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RECOMMENDATIONS.

From MRS. SIGOURNEY.

The "YOUNG LADY'S READER," a varied, and tasteful selection of prose and poetry, arranged on rhetorical principles,—is admirably calculated to supply a deficiency which has long been felt to exist, in the higher departments of education.

Mrs. Tuthill, by making her own extensive acquaintance with English literature, available to the good of others, merits the thanks of both teacher and scholar. L. H. S.

From J. P. BRACE, ESQ., Principal of the Hartford Female Seminary. I have been highly gratified by an examination of the "YOUNG LADY'S READER," which I have just finished. If I mistake not, the arrangement and the plan are entirely unlike any of the reading books now in use, will, certainly, be well calculated for the object in view,-to teach and illustrate rhetoric, and the principles of style, by examples.

and

The selection has been made with judgment and taste, and must be serviceable in strengthening the judgment, and improving the taste of the reader.. J. P. BRACE

· Hartford, Feb 2, 1829.

THE

YOUNG LADY'S READER;

ARRANGED FOR

EXAMPLES IN RHETORIC:

FOR THE

HIGHER CLASSES IN SEMINARIES.

BY MRS. L. C. TUTHILL.

NEW HAVEN:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY

S. BABCOCK.

THE NEW YORK!
PUBLIC LIBRARY:

159937

ACTOR, LENOX AMB TALDEN FOUNDATIONS. 1899.

ENTERED,

ACCORDING TO THE ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1839, BY

SIDNEY BABCOCK,

IN THE OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT.

INTRODUCTION.

A fine reader may contribute as much pleasure to the domestic circle, during the course of life, as a skillful performer on the harp or pianoforte. The instrument for reading is ever at hand, and seldom out of tune. Every body has an ear for it. It amuses childhood, instructs youth, soothes manhood, and cheers old age.

When a young lady has acquired this accomplishment, why should she not entertain a circle of friends by reading, as readily as she would sing or play for them? Custom sanctions the one, why should it not the other? The following rules are universally acknowledged to be requisite to good reading, namely:

Full and distinct enunciation of syllables, and correct and elegant pronunciation.

The voice should be pitched in the natural key; raised so loud as to be heard without effort, and not so loud as to fatigue the auditor and reader. Reading should not be so rapid as to be unintelligible, nor so deliberate as to be wearisome.

A monotonous tone,-"the drone-pipe of the humble-bee,"-should be avoided.

A graceful attitude and pleasant expression of countenance, should not be considered beneath the reader's notice.

Above all, it is requisite to read intelligently—to enter into the meaning and spirit of the author. Without this, all other rules are in vain. Much assistance about the modulation of the voice, may be given by teachers of elocution, but nature and good taste, are the best teachers of emphasis and expression.

The arrangement of the pieces contained in this book, under the various divisions made by Rhetoricians, may facilitate the intelligent reading of them; but it has, also, another important object in view.

The examples given in class-books for Rhetoric are few, and mostly from the older writers. Instructors have long felt the need of further examples and apposite illustrations, for their pupils.

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