vation and signification of words, but an acquaintance with the passions of the human heart, and with the different tones, in which these should be expressed. It requires, also, a quick conception, to seize upon the meaning of a passage, so that, for the moment, the author's spirit shall seem to be transferred to the breast of the reader. All this is necessary, in order to read well; is it, therefore, wonderful, that there are so few good readers? How common is it, to hear a pathetic passage read with the coldness of indifference, a lively description without animation, or an argumentative discourse without either force or emphasis. Rules may do something, example may do much ; but after all, good reading must be the effect of feeling, taste, and information. You can understand, that, important as this attainment is, it is dependent on almost every other branch of education. By the general improvement only of your minds, therefore, can you be expected to arrive at that perfection in this accomplishment, which a welleducated woman ought to exhibit. It is not unusual for parents, on placing their daughters at school, to express the wish that they may become good readers, before they proceed to other branches of education. But reason and experience pronounce it impossible, for an ignorant person to read well; such a one may acquire the habit, of calling words correctly, of minding the stops and marks, and observing all the artificial rules ;— but the soul of reading will be wanting. I would rather hear a person read, who did not even know that a comina is a pause of one syllable, and a semicolon of two, and yet could comprehend an author's meaning, and apply the rules which Nature suggests, than one who had acquired a servile habit of applying arbitrary rules, without taste, or feeling. Not that I would have you disregard rules; but you should remember, that, as they have been suggested by Nature, the sense of a passage, and not its punctuation, should guide your reading. Nothing is more common than typographical errors, by which, owing to the misplacing of a comma, or other pause, the sense of a sentence is destroyed. You must, then, learn to judge for yourselves, where the sense requires a pause; and as to emphasis and intonations, they must be left to your own judgement. A knowledge of languages, particularly of the Latin and French, is of great use, in assisting a reader, in the pronunciation of words derived from foreign sources. Some ladies appear to think it unfeminine, to read or speak in an audible manner, affecting a low and lisping tone, probably from the idea that this is an indication of a gentle and timid spirit; but every person of taste and good sense must feel, that such notions of female delicacy are false and ridiculous. The time has gone by, when it was necessary for a female to seem ignorant or childish, in order to be interesting. Women are now looked upon as rational beings, endowed with faculties capable of improvement, and of elevating her to a high rank in the scale of intelligence. Even beauty has learned, that, connected with ignorance and folly, she must give precedence to the plainest features, irradiated with intelligence and good sense. I speak not now of a ball, or a fashionable party, where external appearance forms the chief attraction, but of the great theatre of human life, where character developes itself, and where all find their own proper level; intellect and morals being the graduating scale. I shall dismiss this subject, by a quotation from an author,* who has done much for education, and has ever shown himself peculiarly interested in the improvement of our sex. "Elocution is not sufficiently attended to, in the course of female education. I know, great improvements have been made, of late, in this respect, but much yet remains to be done. It is not enough, that a young lady should be taught to read with a correct pronunciation and emphasis, and without any palpable fault ;-she should be taught to enter into the feelings of the author ; and to make the hearers feel as if he was really addressing them. One very striking fault, in the reading of many persons, is, that they do not adapt their manner to the peculiar character of the composition, but always read in one uniform style. Perhaps there are some reasons, why * Gallaudet. young ladies are in danger of doing this more than the other sex; or rather, why it is more difficult, in their case, to remedy this defect. Their reading is confined to the fireside, and to the domestic circle; and there seems to be, therefore, less of inducement for them to aim at the life, and variety, and force, so essential in public speaking. Still, these, and every other good quality of the most eloquent delivery, ought to hold a high rank among female accomplishments. I cannot understand, why it should be thought, as it sometimes is, a departure from female delicacy, to read in a promiscuous, social circle, if called upon to do so, from any peculiar circumstances; and to read, too, as well as Garrick himself would have done, if the young lady possessed the power of doing it. Why may she not do this, with as much genuine modesty, and with as much desire to oblige her. friends, and with as little ostentation, as to