Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

FROM THE DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA TO THE CLOSE OF
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION;

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

AND THE

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS.

BY MOSES SEVERANCE

CAZENOVIA, N. Y.

PUBLISHED BY S. H. HENRY & Co.

STEREOTYPED BY CON AB4 S COOKE,

1836.

[blocks in formation]

Northern District of New York, wi!:

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the eleventh day of January, m the fift fourth year of the independence of the United States of America, A. D. 183 MOBES SEVERANCE, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title o a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit "The American Manual, or New English Reader: consisting of exercises i Reading and Speaking, both in prose and poetry: selected from the best writera To which are added, a succinct History of the Colonies, from the disco ry o North America to the close of the War of the Revolution; the Declaration o Independence, and the Constitution of the United States. For the use of School By Moses Severance."

In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, entitled. "An ac for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, ans books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therei mentioned;" And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, en titled, an act for encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the tines therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of de signing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."

R. R. LANSING,

Clerk of the District Court of the United States for the Northern District of New York.

PREFACE.

PELSAPS no book that has been introduced into the schools of this mountry, has been more deservedly held in high estimation, than the English Reader. It is admitted to unite the most judicious plan, with an excellent selection of matter; but as it has long been the principal reading book used in our schools, and as an occasional change is believed to have an enlivening and salutary effect upon the learner, I have ventured to offer this compilation to the consideration of those, to whose hands the instruction of youth may have been committed.

Confidence in the favorable reception of this offering arises from the circumstance, that it presents a selection of matter, a portion of which is from American authors. A just pride for the literary reputation of our own country, denies the necessity, or even the propriety, of withholding from our youth, in the books of our primary schools, specimens of our own literature —none of which being found in the English Reader.

Of the character of the pieces best calculated for the improvement of learners in reading, a diversity of opinion may be entertained. Should a want of adaptation to juvenile taste be urged, I would reply only, that I have designed it principally for the first class of learners in our common schools, whose taste it is hoped it may have a tendency to mature. In making the selections, an avoidance of what is ludicrous, and a rejection of what is unchaste, immoral, or offensive to the eye or ear of the most refined taste, have been strictly observed.

With a view of adding essentially to the value of this volume, not only in the hands of the learner, but in the hands of the community, I have added a concise history of our country at a most interesting period, the Declaration of Independence-a document which is justly esteemed our nation's boast,-and the Constitution of the United States; with all which Americans, neither in youth nor mature age can be too familjar. Should the third part of this book, however, in which these are embraced, be thought not to afford profitable lessons for the exercise of young and inexperienced readers, it may be reserv ed for them, with undiminished value, when in a greater state of ad

vancement.

Several modern writers on the subject of school education, whose opinions are entitled to much regard, have expressed their belief that no rules for the management of the voice in reading, can be of any value. This opinion, so far as it relates to the younger classes of learners, is undoubtedly correct: but as many of the first principles of elocution can be clearly illustrated, and applied to practical use by a little effort on the part of the more advanced learner, it appears to me that books of this kind, designed for the benefit of schools, must be

24X813

« НазадПродовжити »