Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1830, by MOSES BEVERANCE, in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the Northern Dis trict of New York. STEREOTYPED BY J. S. REDFIELU 13 Chambers st., New York, WOR 19 FEB '36 PREFACE. PERHAPS no book that has been introduced into the schools of this country, has been more deservedly held in high estimation, than the English Reader. It is admitted to unite the most judicious plan, with an excellent selection of matter; but as it has long been the principal reading book used in our schools, and as an occasional change is believed to have an enlivening and salutary effect upon the learner, I have ventured to offer this compilation to the consideration of those, to whose hands the instruction of youth may have been committed. Confidence in the favorable reception of this offering arises from the circumstance, that it presents a selection of matter, a portion of which is from American authors. A just pride for the literary reputation of our own country, denies the necessity, or even the propriety, of withholding from our youth, in the books of our primary schools, specimens of our own literature-none of which being found in the English Reader. Of the character of the pieces best calculated for the improvement of learners in reading, a diversity of opinions may be entertained. Should a want of adaptation to juvenile taste be urged, I would reply only, that I have designed it principally for the first class of learners in our common schools, whose taste it is hoped it may have a tendency to mature. In making the selections, an avoidance of what is ludicrous, and a rejection of what is unchaste, immoral, or offensive to the eye or ear of the most refined taste, have been strictly observed. With a view of adding essentially to the value of this volume, not only in the hands of the learner, but in the hands of the community, I have added a concise history of our country at a most interesting period, the Declaration of Independence-a document which is justly esteemed our nation's boast, and the Constitution of the United States; with all which Americans neither in youth nor mature age an be too familiar. Should the third part of this book, owever, in which these are embraced, be thought not to afford profitable lessons for the exercise of young and inexperienced readers, it may be reserved for them, with undiminished value, when in a greater state of advancement. Several modern writers on the subject of school education, whose opinions are entitled to much regard, have expressed their belief that no rules for the management of the voice in reading can be of any value. This opinion, so far as it relates to the younger classes of learners, is undoubtedly correct but as many of the first principles of elocution can be clearly illustrated, and applied to practical use by a little effort on the part of the more advanced learner, it appears to me that books of this kind, designed for the benefit of schools, must be deficient without them. Could every school in the country be under the instruction of a master of Elocution, the necessity would in a measure cease to exist. But this, unhappily, is not the case. Many of those who engage in the instruction of youth, require themselves the instruction they are expected to give, and have perhaps no other means of acquiring it, than from these elementary books from which it would be withheld. In this stereotype edition, some few alterations have been made; but the book contains as much matter as the former edition, and its use with it will not be found very inconvenient. It is now offered to the public in a permanent shape; and from the very favorable reception of the first edition, it will, I trust, continue to receive a patronage commensurate with its value. M. S. REMARKS UPON THE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD READING. AN ability to read in a correct and interesting manner has become indispensably requisite for all who would hold a respectable station in society; and not only should its acquisition be considered as a polite accomplishment, but as a talent subservient to the purposes of business, and of rational emjoyment. There are, indeed, but few persons in this country, who are unable to read with some degree of correctness; yet those who may be called good readers are less frequently met with than is generally imagined. Perfection in the art of reading, requires a natural talent, joined to the most persevering industry: and although it is a point to which few if any are ever able to arrive, yet every approach to it is of comparative value, and worth the effort required for its attainment. Perhaps there cannot be a more unerring standard fixed for reading than to adopt the same easy and natural mode that we would in common conversation. In the latter our object is to communicate our own thoughts; in the former to communicate the thoughts of others ;-and in both we wish to do it in the manner calculated to make us best understood. By this remark we do not design to recommend to those, who have adopted a careless manner of conversation, the adoption of a similar one in reading; but the same rules which serve to improve the one, may, by their application, have the same happy effect upon the other. But let it be distinctly understood, that no rules can be given for the management of the voice in reading, which independent of feeling, can insure the object desired. "Emotion," says a distinguished writer, "is the thing. One flush of passion on the cheek, one beam of feeling from the eye, one thrilling note of sensibility from the tongue, have a thousand times more value than any exemplification of mere rules, where feeling is absent." The observations which we shall make upon the principles of reading, or manner of delivery, will be comprised under the following heads: ARTICULATION, ACCENT, EMPHASIS, INFLECTION, MONOTONE, and MODULATION, with a few remarks upon the READING OF VERSE. 1. Articulation. A GOOD articulation consists in a clear and distinct utterance of the different sounds of the language; and is one of the most important particulars to be considered. No matter upon what subject or upon what occasion a man may read or speak to his fellow men, he never will be listened to for any length of time, unless he be distinctly heard, and that without effort on the part of his hearers. No interest of the subject can excuse a rapid and indistinct utterance. Many there are who fail in this particular. Some persons have natural impediments, which render the utterance of certain sounds quite difficult; but an indistinct articulation more frequently arises from a want of care to avoid it, and from a too much indulged disposition in children when learning to read, to hurry over their lessons with a rapidity which renders them unable to articulate, distinctly, the unaccented syllables.And it may here be observed, that teachers cannot too sedulously guard their pupils against this practice-a practice which, if tolerated in the young reader, will soon become a confirmed habit-an uncompromising barrier to a good delivery. A Those who have been accustomed to converse with persons partially deaf, can well appreciate the importance of distinct utterance. moderate voice with a clear articulation, is much more readily heard by such persons, than an indistinct one however loud and : is from the same cause that a man with but a feeble voice, can make himself better understood by a large assembly, than the possessor of a powerful one without an observance of a just articulation. It was to a defect in his articulation that Demosthenes attributed the failure which attended his first efforts in public speaking; and to his success in surmounting this difficulty, we may attribute his elevation from an uninteresting speaker to one of the most renowned orators of any age. One of the sources of an indistinct articulation, may be traced to an inattention in giving the proper sounds to the unaccented vowels. In many words by a careless articulation one vowel is substituted for another; thus, for educate, we hear ed-e-cate; for calculate, cal-kelate; for populous, pop-e-lous; &c. In some words the vowel is near ly or quite suppressed; as, for the word, prevail, we hear, pr-vail; for predict, pr-dict; for propose, pr-pose; for provide, pr-vide, &c. The accented vowels, too, in words which are followed by the same or similar sounds, are often but indistinctly uttered, as may be seen by the following example : "Tho oft the ear the open vowels tire." But the greatest source of defective articulation, lies in the circumstance that it depends mostly upon the consonant sounds, many of which require some effort to articulate. The vowel sounds are easily expressed; but many of the consonants, under certain arrangements of letters, are hard of utterance, and are often not articulated at all. This is particularly the case where the termination of one word or syllable, with one or more consonants, is succeeded by a similar arrangement in the syllable or word next following, as was the case with the vowels in the above example. Thus,--in syllables,-attempt, atempt; afflict, af-lict; ennoble, en-oble; tyranny ty-ran-y; appeal, apeal, &c. In words, The youth hates study., The youth hates tudy. The steadfast stranger in the forests strayed. Not only are words often mutilated by a careless articulation, but the meaning of whole sentences is often rendered obscure or perverted. For instance, let the following sentence be read indistinctly;—“ His |