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REMARKS UPON THE ART OF READING.

TRULY good readers and speakers — those who seem to have so full an understanding and appreciation of the thoughts and sentiments of their author that they can reproduce them orally, as they arose lifelike in his mind, and fell glowing from his pen—are very rarely to be found. And yet, the power of doing this would seem to be an art very easily acquired. All have sufficient capacities of voice for it. The child, in his earliest attempts at uttering ideas, repeating stories which have been told him, or reading those simple ones that he understands, generally gives the right tones and inflections in an impressive manner. But as he becomes older, either from having lessons given him to read which he does not understand, or from gross neglect or incapacity on the part of the teacher, he soon falls into a habit of monotonous, unmeaning utterance, which it is very difficult for him to get rid of in after years. If the teacher never allowed the young scholar to read a sentence without evolving the true shades of meaning, in all their distinguishing niceties, habits of bad reading would never be formed, and it would always be as easy and natural to express the full sense of an author in an effective manner, as to utter intelligibly one's own feelings or wishes, in common conversation. The origin of the evil complained of, thus seems to lie with those who have the instruction of children in their earliest years.

But as it respects those who may use this as a reading-book, it is necessary only to recognize the facts, that bad reading exists, that probably some of them fall into the class of poor readers, and that, however they came by the habit, they must now take the matter, in a great degree, into their own hands, and endeavor to reform.

Good reading is acknowleged to rank among the very first of polite accomplishments. It would, indeed, seem to have the precedence of any other in point of practical utility. Books can always be at hand, even in the humblest circumstances; and, if well chosen, they are vehicles of the highest and noblest thoughts and sentiments that have

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