sweet'n, sweet'n'd, sweet'ns, watch, watch'd, watch'dst, writes, writ'st, blight'st.

Prov'd, prov'dst, grov'l, grov'll'd, grov'l'st, grov'ls, heav'n, heav'ns, prov'st, proves.

Prais'd, dazzle, dazzled, dazzl’dst, dazzlest, dazzles, chasm, chasms, blaz'n, blaz'n'd, blaz'n'st, blaz'ns.

The following sentences are arranged to aid the learner in acquiring a correct enunciation. Words which may be accurately and distinctly pronounced, when the attention is particularly directed to them, are liable to be mispronounced when they occur in sentences. The letters liable to be perverted or suppressed in utterance are printed in Italics.

Hosts dropped their arms and trembled as they heard. The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind.

It was an act of all the acts the most to be deplored.

To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative.

So soft, though high; so loud, and yet so clear,
Ev'n list'ning angels lean from heav'n to hear.

Louder and louder still, I hear the alarms
Of human cries distinct, and clashing arms.
It is excellent to have a giant's strength,
But it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.

Thou rather with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt,
Splitt'st the unwedgeable and gnarled oak
Than the soft myrtle.

Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed.
Blending their hues in distant faintness there.

He watched, and wept, and prayed, and felt for all.

PAUSES.

Grammatical punctuation serves, to a limited extent, to mark the pauses which must be made in reading aloud; but these pauses alone are not sufficient to secure an intelligible and impressive delivery. Pauses must frequently be made in reading, where no grammatical points are used. These are called rhetorical pauses.

The place of the pause is indicated by the marks; thus |. Its length cannot be determined by any rule, but must depend upon the judgment of the reader.

RULE I.

limited; as,

Pause before the predicate when the subject is

Industrious men | prosper.

Men of industry | prosper.

Men, who are industrious | prosper.

If the subject consist of but one word, and it be an important one, a slight pause is necessary; as,

Adversity is the school of piety.

RULE II. Pause before and after a restrictive phrase or clause; as,

Trials in this state of being | are the lot of man.

The man who loves his kind | will do good.

RULE III. Pause before a verb in the infinitive mode when it depends upon another verb; as,

He now commanded his forces | to retire from the contest.

RULE IV. Pause before an adjective or adjective phrase when it follows the noun which it limits; as,

It was a calculation | accurate to the last degree.
All things sublunary hasten to decay.

The dawn of day found Waverley on the esplanade.

RULE V. Pause before adverbial phrases of place, time, degree or manner; as,

He walks on the common | in the morning | at a very rapid pace.

RULE VI. Pause whenever phrases may be transposed; as, And O, when stoops | on Judah's path |

In shade and storm | the frequent night.

RULE VII. Pause where an ellipsis occurs; as,

To our faith we should add virtue; and to virtue | knowledge; and to knowledge | temperance; and to temperance | patience; and to patience | godliness; and to godliness | brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness | charity.

ACCENT AND EMPHASIS.

As a knowledge of ACCENT and EMPHASIS is essential to GOOD READING, the pupil should be made acquainted with the nature of each, and the distinction between them; for they are frequently confounded. Accent refers to syllables, and means that peculiar stress of force which, in pronouncing a word of two or more syllables, we lay upon one or more of them to distinguish them from the rest. Emphasis refers to words, and means that peculiar stress or force which, in uttering a sentence, we lay upon one or more of the words to distinguish them from the others. Every word of two or more syllables has, in pronunciation, an accent upon one of the syllables; and some of the longer or more difficult words have, in addition to the principal accent, a SECONDARY, or weaker And in every sentence, and clause of a sentence, there are one or more words which require to be pronounced with a greater degree of force than the other words. Without knowing the accented syllables in words, we cannot give them their proper pronunciation; nor can we bring out the full meaning

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of a sentence, unless we know the emphatic words. The accented syllables of words we learn by imitating the pronunciation of correct speakers; and by referring, in cases of doubt, to a dictionary in which they are given. The emphatic words in a sentence we can only learn by knowing their relative importance in it, and the precise meaning which the writer of it intended each of them to convey. In fact, if we know the meaning and drift of a sentence, we shall have no difficulty in discovering the emphatic words. In all such cases they are naturally and spontaneously suggested to us, just as they are to persons uttering or speaking their own sentiments. For even the most illiterate persons are sure, when uttering their own sentiments, to lay the proper emphases on their words; though they may, and very often do, give them the wrong accents. If a man, for example, were to say, " It is a spade, and not a shovel, that I want," he would be sure to pronounce the words "spade" and "shovel" with a greater degree of force than the other words; because he wishes to draw the particular attention of the person whom he addresses to the ideas or things which they represent. Had he merely said, "It is a spade I want," he would nevertheless have pronounced the word "spade" emphatically, because he wished it to be particularly understood that it was a spade, and not any other implement, such as a shovel, that he wanted. Should he say, "Is the spade broken ?" he would pronounce the word "broken" emphatically; because his object is to obtain precise information on that point. But if he should say, "Is it the spade that is broken?" he would lay the emphasis on the word " spade," and not upon "broken;" because, understanding that there is some implement broken, he wishes to be informed whether it is the spade. Again, should he say, "Is it my spade that is broken?" he would lay the emphasis on the word "my; " because he desires to know whether the spade that is broken is his or not. Should he ask, "Who broke the spade?" he would lay the emphasis on the word "who ;" be

cause, be ng already aware that the spade is broken, his object in making the inquiry is, to learn the name of the person who broke it. And, lastly, should he say, "How was the spade broken?" he would make "how" the emphatic word; because, in this case, he wishes to be informed of the manner in which the accident occurred.

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It is obvious from what has been said, that if we understand the meaning of what we read, in the same degree as a person understands the thoughts which he utters, we shall, like him, naturally and spontaneously lay the emphases on the proper words. It is equally obvious, that if we do not understand the meaning of what we read, we shall either have to pronounce all the words with the same degree of force - which would be absurd or to run the risk of perverting the meaning of the author, by laying the emphases on the wrong words. The following sentence will exemplify this: "O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have written concerning me." If we perceive that the intention of our Savior Iwas to reproach his disciples for their backwardness in believing, we shall, in reading it, naturally lay the principal emphasis on the word "slow." But if we do not see that this was the object of the speaker, the chances are we shall lay the emphasis on one of the other words, and thus change or pervert the meaning. For example, if we lay the emphasis on "believe," it would imply that the disciples were reproached for believing; if on all," then the inference would be that they might have believed some of the things which the prophets had written, but that it was foolish in them to believe all. If we lay the emphasis on "prophets," it would imply that they might have believed others, but that they were fools for believing the prophets; if on "written," the inference would be, that though they might have believed what the prophets had said, it was foolish in them to believe what they had written; and, finally, if we lay the emphasis on me," it would imply that though they might have believed what the prophets

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