BY DAVID B. TOWER, A. M. BOSTON: CHARLES STIMPSON, No. 106 Washington Street HARVARD ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1841, BY DAVID B. TOWER, IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS. De the BOSTON, May 4, 1841.- Voted, that the "Gradual Reader reading book of the Fourth Class in the Grammar Schools;—also that the "Exercises in Articulation' be introduced, at the discretion of the Masters, into the three Upper Classes. S. F. MCCLEARY, Secretary. CHARLESTOWN, May 24, 1841.-Voted, that the "Gradual Reader' and "Exercises in Articulation" be introduced into the Public Schools of this town F. ROBINSON, Secretary. PREFACE. A JUST and distinct articulation is the first and most important requisite of good reading or speaking. But, though the teacher can derive efficient aid in improving himself from the works of Rush, Barber, and Russel, this subject has been sadly neglected in the text-books prepared for the pupil. In later reading books, a few faults in pronunciation are pointed out, which really spring from habits of indistinct articulation; and when the pupil is properly exercised in the elementary sounds and their combinations, those faults will disappear. But they can never be removed by lopping a branch here and there, and leaving the tree to take deeper root. Instead of hacking limbs continually, year after year, to little purpose, it would be wiser to extirpate the sapling, root and branch. All the elements of good reading cannot be taught at once, and the secret of success in this, as in other branches, is to teach only one thing at a time. Correct articulation is the basis of this art, and we must look well to the foundation before we can safely rear the superstructure; it is therefore necessary that, in the order of teaching, it should take precedence of the other elements. The pupil should be accustomed to utter the Elementary Sounds and their Combinations, correctly and with vigor, while quite young; because the organs of speech are then more flexible, and having fewer studies, he can better spare time to exercise these organs. While yet ignorant of the philosophy of language, and of the branches that serve as collateral aids in acquiring a knowledge of it, he can attain a distinct articulation, though ill-prepared for the higher efforts of elocution, requisite to express properly the thoughts and emotions of the author. Portions of the "Exercises in Articulation" have been used during the last seven years, as far as they could be, orally and upon the blackboard, in the school under the author's |