MY DEAR FRIEND: 'Molti e felici', and I have done upon that subject, one truth being fair, upon the most lying day in the whole year. I have now before me your last letter of the 21st December, which I am glad to find is a bill of health: but, however, do not presume too much upon it, but obey and honor your physician, "that thy days may be long in the land." Since my last, I have... more...

INTRODUCTION § 1. MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN Middle High German (MHG.) embraces the High German language from about the year 1100 to 1500. It is divided into three great dialect-groups: Upper German, Franconian, and East Middle German. 1. Upper German is divided into: (a) Alemanic, embracing High Alemanic (Switzerland), and Low Alemanic (South Baden, Swabia, and Alsace). (b) Bavarian, extending over Bavaria... more...

INTRODUCTION. (11) The subject of Elocution, so far as it is deemed applicable to a work of this kind, will be considered under the following heads, viz: 1. ARTICULATION. 4. READING VERSE. 2. INFLECTION. 5. THE VOICE. 3. ACCENT AND EMPHASIS. 6. GESTURE. I. ARTICULATION. (11) Articulation is the utterance of the elementary sounds of a language, and of their combinations. As words consist of one or more... more...

MY DEAR FRIEND: Laziness of mind, or inattention, are as great enemies to knowledge as incapacity; for, in truth, what difference is there between a man who will not, and a man who cannot be informed? This difference only, that the former is justly to be blamed, the latter to be pitied. And yet how many there are, very capable of receiving knowledge, who from laziness, inattention, and incuriousness,... more...

AN AIM IN LIFE. For the sake of girls who are just beginning life, let me tell the stories of some other girls who are now middle-aged women. Some of them have succeeded and some have failed in their purposes, and often in a surprising way. I remember a girl who left school at seventeen with the highest honors. Immediately we began to see her name in the best magazines. The heavy doors of literature... more...

10 ECLECTIC SERIES. EMPHASIS. NOTE.—If the pupil has received proper oral instruction, he has been taught to understand what he has read, and has already acquired the habit of emphasizing words. He is now prepared for a more formal introduction to the SUBJECT of emphasis, and for more particular attention to its first PRINCIPLES. This lesson, and the examples given, should be repeatedly practiced. In... more...

THE DAFFODILS By William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o’er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,—A host of golden daffodilsBeside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the Milky Way,They stretched in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:Ten thousand saw I, at a glance,Tossing... more...

OUT IN A STORM."What do you think of this storm, Joe?" "I think it is going to be a heavy one, Ned. I wish we were back home," replied Joe Bodley, as he looked at the heavy clouds which overhung Lake Tandy. "Do you think we'll catch much rain before we get back?" And Ned, who was the son of a rich man and well dressed, looked at the new suit of clothes that he wore.... more...

Chapter I. We emulate the Rollo books. 'Sure a terrible time I was out o' the way,Over the sea, over the sea,Till I come to Ireland one sunny day,—Betther for me, betther for me:The first time me fut got the feel o' the groundI was strollin' along in an Irish cityThat hasn't its aquil the world aroundFor the air that is sweet an' the girls that are pretty.' —Moira... more...

MAY MORNING AND NEW YEAR'S EVE. It is the evening before the first of May, and the boys are looking forward to a May-day festival with the children in the neighborhood. Mrs. Chilton read aloud these beautiful lines of Milton:— Now the bright morning star, Day's harbinger,Comes dancing from the east, and loads with herThe flowery May, who from her green lap throwsThe yellow cowslip, and the... more...