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really know, and to have the power of impart ing knowledge to others, pay close attention to the exercises in composition.

38. To write a composition is not so difficult a thing as scholars imagine. He who can talk, can write; and if he can talk correctly, he can write correctly. Composition is nothing more than conversation put on paper.

39. And yet, I have seen lads who would continue a narrative, or a debating speech for a half hour or more, and still not be able in the same time to put three sentences upon paper. If they had been taught what composition is, and had practised it, writing would be as easy as speaking.

40. There is no mystery in composition; there is nothing in it to torture the mind; it is as easy, and as simple as conversation; and all may learn to write with facility and accuracy. Let there be the right kind of practice, and any one will soon possess the ability.

41. The teacher should require every scholar, who can read and write, to produce a composition every week. He should see that the

proper subjects were selected, and that the scholars had suitable assistance. The compositions may be handed to the teacher, who should examine and correct them.

42. He should so point out the defects, that the scholars would perceive and avoid them. After the compositions have been corrected, the teacher may allot a certain hour, or half day in a week, for reading them publicly to the school.

43. He need not mention the writer's name, nor publicly the corrections he has made.This exercise, if judiciously conducted, may be made pleasing to the teacher, and of the greatest benefit to the scholar.

CHAPTER I.

Of Language, and its Origin.

Q. By what is man chiefly distinguished from the brute creation?

A. By his powers of reasoning, and his great susceptibility of improvement.

Q. On what do these mainly depend?

A. On his being farther distinguished by the use of speech or language.

Q. What do you understand by speech or language?

A. Those sounds of the human voice by which we express our thoughts or ideas.

Q. What is supposed to have been the origin of language?

A. It is supposed by some to be the fruit of human invention; but the more common opinion is, that it was a Divine gift, bestowed upon man at his creation.

Q. Under what aspects may language be considered?

A. It may be viewed either as spoken or written.

Q. What is the chief difference between these two?

A. Language, as spoken, constitutes the immediate signs of our ideas; but, as written, it forms merely the signs of spoken language.

Q. In what does a knowledge of written language consist?

A. In being able to convert it into spoken language, so as to know the ideas which it is intended to represent.

Q. Is written of as high antiquity as spoken language?

A. That can hardly be supposed; as men would no doubt long enjoy the power of speech, before they would attempt giving permanency to their thoughts by means of writing.

CHAPTER II.

Of Alphabetic Writing.

Q. What is the simplest and most effectual means of preserving our thoughts?