CÆSURAL PAUSE.

DEFINITION. The cæsural pause in poetry is to render the sentiment more emphatic, and make the versification sound more melodious..

EXAMPLES.

Warms in the sun | refreshes in the breeze,

Glows in the stars and blossoms in the trees.

NOTE. In reading blank verse there should be a very slight suspension or protraction of voice at the end of each line, although the grammatical construction requires

none.

EXAMPLE

ADDRESS TO MONT BLANC ICE-FALLS.

Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven
Beneath the keenfull Moon? Who bade the sun
Clothe you with rainbows? Who with living flowers
Of loveliest blue, spread garlands at thy feet?—
God let torrents like a shout of nations
Answer! and let the ice-plains echo, God!

TRANSITION.

DEFINITION. The transition of the voice, unlike the inflections, is a sudden change of the key from low to high, or from high to low, or to such intermediate tone as shall best accord with those emotions of the mind implied by the language.

NOTE. Good taste must decide when and where to introduce transitions of the voice; on what key of tone, and with what degree of intensity.

RULES FOR COMPOSITION.

T

A few suggestions to aid those who desire to improve their style in composition. The brevity of the Rules is such, that any student may easily commit them to memory, and avail himself of such benefits as they may afford.

1. Select a subject within your comprehension. 2. Reflect on it much, and render yourself familiar with the ideas, before you commence writing.

3. Never write in a loose, or careless manner.

4. Be careful to use such words as shall convey your thoughts most clearly to others.

5. Avoid low or vulgar expressions.

6. Remember that a good sentence requires these four following properties, viz. 1. Clearness. 2. Unity. 3. Strength. 4. Harmony.

OF CLEARNESS.

1. The words you employ must be so chosen as to convey your idea, without the least ambiguity.

2. The words and members of the sentence should be so arranged, as to show their precise relations of significant import to each other.

OF UNITY.

1. Unity implies, that the sentence contains but one leading idea, distinctly expressed.

2. The main idea, or leading thought in the same sentence, should be changed as little as possible.

3. Whatever would essentially disturb the unity of a single sentence, should be divided into two.

4. Avoid, as far possible, a parenthesis in the sentence. 5. Bring the sentence to a natural close. That is, when the idea is distinctly expressed, the sentence ends.

STRENGTH.

1. To promote the strength of a sentence, lop off all unnecessary words.

2. Use great care in placing the relatives, conjunctions, adverbs and prepostions, precisely where the sense requires

them

3. The principal word or words on which the strength of thought depends, must be placed where they will make the strongest impression.

4. If there are several members of the sentence, place the less important first.

5. Never close the sentence with a preposition, or any unimportant word.

HARMONY.

1. Harmony implies the use of such words and combinations, as fall on the ear with an agreeable sound.

2. Whatever is easy of utterance to the organs of speech, is commonly most agreeable to the ear.

3. A due intermixture of long and short sentences promotes harmony.

4. The longest member of the sentence, and the most sonorous words, should, if practicable, fall at the close.

5. It is a great beauty to embody such words in a sentence, as shall in sound, correspond with the sentiment expressed.

LESSON I.

PRE-EMINENCE OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. THE United States of America constitute an essential portion of a great political system, embracing all the civilized nations of the earth. At a period when the force of moral opinion is rapidly increasing, they have the precedence in the practice and the defense of the equal rights of man. The sovereignty of the people is here a conceded axiom, and the laws, established upon that basis, are cherished with faithful patriotism. While the nations of Europe aspire after change, our constitution engages the fond admiration of the people, by which it has been established. Prosperity follows the execution of even justice; invention is quickened by the freedom of competition; and labor rewarded with sure and unexampled returns. Domestic peace is maintained without the aid of a military establishment; public sentiment permits the existence of but few standing troops, and those only along the seaboard and on the frontiers. A gallant navy protects our commerce, which spreads its banners on every sea, and extends its enterprise to every clime. Our diplomatic relations connect us on terms of equality and honest friendship with the chief powers of the world; while we avoid entangling participation in their intrigues, their passions, and their wars. Our national resources are developed by an earnest culture of the arts of peace. Every man may enjoy the fruits of his industry; every mind is free to publish its convictions. Our govern

ment, by its organization, is necessarily identified with the interests of the people, and relies exclusively on their attachment for its durability and support. Nor is the constitution a dead letter, unalterably fixed; it has the capacity for improvement; adopting whatever changes time and the public will, may require, and safe from decay, so long as that will retains its energy. New states are forming in the wilderness; canals, intersecting our plains and crossing our highlands, open numerous channels to internal commerce; manufactures prosper along our watercourses; the use of steam on our rivers and railroads annihilates distance by the acceleration of speed. Our wealth and population, already giving us a place in the first rank of nations, are so rapidly cumulative, that the former is increased fourfold, and the latter is doubled, in every period of twentytwo or twenty-three years. There is no national debt; the community is opulent; the government economical; and the public treasury full. Religion, neither persecuted nor paid by the state, is sustained by the regard for public morals and the convictions of an enlightened faith. Intelligence is diffused with unparalleled universality; a free press teems with the choicest productions of all nations and ages. There are more daily journals in the United States than in the world beside. A public document of general interest is, within a month, reproduced in at least a million of copies, and is brought within the reach of every freeman in the country. An immense concourse of emigrants of the most various lineage is perpetually crowding to our shores; and the principles of liberty, uniting all interests by the operation of equal laws, blend the discordant elements into