ness in all matters of arrangement, of inquest, and of argumentation." "Writing," says Lord Bacon, "makes a correct man;" and the author of the Essay on Criticism asserts, that "True grace in writing comes from art, not chance, As they move easiest who have learnt to dance." "He that begins with the calf," says Mr. Locke, "may carry the ox, but he, that will go at first to take the ox, may so disable himself as not to be able to take the calf after that." On the same principle, it is recommended that an attention to the subject of composition should be commenced early in life. Exercises cf a simple cha, acter prepare the mind for higher exertion; and readiness and facility in the lower departments of writing enable the student to apply himself without reluctance to those mightier efforts by which the progress of intellectual culture is most rapidly advanced. The words of Horace may here be recommended to particular attention: "Sumite materiam qui scribitis æquam "Viribus." Or, in the translation of Mr. Francis: "Examine well, ye writers, weigh with care, What suits your genius, what your strength will bear. AIDS TO ENGLISH COMPOSITION. I. OBJECTS AND THEIR PARTS. The first step to be taken in writing composition is to obtain ideas. The second is the proper expression of the idea when obtained. To acquire ideas, it is necessary to cultivate habits of observation; to use the eyes not only in noticing entire objects, but also their different parts; to consider their qualities, uses, operations, and effects; together with their relation to other things. The mind employed in such processes acquires materials for its own operations, and thoughts and ideas arise as it were spontaneously. For the first exercise in composition, therefore, it is proposed that the student be required to enumerate the parts of some visible object, according to the following Exercises. In a similar manner enumerate the parts of the following objects. OBJECTS, THEIR QUALITIES AND USES. The parts of a visible object having been noticed, the next step to be taken is the enumeration of its qualities and uses according to the following for windows to admit light: For spectacles to assist sight: For useful vessels, such as tumblers, pitchers, decanters, wine-glasses, jelly-glasses, bottles, phials, inkstands, lamps, and lamp-glasses, chandeliers, handles of doors and drawers, vases, cups, and ornaments, such as beads, drops, prisms, Exercises. In the same manner enumerate the qualities of the following objects. Wood. Iron. Lead. Silver. Sugar. Salt. A lamp. TEE Gold. A feather. A pen. Wax. A chair. Ice. III. OBJECTS, THEIR PARTS, QUALITIES. PROPERTIES, USES AND APPENDAGES. The parts, properties, and uses of visible objects having now been considered, the two processes may be united, in the consideration of the parts, qualities, properties, uses and ap pendages, as in the following The use of the pen is to write down what we have seen, read, or thought, and thereby to preserve what would probably soon be lost, if intrusted to the memory alone. What is ɔnce written can be read, or preserved for future information, and thereby we can learn what our friends who are absent, and even those who are dead, have seen or said. Exercises. Enumerate the parts, qualities, and uses of the following objects A book. A tree. A work-box. A saw. A chisel. A plane. A knife. A fin. EFL The contents of a box. A plate. A lamp. A candlestick. A dressing-case. A chair. The foot. The ear. The nose. The mouth. IV. EVENTS. The object of this lesson is to teach the learner to describe, in easy sentences, any circumstances which happen to himself and others. He should be directed to write the incident just as he would relate it to his parents or a young friend; and after he has thus written it, to revise it carefully, to see whether any of his words are mis-spelt, and whether he has used the very words which he intended to use. Example. On returning home yesterday, I saw a man severely beating a horse. I stopped a moment to ascertain the cause; and perceived that one of the wheels of the wagon had sunk deep |