dog, and knows more than many boys of his own age. The other morning he was sitting in a chair at the window, from which he had been accustomed to look at the boys, as they were playing in the street, and, finding that he could not see through the window, on account of the frost on the glass, he applied his warm tongue to one of the panes, and, licking the frost from the glass, attempted to look out; but, the spot which he had cleared being only large enough to admit one eye, he immediately made another, in the same manner, for the other eye, by which he was enabled to enjoy the sight as usual.

Charles. That was very remarkable. But your uncle did not teach him to do that.

Henry. No; that was rather an operation of instinct than of training. But he will carry bundles, stand on two legs, find articles that are hidden, fetch things from the water, and is also well trained for hunting.

Charles. He is a water-dog, then, is he not?

Henry. O yes. He is very fond of the water himself, but will not allow others to go into it. Uncle has a fine situation at Nahant, on the water's edge, and many of his friends go there to bathe. But uncle is obliged to tie up Guido, the dog, when any one wishes to bathe; for the animal will not allow any one to go into the water, if he can prevent it.

Charles. That is very selfish in him. What do yqu sup pose is the reason that he is unwilling that others should enjoy a thing, of which, you say, he is himself so very fond?

Henry. O, he has a good reason for that, as well as for every thing else he does. The reason is, that, one day, my little brother, George, was standing on a kind of wharf, built of stones, near the bathing place, and, happening to stoop over too far to look at some eels, that were gliding through the water below, he lost his balance and fell in. Nobody was near but Guido, and he immediatety jumped into the water, and held George up by the collar till some one came to his assistance. When the servant man, John, came to help George out of the water, Guido had nearly dragged him to the shore; but he found it rather hard work, for George is very fleshy, and, of course, quite heavy; and, although Guido has a good opinion of himself, and doubts not his ability to drag ary one else out of the water, yet he reasons very

soundly, and thinks it much less trouble to prevent people from going into the water, than to drag them out when they have got in.

Charles. No wonder that your uncle values him; he is certainly a very valuable dog.

Henry. O, I could tell you a hundred stories about him, which would surprise you. The other day, George brought home a bundle from Miss Farrar's, for my sister Caroline, which he threw down on a chair in the entry, and then ran off to play. Caroline was in her chamber, and, hearing George come in, spoke to him from her room, not knowing that he had gone out, and requested him to bring it up stairs. Guido was lying on the rug by the fire in the parlor, and, hearing Caroline call for the bundle, immediately jumped up, and, taking the bundle in his mouth, carried it up stairs and dropped it at Caroline's feet.

Charles. I should be very happy to have such a dog, but mother is so afraid of a dog's running mad and biting us children, that she will not allow us to keep one.

Henry. Father says, that there is no fear of a dog's running mad, if he has plenty of water. He says, that the reason that we so seldom hear of a dog's running mad here in Boston is, because water is plenty here, and dogs can always get at it, if they have once found their way to the Frog Pond on the Common.

Charles. What is the name of that disease which people have who are bitten by mad dogs?

Henry. It is called hydrophobia, which is a Greek word, and means "fear of water." Dogs, when they are mad, car not bear the sight of water; they will not drink; and therefore, whenever a dog will drink, you may be sure that he is not mad. When a person is bitten by a mad, or rabid animal, he expresses the same dread of water, and hence the disease is called, as I said, hydrophobia.

Charles. I thank you, Henry, for giving me all this infor mation. I shall tell it all to mother, and as I have often heard her say, that your father is a very sensible man, per haps she may overcome her fear of hydryphobia, and allow brother James and me to keep a dog.

Examples.

In the same manner the learner may write a simple dialogue about the

LLE

A ride.

A bonnet.

A funeral.

A meeting-house, An excursion on the water. A baptism.

A school.

A sled.

A lesson.

A new year's present.

An excursion into the woods.

An evening party. A walk about the city.

A sleigh-ride.

The celebration of an

anniversary. A visit to a printing office

VIII.

WORDS.

Sentences consist of words, and words are used to express thoughts or ideas. The ideas which they express depend on their connexion with other words. Sometimes the same word will signify an action, an object, a quality, or an attribute. Thus, in the sentence "I shall present the book to Charles,” the word "present" signifies an action. If I say "the book will then be a present," the word "present" will signify an object, and is a noun or name. But, if the sentence be, "Charles must be present when the book is given,” the word "present" will signify an attribute, and is an adjective.

