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plication of principles and rules, appealing at every step to his intelligence, and thus affording him that development of mind of which the rational study of grammar is so effective an instrument.

The system of diagrams employed in this work is designed to present clearly and forcibly, through the eye, the component parts of the sentence and their relations to each other, every relation being distinctly indicated by a special sign. This system has the advantage of complete perspicuity, so that the pupil, easily recognizing the relations indicated, may read the sentence as readily from the diagram as in its ordinary form. Hence, it will be found devoid of that complexity which, in most cases, has so greatly detracted from the value of this method of illustration, the diagram being often made more difficult to understand than the sentence which it is intended to explain. This method of graphically presenting the analysis of sentences, as soon as it has become familiar to the pupil, invariably becomes extremely fascinating to him, and serves to impress upon his mind those distinctions without a knowledge of which language can never be to the mind a definite means of expression, nor can ever be used with entire accuracy and clearness.

In the principles, rules, and definitions, the system of Goold Brown has been followed, with a very slight departure, for the sake of simplicity; and it is believed that, by this publication, that author's timehonored work may be rendered more valuable and more satisfactory to teachers and the general public.

NEW YORK, September 1, 1889.

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LESSON I.
LANGUAGE.

For what purpose do people speak or write?

People speak or write to express their thoughts or feelings.

What do they use in speaking and writing?

They use words.

What is this mode of expressing thoughts or feelings called ? It is called language.

The word language is derived from the Latin lingua, the tongue.

What, then, is language?

Language is the expression of thought in speaking or writing.

Do all people use the same language?

No; people living in different countries generally use different languages.

Can you give some examples?

What language do we use in this country?

We use the English language.

How many ways of using language are there?

There are two ways of using language, -by speaking and by writing.

How many kinds of language, then, are there?

There are two kinds, -spoken language, or speech, and written language.

What are the simplest elements of language?

In spoken language, sounds; and in written language, letters representing those sounds.

To know how to use a language correctly, we must study its grammar.

English Grammar is the art of speaking and writing the English language correctly.

LESSON II.

LETTERS.

The teacher begins this lesson by writing on the blackboard several letters,

and then proceeds :

What are these marks, or characters ?

They are letters.

What sounds do these letters denote?

[The pupils are to give the phonic elements.]

What are the names of these letters?

What must be learned in regard to each letter?

The form of the letter, its name, and the sound which it represents.

What is a letter?

A letter is a character used in printing or writing to represent a sound of the human voice.

The sounds of letters are sometimes called their powers. The alphabet contains the names or forms of all the letters arranged in a certain order.

The letters used in English have two different forms. Thus :

ABCDE

b,

F, etc.
f, etc.

The larger letters are called CAPITALS; the others, small letters.

Letters of this form are called Roman letters, because they were anciently used by the Romans.

There are, also, Italic letters, so called because they are the same as those used in the Italian language.

The form used in writing is called script. Thus :

John is a good boy.

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