"Higher Lessons in English,” on its way through the press, has been criticised by the distinguished philologist, Prof. Francis A. March of Lafayette College, Easton, Penn., and to him we are indebted for many most valuable suggestions.

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE,

July 1, 1877.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER.

THOUGH professing to be a complete grammar, this work is not intended for beginners. In preparing it, we have supposed the pupil to be already thoroughly familiar with "Graded Lessons in English or its equivalent. Guard, then, against introducing "Higher Lessons" too early into the course of study.

The pupil may find some difficulty, at first, in understanding such constructions as the Participle and the Infinitive used as objective complement in Lessons 37 and 41 ; and in mastering the philosophy of such adverb clauses as those of degree, introduced by as and than, in Lesson 63; the distinction between those expressing reason and those expressing cause, in Lesson 64; and the force of the several connectives in the examples given in Lessons 104, 105, and 106.

If these or any other points are found to be too abstruse, we suggest that they be deferred till the book is reviewed.

Those who desire a brief course in technical grammar are referred to tha outlined in the "General Review," pp. 234-8.

LESSON 1.

A TALK ON LANGUAGE.

We wish to talk with you to-day about a language that we never learned from a grammar or a book of any kind. Nor was it ever taught us by parent or by teacher. We came by it naturally and use it without thinking of it.

It is a universal language, and so needs no interpreter. People of all lands and all degrees of culture use it; even the brute animals in Some measure understand it.

This Natural language is the language of cries, laughter, and tones; the language of the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the whole face; the language of gestures by the hand, and postures by the body.

The child's cry tells of its wants; its sob, of grief; its scream, of pain; its laugh, of delight. The boy raises his eyebrows in surprise and his nose in disgust, leans forward in expectation, draws back in fear, doubles his hand into a fist in anger, hisses in contempt, and calls his dog to him or drives him away by the tone in which he speaks to him.

But feelings and desires are not the only things we wish to communicate. Early in life we begin to acquire knowledge and learn to think, and then we feel the need of a better language.

Suppose, for instance, you have formed a mental picture, or idea, of a day; could you express this by a tone, a look, or a gesture?

If you wish to tell me the fact that yesterday was cloudy, or the truth that the days are shorter in winter than in summer, you would ând it wholly impossible to do this by means of Natural language.

To communicate, then, your thoughts, or even the mental pictures we have called ideas, you need a language more nearly perfect. This language is made up of words.

These words you learn one by one. You learn them from your

II

mothers, and so Word language is your mother-tongue. You learn them from your friends and teachers, your playmates and companions, and you learn them by reading; for words, as you know, may be written as well as spoken.

This Word language we may, from its superiority, call Language Proper.

Natural language, as was said, precedes this Word language, but gives way as Word language comes in and takes its place; yet it may be used, and always should be, to assist and strengthen the latter. In earnest conversation we enforce what we say in words, by the tone in which we utter them, by the varying expression of the face, and often by the gestures of the hand.

The look or the gesture may even dart ahead of the word, or it may contradict it, and so convict the speaker of ignorance or deception.

The happy union of the two kinds of language is the charm of all fine reading and speaking. The teacher of elocution is ever trying to recall the pupil to the tones, the facial expressions, and the action, so natural to him in childhood and in animated conversation.

Questions on the Talk.-How did we come by Natural language? How does it differ from other languages? Why is it a universal language? When do we use it? What is it made up of? How does the child employ it? What is Word language, or Language Proper, used for? How do we learn it? What retires before it ? How can Natural language aid it? What is an idea? What two kinds of words are there? Give a definition of Language Proper. Define English grammar.

DEFINITION.-Language Proper consists of the spoken and written words used to communicate ideas and thoughts.

DEFINITION. English Grammar is the science which teaches the forms, uses, and relations of the words of the English language.

LESSON 2.

A TALK ON THOUGHTS AND SENTENCES.

To express a thought we use more than a single word, and the words arranged to express a thought we call a sentence.

But there was a time when, through lack of words, you compressed