The fourth progressive reader

The selections for the FOURTH PROGRESSIVE READER have been made with great care, and, if the judgment of some of our most accomplished teachers may be trusted, with becoming dis...

A _nice_ house, with An _ice_ house. False _sights_, ” False _heights_. The darkest _hour_, ” The darkest _tower_. It strikes with an _awe_, ” It strikes with a _naw_. My heart...

“In such cases as the preceding, it is obvious that there can be no difficulty with regard to EMPHASIS; because the words which are opposed to each other in the sentence are exp...

“The occurrence of several successive unaccented syllables, lessening the due number of accents in any line, must be balanced by a short rest to supply the place of the deficien...

9. “Yes, do, mother, do tell me something that will comfort me too; for, oh, how sad, how stricken I feel!” His large eyes looked haggard and wild. The little boy on the bench m...

1. Every one must recollect the tragical[89] story of young Emmet, the Irish patriot; it was too touching to be soon forgotten. His fate made a deep impression on public sympath...

1. Whatever be thy lot on earth, Thy mission[136] here below, Though Fame may wreathe[137] her laurels[138] fair, Around your youthful brow,— If you would rise from earthly thin...

11. “I hope I always was. I meant to be, God knows,” said the poor schoolmaster. “Who is that?” said the boy, seeing Nell. “I am afraid to kiss her, lest I should make her ill....

2. Vain was the man, and false as vain, Who said: “Were he ordained[265] to run His long career[266] of life again, He _would do_ all that he _had done_.” Ah! ’tis not thus the...

2. There live, alas! of heaven-directed mien, Of cultured soul, and sapient[344] eye serene, Who hail thee, Man! the pilgrim of a day, Spouse of the worm, and brother of the cla...

1. Stability[377] of character is, in all pursuits, the surest foundation of success. It is a common error of the indolent[378] and the imprudent to attribute the success of oth...

7. If thou art a child, and hast ever added a sorrow to the soul, or a furrow to the silvered brow of an affectionate parent; if thou art a husband, and hast ever caused the fon...

2. They pass mournfully by us, and they return no more. Two centuries ago, and the smoke of their wigwams,[451] and the fires of their councils rose in every valley, from the Hu...

6. At the spot where this meeting took place, he erected a pillar, surmounted by a cross, to consecrate forever the remembrance of that which he had seen hovering over the head...

13 “Son,” said the hermit, “let the errors and follies, the dangers and escapes of this day, sink deep into thy heart. Remember, my son, that human life is the journey of a day....

Richard Dalton Williams was born in Ireland. He had been for several years previous to his death, Professor of Belles Letters in the Catholic College, Mobile. His poems all bear...

Sydney Smith was born in 1791, and died in 1845. His miscellaneous writings, comprising essays, reviews, and occasional pieces, are characterized by a happy combination of stron...

6. Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who could paint that gaze! They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze: They might have chained him, as before t...

7. Let the tyrant cajole and fondle, it avails not; let the tyrant rail and threaten, it is still as vain; let wife entreat, let children hang upon his neck, let friends beseech...

4. But where’s the man who counsel can bestow, Still pleased to teach, and yet not proud to know; Unbiassed, or by favor, or by spite; Not dully prepossessed, nor blindly right;...