Each Reading Lesson is preceded by a Spelling Lesson suitable for children about to offer themselves for examination in the Fourth Standard. THE FOURTH MANCHESTER READER. SOME REMARKS ON READING, BY EDWARD GIBBON. Author of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," &c. Born April 27, 1737; Died January 16, 1794. ance sub-ser-vi-ent....subordinate con-tracts...lessens, draws in ped'-ant.....one who is ostenta-pe-ru'-sal.. nou'-rish-ment ..food, susten phil-os-o-pher......one who is chan'-nel versed in any science sac'-ri-fice ..track, direction to give up ..act of reading tious of learning un-con-nect'-ed....having no e-ru-di-tion ...knowledge, relation to learning re-search'-es...........studies, competent se-ver-est.... ...strictest in-ca'-pa-ble........unable, not inquiries de-tached'. ..unconnected, reg-i-men...system, prescribed in-con'-stan-cy.... ..fickleness | e-van-gel'-i-cal ...........pertaining par-cels...small quantities, lots to the Gospel ex-clu'-sive..................... ..restricted pre'-cept..order, rule, mandate Reading is the nourishment of the mind, for by reading we know our Creator, his works, ourselves chiefly, and our fellow-creatures. But this nourishment is easily converted into poison. Salmasius had read as much as Grotius, perhaps more, but their different modes of reading made the one an enlightened philosopher, and the other, to speak plainly, a pedant, puffed up with a useless erudition. Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which all our studies may point. Through neglect of this rule, gross ignorance often disgraces great readers; who, by skipping hastily and irregularly from one subject to another, render themselves incapable of combining their ideas. So many detached parcels of knowledge cannot form a whole. This inconstancy weakens the energies of the mind, creates in it a dislike to application, and even robs it of the advantages of natural good sense. Yet let us avoid the contrary extreme, and respect method without rendering ourselves its slaves. While we propose an end in our reading, let not this end be too remote; and when once we have attained it, let our attention be directed to a different subject. Inconstancy weakens the understanding; a long and exclusive application to a single object hardens and contracts it. Our ideas no longer change easily into a different channel, and the course of reading to which we have too long accustomed ourselves is the only one that we can pursue with pleasure. We ought, besides, to be careful not to make the order of our thoughts, subservient to that of our subjects; this would be to sacrifice the principal to the accessory. The use of our reading is to aid us in thinking. The perusal of a particular work gives birth, perhaps, to ideas unconnected with the subject of which it treats. I wish to pursue these ideas; they withdraw me from my proposed plan of reading, and throw me into a new track, and from thence, perhaps, into a second and third. At length I begin to perceive whither my researches tend. Their result, perhaps, may be profitable; it is worth while to try; whereas had I followed the high road, I should not have been able at the end of my long journey, to retrace the progress of my thoughts. This plan of reading is not applicable to our early studies, since the severest method is scarcely sufficient to make us conceive objects altogether new. Neither can it be adopted by those who read in order to write, and who ought to dwell on their subject till they have sounded its depths. These reflections, however, I do not absolutely warrant. On the supposition that they are just, they may be so, perhaps, for myself only. The constitution of minds differs like that of bodies, the same regimen will not suit all. Each individual ought to study his own. To read with attention, exactly to define the expressions of our author, never to admit a conclusion without comprehending its reason, often to pause, reflect, and interrogate ourselves, these are so many advices which it is easy to give but difficult to follow. The same may be said of that almost evangelical maxim of forgetting friends, country, and religion, of giving merit its due praise, and embracing truth wherever it is to be found. But what ought we to read? Each individual must answer this question for himself, agreeably to the object of his studies. The only general precept that I would venture to give is that of Pliny, "to read much, rather than many things," to make a careful selection of the best works, and to render them familiar to us by attentive and repeated perusals. **Refer to a Biographical Dictionary for some accounts of Gibbon, Salmasius, Grotius, and Pliny, and enter an abstract of each in a note book. Exercises in Word Building— I. MODEL I.-The Latin substantive ÆVUM signifies in one sense, eternity, and in another, an age or life time. From this word with the Latin prefix coN or co, together, the Latin adjective LONGUS, long, and the Latin adjective PRIMUS, first we get the English words co-e'-val (adj.) of the same age, or living at the same time co-e'-val-ly (adv.) contemporaneously lon-gev-i-ty (noun) length of ages MODEL II. The Latin adjective ACIDUS signifies sour. From this we get directly the English words ac-id (adj.) sour, tart, sharp ac-id'-i-ty (noun) sharpness, sourness a-cid'-u-late (verb) to give an acid flavour and in combination with the Greek prefix ANTI, against, or opposite to, and the Latin prefix SUB, under, we get the English words MODEL III.-The Latin verb ÆSTIMO signifies I value. From this we obtain directly the English words— es-teem' (noun) great regard | es-teem' (verb) to value highly es'-ti-ma-ble (adj.) worthy of regard es'-ti-mate (verb) to value, or set a price on es'-ti-ma-tion (noun) favour- and with the Latin prefix IN, which has the power of increasing the force or intensity of the meaning of a word, we get the English word in-es'-ti-ma-ble (adj.) above all price or value, most worthy In preparing these exercises the pupil will find assistance in the List of Prefixes and Affixes at the end of this volume. A HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS. BY REGINALD HEBER. Poet, and Bishop of Calcutta. Born April 21, 1783; Died April 3, 1826. ho-ri'-zon ...the distant line | re-cli'-ning........ lying down, re-deem'-er ..............one who buys | de-vo'-tion ...worship, acts of reverence which bounds the view reposing a-dorn'-ing......embellishing, cost'-ly......valuable, of great adding beauty to price a-dore' reverence slum'-ber ob-la'-tion o'-dours perfumes (in this mon'-arch ......king, sovereign Brightest and best of the sons of the morning, |