or passages from good authors, which show that others think as you do.

VII. The CONCLUSION: where you sum up the whole, and show the practical use of the subject by some pertinent observations.

EXAMPLE.

Virtue is its own Reward.

I. Virtue consists in doing our duty to God and our neighbor, in oppo sition to all temptations to the contrary. Such conduct is so consonant te the light of reason, and so agreeable to our moral sentiments, and produces so much peace of mind, that it may be said to carry its reward along with it, even if unattended by that recompense which it generally meets in the world.

II. The reason of this seems to lie in the very nature of things. The all-wise and benevolent Author of nature has so framed the soul of man, that he can not but approve of virtue; and has annexed to the practice of it an inward satisfaction, that mankind may be encouraged to become vir

tuous.

III. If it were not so, if virtue were accompanied with no self-satisfac tion, we should not only be discouraged from practicing it, but should be tempted to think that there was something very wrong in the laws and the administration of Providence.

IV. But the reward of virtue is not always confined to this internal peace and happiness. As, in the works of nature and art, whatever is really beautiful is generally useful, so, in the moral world, whatever is truly virtuous is, at the same time, so beneficial to society, that it seldom goes without some external recompense.

V. How has the approbation of all future ages rewarded the virtue of Scipio! That young warrior had taken a beautiful captive, with whose charms he was greatly enamored; but, finding that she was betrothed to a young nobleman of her own country, he, without hesitation, generously delivered her up to him. This one action of the noble Roman has, more than all his conquests, shed an imperishable lustre around his character. VI. Nor has the approbation of mankind been limited to the virtuous actions of individuals. The loveliness of virtue generally has been the constant topic of all moralists, ancient and modern. Plato remarks, that if virtue were to assume a human form, it would command the admiration of the whole world. A late writer has said, "In every region, every clime, the homage paid to virtue is the same. In no one sentiment were ever

mankind more generally agreed."

VII. If, therefore, virtue is in itself so lovely-if it generally commands the approbation of mankind-if it is accompanied with inward peace and satisfaction-surely it may be said to be its own reward; for, though it must be acknowledged that it is frequently attended with crosses and mis fortunes in this life, and that there is something of self-denial in the very idea of it, yet, in the words of the poet, is

"The broadest mirth unfeeling folly wears,
Less pleasing far than virtue's very tears "

6. Custom is second nature.

7. Honesty is the best policy.*

LIST OF SUBJECTS FOR ESSAYS

1 History and character of Abraham. 2. History and character of Joseph.

3 History and character of Moses, &c. 4 Description of Athens.

5. Description of London.

6. Description of Paris, &c.

7. Biography of Pompey.

8 Biography of Columbus.

9 Biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, &c. 10. History of a hat.

1. History of a pin.

.2. History of a shilling, &c.

13. Tour through Great Britain.

14. Tour through France.

15. Tour through Spain, &c.

16. Journal of a voyage round the worl

17. Different forms of government

18. Different forms of religion.

HINTS TO WRITERS FOR NEWSPAPERS.

Writing for newspapers is now so universal an occupation, that it seems important to furnish some specific hints to correspondents; and as no persons are more competent to furnish such as are appropriate than editors of newspapers, the following are selected from the New-York Tribune, Feb. 10, 1845:

"Do oblige us by omitting all such flourishes as 'your interesting and valuable paper,' 'your able and patriotic course,' &c. Our subscribers and the public know all about that sort of thing, and we also have a tolerable opinion of our own merits. If you think by this to improve your chances of insertion, you mistake ruinously.

"When you have written what you have to say, run it over and see if there are not some sentences that could be spared without serious injury. If there are, out with them! We are often compelled to decline good articles because we cannot make room for them. A half column has ten chances where two columns have one and three columns n,ae.

"Try to disparage as little as possible, and where you must condemn, let your facts be stronger than your words.

"When you assail any cause or person, always give us your real name, which we shall give up to whoever has a right to demand it. He is a sneak and a coward who could ask us to bear the responsibility of his attacks on others.

"Don't write on both sides of a sheet.

"If you send us word that you have written in great haste, and have no time to correct,' we shall put your manuscript quietly into the fire. Why should you throw on us the task of correcting your scrawl, when we are obliged to slight our own work daily for want of time?

"Give us facts, incidents, occurrences, at the earliest moment, and we shall be grateful, though you wrote with a pudding-stick; but if you attempt logic or sentiment, do it up right, instead of leaning on us."

*The exercises on these subjects may also be written in the form of fio titious narratives.

