SECT. 4. Lord Mansfield's speech in the House of Lords, 1770,

on the bill for preventing the delays of justice, by

claiming the privilege of parliament,

5. An address to young persons,

CHAPTER IX.

Promiscuous Pieces.

SECT. 1. Earthquake at Calabria, in the year 1638,

2. Letter from Pliny to Geminius,

3. Letter from Pliny to Marcellinus, on the death of an

amiable young woman,

4. On Discretion,

5. On the government of our thoughts,

6. On the evils which flow from unrestrained passions,

7. On the proper state of our temper, with respect to one

another,

-

8. Excellence of the Holy Scriptures,

9. Reflections occasioned by a review of the blessings,

pronounced by Christ on his disciples, in his sermon

on the mount,

10. Schemes of life often illusory,

11. The pleasures of virtuous sensibility,

12. On the true honour of man,

152

154

13. The influence of devotion on the happiness of life,

14. The planetary and terrestrial worlds comparatively

considered,

155

157

15. On the power of custom, and the uses to which it

may be applied,

159

16. The pleasures resulting from a proper use of our

faculties,

160

17. Description of candour,

161

18. On the imperfection of that happiness which rests

solely on worldly pleasures,

162

19. What are the real and solid enjoyments of human

life,

20. Scale of beings,

165

167

21. Trust in the care of Providence recommended,

22. Piety and gratitude enliven prosperity,

169

171

23. Virtue, when deeply rooted, is not subject to the in-

fluence of fortune,

24. The speech of Fabricius, a Roman ambassador, to

king Pyrrhus, who attempted to bribe him to his

interests, by the offer of a great sum of money,

25. Character of James I. king of England,

173

174

175

26. Charles V. emperor of Germany, resigns his dominions,

and retires from the world,

176

27. The same subject continued,

179

PART II.

PIECES IN POETRY.

CHAPTER I.

Select Sentences and Paragraphs.

SECT. 1. Short and easy sentences,

2. Verses in which the lines are of different length,

3. Verses containing exclamations, interrogations, and

parentheses,

4. Verses in various forms,

5. Verses in which sound corresponds to signification,

6. Paragraphs of greater length,

CHAPTER II.

Narrative Pieces.

Page

182

184

185

187

189

191

SECT. 1. The bear and the bees,

2. The nightingale and the glow-worm,

3. The trials of virtue,

4. The youth and the philosopher,

193

194

195

196

5. Discourse between Adam and Eve, retiring to rest,

6. Religion and death,

5. A paraphrase on the latter part of the 6th chapter

of Matthew,

205

6. The death of a good man a strong incentive to

virtue,

206

7. Reflections on a future state, from a review of

winter,

8. Adams advice to Eve, to avoid temptation,

9. On procrastination,

10. That philosophy, which stops at secondary causes,

reproved,

11. Indignant sentiments on national prejudices and hatred;

and on slavery,

CHAPTER IV.

Descriptive Pieces.

SECT. 1. The morning in summer,

2. Rural sounds, as well as rural sights, delightful,

Page

SECT. 4. Care of birds for their young,

214

5. Liberty and slavery contrasted,

6. Charity. A paraphrase on the 13th chapter of the

215

9. The pleasure and benefit of an improved and well-

directed imagination,

220

5. Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk,

during his solitary abode in the Island of Juan

Fernandez,

6. Gratitude,

7. A man perishing in the snow; from whence reflec-

tions are raised on the miseries of life,

8. A morning hymn,

CHAPTER VI.

Promiscuous Pieces.

SECT. 1. Ode to Content,

2. The shepherd and the philosopher,

3. The road to happiness open to all men,

4. The goodness of Providence,

231

! 233

235

236

5. The Creator's works attest his greatness,

6. Address to the Deity,

ib.

237

7. The pursuit of happiness often ill directed,

238

8. The fire-side,

240

9. Providence vindicated in the present state of man,

PART I.

PIECES IN PROSE.

CHAPTER I.

SELECT SENTENCES AND PARAGRAPHS.

SECTION I.

DILIGENCE, industry, and proper improvement of time, are material duties of the young.

The acquisition of knowledge is one of the most honourable occupations of youth.

Whatever useful or engaging endowments we possess, virtue is requisite, in order to their shining with proper lustre.

Virtuous youth gradually brings forward accomplished and flourishing manhood.

Sincerity and truth form the basis of every virtue.

Disappointments and distress are often blessings in disguise. Change and alteration form the very essence of the world. True happiness is of a retired nature, and an enemy to pomp and noise.

In order to acquire a capacity for happiness, it must be our first study to rectify inward disorders.

Whatever purifies, fortifies also the heart.

From our eagerness to grasp, we strangle and destroy pleasure.

NOTE.

In the first chapter, the compiler has exhibited sentences in a great variety of construction, and in all the diversity of punctuation. If well prac tised upon, he presumes they will fully prepare the young reader for the various pauses, inflections, and modulations of voice, which the succeeding pieces require. The Author's "English Exercises," under the head of Punctuation, will afford the learner additional scope for improving himself in reading sentences and paragraphs variously constructed.