RULES FOR READING.

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RULE VII. When you read for instance of the *Bald Eagle" pursuing the fish hawk, your tone of voice will be lively and animated; but when you read of the "Dying Boy," it should be more grave and plaintive. And thus, also, you will naturally read slower or faster according to the sense.

RULE VIII. Some persons when they read forget to breathe: in this way they speak as if they were about fainting. Others, instead of taking their breath at the pauses, as they should, will pass right over them, till, being obliged to stop, they break up and destroy the sense of the subject, by making pauses where there should be none.

RULE IX. The pauses should be used as resting places, and while you improve this time to take breath, you should be casting your eye forward, so as to be prepared, not only to observe the different pauses, but also, to call the harder words, as you reach them, readily and without hesitation.

RULE X.-Read with the same interest and engagedness with which you speak when talking; and remember, that words are of no worth, only as they convey ideas to your own mind, and enable you to convey the same ideas to others.

RULE XI. In reading poetry be careful not to sing. Only attend to the length of the lines, so that it may be heard as poetry, and then in other respects, read it as you would other reading on a similar subject.

RULE XII. In reading dialogues, you are talking to each other, and you should endeavor to appear as if the ideas and language were your own, and not taken from a book.

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THE STOPS OR PAUSES.

RULE XIII. Each word should be emphasized according to its importance in the sentence. This you can not so well determine by the meaning of the word itself, as by its connection in the sentence. Hence, you must endeavor to comprehend the subject as you proceed, in order to give the proper emphasis.

THE STOPS OR PAUSES.

Since you the pauses all should know,
To read correct, distinct, and slow;
Please mark them well, while here I teach
Their names, and time to rest at each.

COMMA.

This is a Comma, here you stay,
While counting one upon the way.

; SEMICOLON.

The Semicolon now you view;
Here you must stop and count one, two.

: COLON.

The Colon next requires still more;
So stop and count one, two, three, four.

The Period then at this we fix,

And count one, two, three, four, five, six.
! EXCLAMATION.

The note of Exclamation view;
Surprise or grief it shows to you;
And here you wait, as said before,
While you can count one, two, three, four.
? INTERROGATION.

Notes of Interrogation show

A question asked; as, "Who will go?"
And here you wait a little more

Than time to count one, two, three, four.
Observe these rules, and soon you'll find
Your reading please your teacher's mind

THIRD BOOK.

LESSON I.

SPELL AND DEFINE.

1 Favorite, beloved; kindly regarded.

2 Requested, asked; solicited. 3 Ungrateful, not thankful for favors 4 Delayed, deferred; put off. 5 Rebuked, reproved.

THE BOY REBUKED BY HIS DOG.

A favorite dog in a farm house was standing by his mistress, one morning, as she was preparing her children, Eliza and Edmund, for school.

Eliza had been busily engaged in assisting Edmund, who now stood waiting, with his hat

in his hand, while the mother was preparing his sister as fast as possible to go with him.

As it was becoming late, she requested Edmund to fetch their basket, that as soon as she could get his sister ready she might prepare their dinner.

But this negligent and idle boy only gave a sour and surly look, and though he did not really refuse, yet he delayed to obey his mother's command.

"Well my son," said she, " if you are unwilling to do any thing for yourself, how can you expect others will do so much for you?" "Your Mungo," said she, looking round at the dog, "would bring the basket in a moment, if he only knew how."

As the mother said this, only as a gentle rebuke to her ungrateful son, what was her surprise to see the dog hasten to the closet, take the basket from behind the door, and with an air of joy and delight, come and put it down by her side.

Let those children who are unwilling to assist their parents, teachers and others, even when it is for their interest to do so, blush and be rebuked by the example of this noble dog.

QUESTIONS.- 1 Whom had Eliza been assisting! 2 What did his mother ask Edmund to do? 3 Did he readily obey her? 4 What did she then say to him? 5 How was he reproved by his dog? 6 By whom are children commanded to obey their parents? 7 Can you tell where this command is to be found?

LESSON II.

SPELL AND DEFINE.

1 Region, a country; tract of land. 2 Disdainful, scornful; haughty. 3 Addressed, spoken to. 4 Shiv ering, trembling; shaking. 5 Supplied, fully furnished.

THE SWALLOW AND THE RED-BREAST.

A FABLE.

One day in autumn a company of swallows were flying about a barn, preparing to take leave of these chilly, northern regions, in order to visit the warmer climes of the south. Every wing was rapid in motion, and every throat was sending forth its twittering notes.

At one time, they would mount on high, and skim through the air almost without effort; at another, they would alight upon the roof, as if in council, fixing the time of their departure, and deciding on their route.

While thus engaged, a red-breast alighted on a tree that overhung the roof, when one of the swallows, casting on him a disdainful look, thus addressed him; "Poor helpless creature, how I pity you! Here you must stay through the dreary winter, shivering with cold, and pinched with hunger, while we who make the world our home, stretch our wings and are off to some milder country, where warm suns always shine, and nature is always dressed in her robes of green."

The red-breast meekly replied, "Let those who choose, roam abroad for happiness; my humble home is all the world to me. My