PART V.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER I.

OF DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.

Q. Is language much subject to change?

A. As much so as perhaps any thing connected with human affairs.

Q. On what do these changes depend?

A. Partly upon the political changes occasioned by war and conquest, and partly upon the progress of knowledge and of civilization.

Q. Does each language, then, stand separate and distinct from every other?

A. Far from it; for many of them, being closely allied to each other, require them to be viewed in the light of families or kindred.

Q. What produces this close connection or alliance?

A. The circumstance of their being either sprung from a common origin, or subjected to the operation of similar political changes.

Q. How would you illustrate this?

A. By a reference to the languages of France, Spain, and Italy, among which there is an intimate connection, as having all sprung from the Latin.

Q. How come they to be descended from the Latin?

A. Because the Romans, who spoke the Latin language, having long had full and entire possession of these countries, had succeeded in establishing in them their own language.*

Through the influence of the Romish priesthood, the language of ancient Rome was preserved in some degree of purity. As D'Israeli remarks, "The primitive fathers, the later schoolmen, the monkish chroniclers, all alike composed in Latin: all legal instruments, even marriage contracts, were drawn in Latin: and even the language of Christian prayer was that of abolished paganism."

In the rage for the classical literature of Greece and Rome in the fif teenth century, the vernacular tongues of Europe were neglected by scholars. The ancients were copied and imitated-original genius was cramped.

Q. And how came this language to be changed?

A. By these countries having, in the course of time, been overrun by rude and barbarous nations from the North of Europe; and thus their languages gradually lost their pure Latin character in consequence of being blended with those of the invaders, though they retained so much of their primitive distinction as to mark their Latin origin.

Q. Into how many classes, therefore, may languages be divided? A. Two; such as are primitive and original, and such as are borrowed or derived from some other.

Q. But if all languages, as we have reason to believe, have de scended from one origin, must there not be only one primitive language?

A. Strictly speaking, there must; but as we are ignorant of what that original language was, we are accustomed to consider every language as original which does not seem to have any close affinity with any other with which we are acquainted.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE PRIMITIVE LANGUAGES OF EUROPE.

Q. From how many primitives are the languages of Europe supposed to be derived?

A. Chiefly from four: the Greek, the Gothic or Teutonic, the Celtic, and the Sclavonic.

Q. Do any of these, as spoken languages, still retain their orig inal form?

Dante and Boccacio, in the fourteenth century, are regarded as the pa"ents of Italian literature, being the first who wrote in that language any work of taste. Still great effort was made by many to discourage Italian literature, in favor of the Latin tongue.

Some French, and Portuguese, and British scholars soon attempted to give shape, and beauty, and reputation to their own vernacular tongues. It was not until the event of the Reformation under Luther that the prejadice of writing in Latin was first checked in Germany, France, and England. That event awakened benevolence toward the common people, and the production of works in the native tongue, that the people might read them. The versions of the Scriptures into them served more than any other circumstance to give foundation and beauty to the various languages of modern Europe. The people, as such, thus became interested in the study and improvement of their own languages. Various writers, among others Lord Bacon, composed some works in I atin, and others in the ver uscular.

A. The Celtic and the Sclavonic do so to a very great degree, but the others have become greatly changed.

Q. And where does the Sclavonic continue to be a spoken language?

A. Chiefly in Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, and Rus

sia.

Q. In what places does the Celtic still prevail?

A. In Wales, the Highlands of Scotland, Brittany in France, and some districts of Ireland.

Q. What are the principal languages derived from the Greek? A. The modern Greek, spoken in Greece, and some of the islands of the Archipelago, as well as the dif ferent languages of which Latin is the basis, this latter tongue being itself a derivative from the Greek. Q. And what are these languages?

A. Most of those spoken in the South of Europe including the French, the Italian, the Spanish, and the Portuguese.

Q. What are the languages founded chiefly on the Gothic › Teutonic?

A. The German, the Dutch, the Danish, the Swe dish, and the English.

Q. Do the languages of different countries always retain thei distinctive characters ?

A. They do so to a certain extent, though those of adjoining tribes and nations always run less or more into each other.

CHAPTER II.

OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Q. What renders English a language of so much importance? A. The circumstances of its being spoken by so great a multitude of the human race at the present day; of its being so copious, simple, and expressive; and of its containing so rich, so varied, and so refined a literature.

Q. Has it always possessed these characteristics?

A. Far from it; for, till within three hundred years or so, it was rude and irregular in its structure.