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8. Our reputation, virtue, and happiness greatly depend on the choice of our companions.

9. O happiness! Our being's end and aim!

10. Alas! how little do they realize the dangers which await them.

11. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God! *


A DOMESTIC SKETCH. —Mrs. Sigourney.

[The class may be required to point out the emphatic words in this exercise, tell why they are emphatic, and how they should be read. Only a part have been Italicized.]

1. Frequent and sudden have been the reverses of fortune in this country; and it is highly important that young females should possess some employment by which they might obtain a livelihood, in case they should be reduced to the necessity of supporting themselves.

2. When families are unexpectedly reduced from affluence to poverty, how pitifully contemptible it is to see the mother desponding or helpless, and permitting her daughters to embarrass her whom it is their duty to assist and cheer.

3. "I have lost my whole fortune," said a merchant, as he returned one evening to his home; "we can no longer keep our carriage. We must leave this large house. The children can no longer go to expensive schools. Yesterday I was a rich man; to-day there is nothing I can call my own!"

4. "Dear husband," said the wife, " we are still rich in each other and in our children. Money may pass away; but God has given us a better treasure in these active hands and loving hearts."

5. "Dear father," said the children, "do not look so sober. We will all help you get a living."

6. "AVhat can you do, poor things ?" said he.

7. "You shall see! you shall see!" answered several cheerful voices. "It is a pity if we have been to school for ^noth

* See the twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John.

ing. How can the father of eight children be poor! We shall work and make you rich again."

8. The heart of the husband and father, which had sunk within his bosom like stone, was lifted up. The sweet enthusiasm of the scene eheered him; and his nightly prayer was like a song of praise.

9. They left this stately house; and the servants, also, were dismissed. Pictures and plate,' rich carpets and furniture, were sold; and she who had been so long the mistress of the mansion shed no tear. "Pay every debt" said she; "let no one suffer through us; and we may yet be happy."

10. He rented a neat cottage and a small piece of ground a few miles from the city. With the aid of his sons, he cultivated vegetables for the market. ' He viewed with delight and astonishment the economy of his wife, nurtured as she had been in wealth, and the efficiency which his daughters soon acquired under her training.

11. The eldest one assisted her in the work of the household, and also instructed the younger children. Besides, they executed various works which they had learned as accomplishments, but which they found could be disposed of to advantage. They embroidered, with taste, the ornamental part9 of female apparel, which were sold to a merchant in the city.

12. They cultivated flowers, and sent bouquets to market in the cart which conveyed the vegetables. They platted straw, painted maps, and executed plain needle-work. Every one was at her post, busy and cheerful. The cottage was like a beehive.

13. "I never enjoyed such health before!" said the father.

14. "And I never was so happy before," said the mother.

15. "We never knew how many things we could do when we lived in the great house," said the children; "and we love one another a great deal better here. You call us your little bees."

16. " Yes," replied the father; "and you make just such honey as the heart likes to feed on."

17. Economy, as well as industry, was strictly observed; nothing was wasted. Nothing unnecessary was purchased. The eldest daughter became assistant teacher in a distinguished female seminary; and the second took her place as instructress of the family.

18. The little dwelling, which had always been kept neat, they were soon able to beautify. Its construction was im-. proved; and the vines and flowering trees were replanted around it. The merchant was happier under his woodbinecovered porch, in a summer's evening, than he had been in his showy dressing-room.

19. "We are now thriving and prosperous," said he ; " shall we return to the city?"

20. "O, no !" was the unanimous reply. "Let us remain here," continued the wife, " where we have found health and contentment."

21. "Father," said the youngest, "all we children hope you are not going to be rich again; for we were then shut up in the nursery, and did not see much of you or mother. Now we all live together, and are so happy! So, father, please not be a rich man any more."

Questions. —Which are the most emphatic words in the first sentence of this eaer. cise? Why are they emphatic? Which are niost emphatic in the second sentence? Why? Which, in the third? &c, &c. Point out the emphatic words in some sen. tence in which they are not marked. What important lesson is taught in this read, ing exercise?


