THE

NATIONAL

FIFTH READER:

CONTAINING

A TREATISE ON ELOCUTION;

EXERCISES IN

READING AND DECLAMATION;

WITH

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, AND COPIOUS NOTES.

ADAPTED TO THE USE OF STUDENTS IN

ENGLISH AND AMERICAN LITERATURE.

BY

RICHARD G. PARKER, A. M.,

J. MADISON WATSON.

AND

NEW YORK:

A. S. BARNES & BURR,

51 & 53 JOHN STREET.

BOLD BY BOOKSELLERS, GENERALLY, THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES

1863.

68152

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858

BY A. S. BARNES & CO.,

In the Clerks Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

PREFACE.

IN the preparation of this volume, we have aimed to make it a

complete and sufficient work for advanced classes in Reading, Elocution, and English and American Literature; to furnish, in an available form, such an amount of biographical, historical, classical, orthoëpical, and miscellaneous matter, as to render it highly valuable as a book of reference; and to present a collection of pieces so rich, varied, perspicuous, and attractive, as to suit all classes of minds, all times, and all occasions.

Part First, in two chapters, embraces a simple, complete, and eminently practical Treatise on Elocution. The principles and rules are stated in a succinct and lucid manner, and followed by examples and exercises of sufficient number and extent to enable the student thoroughly to master each point as presented, as well as to acquire a distinct comprehension of the parts as a whole.

In Part Second, the Selections for Reading and Declamation contain what are regarded as the choicest gems of English literature. The works of many authors, ancient and modern, have been consulted, and more than a hundred standard writers of the English language, on both sides of the Atlantic, have been laid under contribution to enable the authors to present a collection, rich in all that can inform the understanding, improve the taste, and cultivate the heart, and which, at the same time, shall furnish every variety of style and subject to exemplify the principles of Rhetorical delivery, and form a finished reader and elocutionist. These selections have been arranged in a regularly graded course, and strictly classified with regard to the nature of the subjects. Although we have not been studious of novelty, presenting only what we regarded as suitable, intrinsically excellent, and most truly indicating the mode and range of thought of the writer, it will be seen that a large proportion of this collection is composed of pieces to be found in no similar work.