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2d. To produce a slighter disjunction than would be made by a pause; and thus at once to separate and unite; as,

Would you kill your friend and benefactor? Would you practice hypocrisy and smile in his face, while your conspiracy is ripening?

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,

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.

GENERAL RULE.-When 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

EXERCISES IN PAUSES.

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 eternity 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 which he had his origin. If the heavens thundered and the earth rocked yet when the storm passed how pure was the climate that it cleared how bright in the brow of the firmament was the planet which it revealed to us!

and

3. In the production of Washington it does really appear as if nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself that all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory to the patriot of the new. Individual

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instances no doubt there were splendid exemplifications of some single qualification. Cæsar was merciful ~~ Scipio was continent Hannibal was patient. But it was reserved for Washington to blend them all in one and like the lovely masterpiece of the Grecian artist to exhibit in one glow of associated beauty the pride of every modèl – and the perfection of every master.

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 and the philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman almost added the character of the sage.

he

5. A conqueror he was untainted with the crime of blood a revolutionist he was free from any stain of treason for aggression commenced the contest and his country called him to the field. Liberty unsheathed his sword necessity stained victory returned it.

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6. If he had paused here history might have doubted what station to assign him whether at the head of her citizens or her soldiers her heroes or her patriots. But the last glorious act crowns his career and banishes all hesitation. Who like Washington after having emancipated a hemisphere resigned 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 upon glory's page,

Thou more than soldier and just less than sage!
All thou hast been reflects less praise on thee,
Far less than all thou hast forborne to be.

KEY TO THE USE OF MARKED LETTERS.

àge or age, åt or at, årt, áll, båre, åsk; wè or we, end or end, her; ice or ice, in or in, fly, hymn; old or ōld, on or on, do; mute or mute, up or up, füll; this; azure; reäl, (not rēl); o`vershoot'; badnèss, (not niss); agèd, (not ājd); ġ as j.

INDEX TO EDITIONS.

THE figures refer to the pages where the same lessons may be found in the two editions of this work.

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PART II.

READINGS.

SECTION I.

I.

1. THE MONTHS.

JANUARY! Darknèss and light reign alike. Snow is on

the' ground. Cold is in the air. The winter is blossoming in 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!

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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 root" that lies beneath the snow. The day opens, but the night

shuts the earth with its frost-lock.

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They strive together, but

Virgin, (ver' jin).

10 Scarce, (skårs).

"Weird, like witches; skilled in witchcraft; unearthly; wild.

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Bergs, (bergz), hills; an iceberg is a hill or mountain of ice, or a vast body of ice floating on the ocean.

13 Root, (rôt).

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