, to cheer it.

No stir in the air, nō stir in the sea,
The ship was as still as she could be,'
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean.

But now
be ready, for I long full sore
To hear the merry dashing of the oar,

And feel the freshness of the following breeze
That sets me free, and sniff the rough salt seas.2
Therefore they gat them ready now for war
With joyful hearts, for sharp they sniffed the sea,
And saw the great waves tumbling green and free
Outside the bar upon the way to Greece,

The rough green way to glory and sweet peace.
The mill wheel's frozen in the stream,

The church is decked with holly,
Mistletoe hangs from the kitchen beam
To fright away melancholy;
Icicles clink in the milkmaid's pail,
Younkers skate on the pool below,
Blackbirds perch on the garden rail,
And hark, how the cold winds blow!
Surely no Greenland winter waits us there,
No year-long night, but rather shall we find
Spice-trees set waving by the western wind.5

58. We have often thought that the public mind in this country resembles the motion of the sea when the tide is rising. Each successive wave rushes forward, breaks, and rolls back; but the great flood is steadily coming on."

59.

60.

Much must be borne which it is hard to bear;
Much given away which it were sweet to keep.
God help us all! who need, indeed, His care:
And yet, I know the Shepherd loves His sheep.7
To be resigned when ills betide,
Patient when favours are denied,

And pleased with favours given—
This, brother, this is wisdom's part,