Rule 2. The repetition of an emphatic word, or the succession of emphatic words or particulars, usually requires a gradual increase of emphatic force on each succeeding word or particular.

'question. — What is the rule for the repetition of an emphatic word, and the snu cession of emphatic words or particulars 7

Repetition of an Emphatic Word.

1. There was — there Was a.time when to be a Roman* was scarcely less than to be a king.

2. "The great secret of eloquence," says Demosthenes, f "it action, action, Action."

3. Flee, flee, Flee for your lives!

Succession of Emphatic Words.

1. A kind word, nay, even a kind look, often affords comfort to the afflicted. ,

2. His property, his reputation, and his sacred nonoR were all involved in that great enterprise.

3. How beautiful, how grand, how Sublime, are the works of Mature!

Succession of Emphalic Particulars.

1. They have destroyed my goods, robbed me of my money, and ruined my Character!

2. The laws have been broken; the people have been insulted; and liberty has been Crushed for ever!

3. The first ingredient in conversation is truth; the next, good sense; the third, good Humor; and the fourth, wit.

Note. — The increase of emphasis is usually expressed by an increase of force on the word repeated, but not always; sometimes the foreo is even diminished in order to. produce the greatest effecfe


1. nARK! hush! What noise do I hear?

2. The sound at length became Fainter, fainter, and fainter, until it was lost in the distance'.

Questions. — What is exemplified in the first class of examples? Read the examples. Which are the emphatic words? Why are they emphatic? What is exemplified in the second class of examples? Read the examples. Which are the emphatio words? Why are they emphatic? What is exemplified in the- third class of examples? Read the examples. Which are theemphatic words? Why ere they emphatic? Is the increase of emphasis always best expressed by an increase of emphatic force . I1ow, then, is it sometimes best expressed? Give examples. What is meant by a Iioman? Wtat is satd of Demosthenes?

* Ro'man. a native citizen of Rome.

t De-mos'the-nes, the greatest of the Grecian orators, was born 382 B. C. He died i221i. C.


[The class may point out the examples in the following piece, which- ex emplify the rule, tell which part of the rule they exemplify, and how the} should be read.]

1. On the same day of midsummer, so drying were tbe sunshine and the wind, almost all the people of the parish were busy in securing their hay; and huge heaped-up carts, which almost hid from view the horses that drew them along the sward, were moving in all directions toward the snug farmyards. Never had the parish seemed so populous.

2. The balmy air was jocund with laughter, whistle, and song.\ And when the trees threw the shadow of one o'clock on the green dial-face of the earth, the horses were turned to grazing; and groups of men, women, and children were collected under grove, and bush, and hedge-row. Graces were' pronounced; and the Great Being, who gave them that day their daily bread, looked down from his eternal throne, well pleased with the piety of his thankful creatures.

3. The Great Golden Eagle, the pride and the pest of the parish, stooped down and flew away with somethimg in his talons. One single, sudden, Female Siirieb, — then shouts and outcries were heard. "Hannah Lamond's child! Hannah Lamond's child!" was the loud, fast-spreading cry. "The eagle has taken off Hannah Lamond's Child !" and in another instant, many were hurrying to the mountain.

4. Two miles of hill, and dale, and copse, and many intersecting brools, lay between; but, in an incredibly short time, the foot of the mountain was alive with people. The aerie

* The thrilling events narrated in this piece occurred in Scotland, which fact sufficiently accounts for any seeming peculiarity in the habits or occupations of the people, the scenery, or the language used in describing the various events here incidentally noticed.

t Some of the examples of a succession of words and particulars, occurring in this exercise, have but a very slight increase of emphasis, if any; and hence they are Italicized simply to call attention to them. The relative degree of emphasis with which such words or clauses should be read, is left entirely to the judgment of the teacher. V

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