Page images
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

III. An ancient heathen king, being asked What things he thought most proper for boys to learn, answered: "those which they ought to practise, when they come to be men. a wiser than this heathen monarch has taught the same sentiment:"train up a child in the way he should go, and, when he is old, he will not depart from it."

A celebrated philosopher expressed in his motto, That time was his estate: An estate, which will produce nothing without cultivation; but which will abundantly repay the labours of industry. There lives and works

IV.

a soul in all things, and that soul is god.
the lord of all, himself through all diffused,
sustains, and is the life of all that lives.

these are thy glorious works, parent of good!
almighty thine this universal frame !

V. Our fields are covered with herbs from holland, and roots from germany; with flemish farming, and swedish turnips; our hills with forests of the firs of norway. the chestnut and the poplar of the south of europe adorn our lawns, and below them flourish shrubs and flowers, from every clime, in great profusion. arabia improves our horses, china our pigs, north america our poultry, and spain our sheep.

VI. We left home on monday morning, arrived at liverpool on tuesday, went to manchester, by the railway, on wednesday, and reached this place on thursday evening.

Blessed that eve!

the sabbath's harbinger, when, all complete,
in freshest beauty, from jehovah's hand,
creation bloom'd; when eden's twilight face
smiled like a sleeping babe.

VII. The first monarch of great britain and ireland, after the revolution of 1688, was william the third. the reign of his successor, queen anne, was rendered remarkable by the victories of the duke of Marlborough on the continent of europe, and the union between england and scotland.

VIII. I am monarch of all i survey,

my right there is none to dispute ;
from the centre all round to the sea,
i am lord of the fowl and the brute.

IX. o solitude! where are the charms

that sages have seen in thy face? better dwell in the midst of alarms,

than reign in this horrible place.

The hope of future happiness is a perpetual source of consolation to good men. under trouble, it soothes their minds; amidst temptation, it supports their virtue; and, in their dying moments, 66 o death! where is thy sting? o grave!

it enables them to say,

where is thy victory ?"

SECTION II.

CAPITAL LETTERS (continued).

Prove and illustrate the following propositions by quotations, either in prose or poetry :—

EXAMPLE.

Human life is short and uncertain.

"As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth; for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more."

"Where is to-morrow?

In another world.

For numbers this is certain; the reverse

Is sure to none."

"It is recorded of some eastern monarch, that he kept an officer in his house, whose employment it was to remind him of his mortality, by calling out every morning, at a stated hour, Remember, prince, that thou shalt die.' The contemplation of the frailness and uncertainty of our present state appeared of so much importance to Solon of Athens, that he left this precept to future ages: 6 Keep thine eye fixed upon the end of life." "

"Ah! what is life? with ills encompass'd round,

Amidst our hopes, fate strikes the sudden wound :
To-day the statesman of new honour dreams,
To-morrow death destroys his airy schemes."

"As he that lives longest lives but a little while, every man may be certain that he has no time to waste."

"Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer:
Next day the fatal precedent will plead;
Thus on, till wisdom is push'd out of life."*

EXERCISES.

1. To be good is to be happy.

2. Vice brings misery.

3. We were not made for ourselves only.

4. The real wants of nature are soon satisfied.

5. Pride was not made for man.

6. Contentment is great gain.

7. The good alone are great.

SECTION III.

RULES FOR SPELLING.

Correctness in Spelling is to be acquired chiefly by attending to the practice of the best modern writers and lexicographers.

The following are a few of the general principles to be observed in the spelling of words :

I. Monosyllables ending with f, l, or s, preceded by a single vowel, double the final consonant; as, Staff,

full,

pass.

The only exceptions are, Of, if, as, gas, is, has, was, yes, his, this, thus, us.

II. Monosyllables ending with any consonant but ƒ, l, or s, preceded by a single vowel, do not double the final consonant; as, Bud, cup, man.

The exceptions are, Add, butt, buzz, ebb, egg, err, inn, odd. III. When words ending with silent e, take an affix

* Exercises like this will be useful, not only for teaching practically the use of Capital Letters, but also for making Pupils acquainted with the manner in which different authors have expressed themselves on the same subject.

beginning with a consonant, the e is retained; as, Pale, paleness; peace, peaceful.

Except Awe, awful; due, duly; true, truly; abridge, abridgment; acknowledge, acknowledgment; judge, judgment.

IV. When words ending with silent e, take an affix beginning with a vowel, the e is omitted; as, Cure, curable; love, loving.

1. When silent e is preceded by v, or by c or g soft, the e is retained before able; as, Move, moveable; peace, peaceable; change, changeable.

2. When silent e is preceded by g soft, it is retained before ous; as, Courage, courageous.

3. When silent e is preceded by c soft, it is changed into i before ous; as, Grace, gracious.

V. When words ending with y preceded by a consonant, take an affix, the y is generally changed into i; as Merry, merriment; happy, happiness; cry, cried.

1. When y is preceded by a vowel, it is not changed into i; as, Boy, boyish.

2. Y is not changed into i before the affixes ing and ish; as, Carry, carrying; baby, babyish.

3. Y preceded by a vowel, is changed into i, in Daily, gaiety, gaily, laid, paid, said, slain, their, theirs.

4. When a word ending with ty, takes the affix ous, the y is changed into e; as, Beauty, beauteous; pity, piteous.

VI. When monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, which end with a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, receive an affix beginning with a vowel, the final consonant is doubled; as, Begin, beginner; wit, witty.

1. When a diphthong precedes the final consonant, it remains single; as, Toil, toiling.

2. The final consonant also remains single, when the accent is not on the last syllable; as, Offer, offering.

Except Apparel, apparelled; cancel, cancelled; cavil, caviller; coral, coralline; counsel, counsellor; crystal, crystalline ; drivel, driveller; duel, duellist; gravel, gravelled; grovel, grovelling; jewel, jeweller; level, levelling; libel, libeller ;

marvel, marvellous; model, modelled; revel, revelling; rival, rivalling; travel, traveller.

VII. When words which end with a double consonant, receive an affix, both the consonants are generally retained; as, Scoff, scoffer; success, successful.

Words ending with ll, generally drop one before an affix beginning with a consonant; as, Full, fulness; skill. skilful. VIII. In words of more than one syllable, c hard is used as a final letter only when it is preceded by i or ia; as, Music, maniac.

1. In monosyllables, c hard is always accompanied by k; as, Deck, lock. Except Lac, zinc.

2. A word never ends with c hard, or ck, when preceded by a diphthong; as, Book, hawk.

IX. When words of more than one syllable are written partly on one line, and partly on another, they are divided only at the syllables; as, Con-tentment, or

content-ment.

All the letters in monosyllables are written on the same line.

EXERCISES.

Correct the errors in the following sentences:

I. It is no great merit to spel correctly, but a great defect to do so incorrectly. Jacob worshipped his Creator, leaning on the topp of his staf. Our manners should be neither gros, nor excessively refined.

II. In the names of druggs and plants, the mistake of a word may endanger life. The finn of a fish is the limb, by which he balances his body, and moves in the water. Many a trapp is laid to ensnare the feet of youth.

III. In all our reasonings, our minds should be sincerly employed in the pursuit of truth. Rude behaviour and indecent language are peculiarly disgracful to youth of education. A judicious arrangment of studies facilitates improvment. Wisdom only

is truely fair folly merly appears so.

IV. Every thing connected with self, is apt to appear desireable in our eyes. Errors are more excuseable in ignorant than in wellinstructed persons. We were made to be servicable to others, as

« PreviousContinue »