ble composition, might, when regarded as an educational agent, be found, in some particulars, perchance in every important particular, utterly inappropriate. With what success the author has executed this part of his design, is left to the judgment of those experienced in the business of education. In that part of the work devoted to a formal course of instruction in the principles of Rhetorical Reading, will be found, it is believed, whatever aid written rules can give, on a subject like this. Much, however, as is universally confessed, must, after all, be left to the voice, the taste, and the manner of the living instructor. In explanatory notes, sometimes at the head of an exercise, sometimes at the bottom of the page, the pupil will often find things explained, which are necessary to be known, in order to a full understanding of what is required to be read. This feature of the work is simply an application, so far as seemed desirable, of the author's well-known plan of explanation, adopted in the other members of the series. If these few prefatory words convey some general idea of the plan and purpose of the work, their object is sufficiently accomplished. A more thorough acquaintance with the nature of its claims to usefulness, as a text-book, can be derived only from a careful examination of its contents, and a fair trial in the schoolroom. That it will bear both these tests, is the cherished hope of the author-a hope founded upon the experience of many years in the actual business of teaching, many interchanges of thought with the most eminent educators, added to a wide, varied, and careful observation in all classes of schools. That it may, therefore, serve to aid in developing and training the powers of the voice,—in securing the charms of a graceful and effective delivery,-in instilling noble and elevated sentiments,-in imparting a taste for those refined pleasures that grow out of a just appreciation of what is sublime and beautiful in thought, chaste and elegant in expression,-that it may, in fine, prove a worthy auxiliary in that sort of educational discipline that makes THE TRUE LADY, is the confident expectation with which it is submitted to those, for whose use it has been especially prepared. New York, April, 1855. 4. The Proper Education for Females..... 7. Common People...... 8. The Seen and the Unseen.. 9. No Concealment.... 12. The True Dignity of Labor. 20. Ruins of Copan and Palenque.. 21. The Old Clock on the Stairs.. 27. The Indian Lament... ... . 28. Uncle Abel and Little Edward. ...... .... 39. A Night in the Deserts of the New World...... 44. True Estimate of Character. 52. The American Forest Girl... 54. The People always Conquer. 55. The End of Female Education.. |