The proper use of words, and the correct understanding of them, constitutes one of the greatest difficulties in written, language. It is therefore highly important that every writer be careful to use the proper word to express the idea which he wishes to communicate; and when he is required to use a word, that he endeavor thereby to express no other idea than that, which the word is intended to convey.

The Dictionary is however a very unsafe guide to the proper signification of words, because their meaning is so ma terially affected by the connexion in which they stand.

There are many words, the sound of which is exactly simi lar to the sound of other words that are spelt very differently. In using such words there is little danger of their being mistaken the one for the other, because, as has just been said, we are guided by the connexion in which they stand. But in writing them, many mistakes are frequently made, on account of the want of early attention to the subject of orthography. The object of this lesson is to afford an exercise in the use of such words as are both sounded and spelt alike, and of those which have the same sound and are spelt differently.

The remark may here be made that the change of a single letter, or the removal of the accent, frequently alters the entire character of a word. Thus the words advise and practise, which are verbs, expressing an action, by the change of the letter s to c, become practice, and advice, which are nouns. Again, the words comment', increase', are verbs; while com'ment, in'crease, &c. are nouns. In the use of such words, the student should be accustomed to note the word, in his early exercises, by the proper accent.

Example.

"I saw with some surprise that the Muses, whose business was to cheer and encourage those who were toiling up the ascent, would often sing in the bowers of pleasure, and accompany those who were enticed away at the call of the pas sions. They accompanied them, however, but a little way, and always forsook them when they lost sight of the hill. The tyrants then doubled their chains upon the unhappy captives, and led them away without resistance, and almost with their own assent, to the cells of Ignorance or the mansions of misery."

Johnson, slightly altered.

Example 2d.

"The bold design

Pleased highly those infernal states, and joy
Sparkled in all their eyes; with full assent

They rose."

Milton, Paradise Lost, B. 24.

"He hath deserved worthily of his country; and his ascent (namely, to the highest honors, &c.) is not by such easy degrees as those who have been supple and courteous to the people." Shakspeare, Coriolanus, Act 2d, Scene 2d.

Exercises.

Air, ere, heir; devise, device; altar, alter; trans'fer, transfer'; palate, pallet, palette; fane, fain, feign; bear, bare; bore, boar; council, counsel; coarse, course; ceiling, sealing; drawer, drawer; eminent, imminent; canon, cannon; freeze, frieze, frize; gnaw, nor; hoard, horde; horse, hoarse; heal, heel; haul, hall; key, quay; lead, led; lyre, liar; manor, manner; mien, mean; meat, meet, mete; pare, pear; peas, piece; practice, practise; assent, ascent; rite, right, write, wright; rose, rows; vein, vain; rain, rein, reign; raise, rays, raze; size, sighs; slay, sleigh, slaie; their, there; vale, veil, vail; white, wight; way, weigh, whey; you, yew; fare, fair; deer, dear; hue, hew; high, hie; hole, whole; seen, scene, seine; stile, style; straight, strait; waist, waste; bell, belle; sell, cell; herd, heard; wring, ring; aught, ought; lessen, lesson; profit, prophet; choler, collar; well, (a noun,) well, (an adverb); per'fume, perfume'; subject'; sub'ject; ob'ject, object'; im'port, import; pres'ent, present'; absent', ab'sent; survey, survey; fer'ment, ferment; tor'ment, torment' insult', in'sult; compact, compact'; con'cert, concert'; dis'count, discount'; rec'ord, record'; ex'tract, extract';* bow, beau; berry, bury; bough, bow; capitol, capital; cask, casque; censer, censor; claws, clause; site, cite, sight; clime, climb; complement, compliment; creek, creak; flue, flew; blew, blue; fort, forte; frays, phrase; herd, heard; slight, sleight; wave, waive.

OF PHRASES, CLAUSES, AND SENTENCES.

When names, whether proper, common, or abstract, are joined to their subjects by means of connecting words, but without a verb, the collection is called a phrase. As, The extent of the city; The path up the mountain; The house by the side of the river.

If the connecting word be a verb, the assemblage of words

*There are about sixty words in the English language that are thus dis tinguished by the accent alone. See Rice's Composition, page 21st