sit down, in the same circle, to the piano, and play and sing in the style of the first masters? If to do the former is mak→ ing too much of a display of her talents, why should not the latter be so? Nothing but some strange freaks of fashion have made the difference. But, at any rate, amid her family and friends, to how many otherwise tedious or useless hours of life, may a female impart both delight and improvement, by the charm of reading well. If a wife, she can solace many a season of her husband's weariness or sickness. If a mother, what an advantage to her offspring, to have before them, as they are grow ing up, a living model, in the person of one whom they are led to reverence and love, of an accomplishment which our schools, and academies, and colleges, find it so difficult to impart. This latter consideration, in my view, has immense weight; for our habits of pronunciation, speaking, and reading, are first formed in childhood, and in the domestic circle; and, being once formed, it is a task of extreme difficulty to alter them." It has been observed, that a person may have genius, without being a good reader; but no one can be a good reader, without genius. When you find how many are the requisites for this accomplishment, you will learn not to esteem it lightly, or as a thing which may be gained in childhood; but one, towards whose perfection all the different branches of knowledge tend. Music is a refined and intellectual enjoyment; but the occasions for it, in ordinary life, are far less frequent than for reading aloud. In all the pursuits of youth, this should ever be the main object of inquiry: What attainments will render me most useful and agreeable to others, and tend most to my own elevation and happiness? CHAPTER XII. GRAMMAR. It is not until after a child has learned to use nouns, verbs, prepositions, and other parts of speech, that he knows them as such :-in other words, he becomes familiar with language, before he learns its philosophy. So it is with much of our knowledge; we are conversant with the subjects, before we understand their natures. The mechanic becomes familiar with the use of the pulley, wedge, and inclined plane, and is able to perform various operations by their aid, without knowing any thing of mechanical philosophy. We exercise our various mental faculties, we reason, remember, and compare, long before we are able to comprehend the nature of these operations. Language was not formed according to the rules of grammar, but grammar was made to conform itself to those forms of language, which had previously been established. A child learns to speak, without knowing any thing of the rules of grammar; and people, ignorant of the principles and rules of language, are often able to write, with tolerable accuracy. Such persons, however, feel their own deficiency in this respect; they know that they are continually liable to errors. A mariner might chance to steer his bark aright, without a compass; but he would feel much more secure, if provided with the means of ascertaining the correctness of his course. Man, perceiving effects, is led to trace them to their causes, though, in this process, he often proceeds by slow degrees. God views the first, as first; that is, causes, and the effects following them. Human nature must be satisfied to advance from the more imperfect and complex, to the more perfect and simple; for, in general, objects are first familiar to us as complex. A child can readily understand this proposition, the sun shines; but it requires study and reflection, to be able to analyze it into an article, a noun, and a verb; to separate these again into syllables, the syllables into letters, and then to explain the difference in the sounds and powers of these letters. The lowest human beings, in the scale of knowledge, (with the exception of the deaf and dumb,) have some kind of spoken language. Many savage tribes know nothing of written language. In our country, there are, however, few so ignorant, as not to know how to read and write; but there are many, who know nothing of grammar, or those rules and principles on which their own language is founded; and there are still fewer, who comprehend those broad and general principles of grammar, which are common to all languages, and make up the science of universal grammar. No person can be considered as having a liberal education, who has not studied at least one language, besides his own; and yet there are pedantic grammarians, who, with no other knowledge, than that gained from the study of the English language, assume to understand the principles on which it is founded, and to be able to give rules for every doubtful case in parsing. More knowledge of the intricacies of language would teach such, that the English, being composed of a mixture of other languages, on principles common to them, and yet, in many cases, essentially varying from established principles, necessarily presents many irregularities; instead, therefore, of attempting to prove all cases to be conformable to rules, we must often cut the gordian knot, by admitting a case to be anomalous, or sanctioned only by custom. The study of languages, then, besides affording an excellent discipline for the mind, and presenting new and |