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SARGENT'S

Standard Second Reader.

PART II.

LESSONS IN READING.

Figures over a lesson, or attached to words in it, refer to the corresponding numbers of Exercises in Part I. A class should be drilled in the Exercises thus singled out, before reading the lesson. Letters italicized in a word indicate a common fault in articulation. The letters EI refer to the Index.

I. — ALFRED AND HIS MOTHER.*

1. TEN hun'dred years ago there lived in England a boy, named Al'fred. His fa'ther was a king. The son of a king or of a queen is called a prince. Alfred was then a prince.

* The hyphen, the marks of accent, punctuation, quantity, and quotation, should be explained as they occur in these lessons. (See pages 25, 26.) The following sentences may illustrate the pauses to be made at the several punctu

2. He had a moth'er who was a good wom'an and fond of read'ing. One day she had in her hands a book which had large let'ters in it, paint'ed and gild'ed. Alfred and his broth'ers wished to look at the book.

3. The art of print'ing books was not known till long after that time. All books were then written with a pen; so that they were quite rare and costly. 4. Alfred and his broth'ers liked the book much; and their moth'er said, "I will give it to him who shall first learn to read in it." There is a pict'ure given of Alfred and his moth'er look'ing at the book.

5. Alfred went that same day to a man who could teach him to read; and, so well did he give his mind to study, that he soon learned to read, and so won the book. He was proud of it all his life.

6. When he was twenty-three years old he be-came King of England. He was so wise, and did so much good, that he has ev'er since been called " Alfred the Great."

7. His good deeds are felt even at our own day, and in our own land. All his great'ness and good' ness may be traced back to the time when he saw the

ation marks: "John, does it rain?" "Henry runs; Ann and Mary walk.” "Two boys fell down: they fell on the ice." "The day is fair." "Who calls?" "O, look!"

The pupil should have sufficient acquaintance with numbers to be able to turn to any one of the Exercises in Part I. The simultaneous enunciation of Exercises by several pupils may be practised when it is an object to save time. The teacher must in this case have a quick ear to detect false enunciations. Pieces appropriate for simultaneous reading will be found scattered through this volume. Before reading Lesson I., a class should be made familiar with the following Exercises in Part I.: 1, 7, 15, 16, 26, 36, 42, 43, 233, 302, 303, 305, 310, 313, 317. The exercises on silent letters (page 28) are important.

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book in his moth'er's hand, and made up his mind to learn to read.

8. The aids for teach'ing you to read are much great'er than those which Alfred had, though he was a prince. You may not be-come, as he did, a king; nor should I wish you to, even if you had the power: but you may be-come, like him, a good man; which is better than be'ing a king.

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1. An old man sat at the door of his house. sun had set; the air was warm and mild. The wind was calm, and the clouds in the west were red, and gold, and green, and blue.

2. The old man sat with his face to the west, but he did not see the sky: it was fair, but he could not see it, for he was blind.

3. Near the house-door stood a large tree, and a bird sat on a bough of the tree, and sang sweet notes, as if to please the blind old man.

4. And, though the old man was blind, his face did not look sad; though his sight was gone, much was still left to him that was as good as sight.

5. First and best of all, he was a good man. And then he had a good son. The blind man had been good and kind to this son, when the son was a child.

6. Now that the child was grown a man, it was the son's turn to be good and kind to the good old man in his age, and to take care of him.

7. This son gave him the best room and the best bed in the house; neat warm clothes, and a soft Ichair to sit in.

8. He read to him, he led him out to walk, and he did all he could to help and cheer the blind old man; and the old man spoke thus to his friends when they came to see him :

9. "It is true that I have lost my sight, and that I cannot see the face of my dear son, nor the bright sky, nor the fair stars, nor the soft moon, nor the green trees.

10. "But I can hear well, and sleep well, and I can think; but, more than all this, I have a good son, who takes care of me, who does not let me want, and who is kind to me, and loves me."

III. — A LITTLE GIRL'S LETTER.

1. I WILL show you a little girl's letter to her friend at school. The name of the little girl is Ruth. She wrote the letter from a house near the sea-side, where she will stay for a short time with her aunt.

2. Here is the letter: "I hope you are quite well. We are all quite well. There is a large, white cat here; its eyes are red, or, I should say, pink. It wears a black band round its throat, with a small bell tied to it.

3. "When the cat walks, the bell rings. I like to hear the sound of this bell. We all know where the cat is; for as soon as she moves, the bell rings.

4. "Now, you will like to hear why the cat wears

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the bell. She goes into the woods near the house, where there are birds; the birds can hear the bell, and can take care the cat does not cătch them.

5. "There is a tame dove here, too, which comes out of its cage, and flies through the rooms. No doubt, you think the cat would catch the dove? No, they are good friends; such good friends, that the dove will sit on the cat's head, and the cat does not hurt it.

6. "When I go home I shall try to tame our bird and cat, that they may be as good friends as the white cat and the dove here are. And now good-by till I write to you again."

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(1, 6, 7, 124-8, 234, 250, 260, 278, 319.)

1. ROSE had a bird in a cage: it was so tame it would fly out of doors and come back to the cage ; for there it was born. Rose would not have liked to keep the bird in the cage a-gainst its will.

2. One day she took the cage down from the nail on which it hung, and said: "Now, my dear bird, I must clean your house, and make all nice and neat. Your cage is your house, a house with but one room in it.

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3. "The walls of your are not built of brick or and let in light and air. the walls, and I can see and feed you through them.

house are not thick; they stone: they are of wire, You can see me through

4. "Now, first, I must sweep out the floor of your

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