them every where. They read them, but did not know their meaning. After his death, the key to their meaning was found. They were the first letters of some Latin words. I will translate them: "Austria is to govern the whole world."

Letters are in reading, and are powerful things. Almost every Hungarian family wears bracelets, and on them, these letters: P. V. D. T. N. A. K. L. L. S. Austria is afraid of them. She dreads their influence. Why? They are the first letters of the names of the Hungarian generals whom she executed, and recall the life and death of those men.

Letters are in reading. The Alphabet is in reading. This, my son, is a name given to the collected letters of a language. It is borrowed from the Greeks. Among them, it was Alpha, Beta, the names of the first two letters. With us, it means a, b, and might be called so. The Alphabet, or A, B, is the name of all the letters of our language.

The Alphabet is in reading. It appears in two forms, the capitals and small letters. These mean the same thing. They differ only in size and form. It was not so in olden times. Small letters were unknown. All writing was done in large or capital letters—a kind of printing.

Mr. Cadmus paused, and Wilmer looked well-pleased. He had learned something new, and this was as pleasing to him as a new book or toy.

Father, said he, you have told me a great deal about letters. Will you tell me what they are?

Letters, my son, are certain marks. They are meaning ones, and known as such. Letters are signs of certain sounds. They are like notes in music; and when seen, recall sounds with which the ear is familiar; and to which, the heart gives a meaning.

INSTRUCTION

XXXVIII.

ACCENT IS IN READING.

WHAT IS IN READING?

Accent is in reading, said Professor Cadmus. The accent that makes the stress of voice on syllables of words, is a part of reading; an important part, my son.

A GERMAN INCIDENT.

I was talking with a German the other day, and was very much pleased with his voice. He managed it very well. He read for me, out of a very wonderful book, called THE CID. His reading was charming. I listened to find out the cause. It was his accent. He laid great force on some parts of the word, suspended his voice and then let it fall. The effect was very pleasing. Words became almost visible.

ACCENT ILLUSTRATED.

What do you say that accent is, father? asked Wilmer. Accent is force of voice on a syllable. The voice, in forming an accent, is raised, made strong, suspended, and then let fall. It is a nice part of reading and speaking. It makes articulation easy, and helps the ear to distinguish words. Accent is best learned in good society and from a good dictionary. There is another way of learning it. It may be presented ' to the eye. Observe each part of it, my son, in the following illustration, the elevation, force, suspension, and fall of voice. These are the parts of accents.

"My heart leaps up when I be-HOLD

A RAIN-bow in the sky:

So was it when my life be-GAN.

"So is it now I am a man;

So let it be when I am old,

Or let me die.

The child is FA-ther of the man,

And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each

By NA-tural PI-ety."

Accent, you see from this passage, does not belong to words of one syllable. It does belong to every word of more than one. Its sign is sometimes given in books; always in the dictionary. It is'. Thus, behold'. You will attend to it carefully, my son. Without it, words, in conversation and reading, become lifeless and tire the ear, because their sound presents no variety.

THE USE OF ACCENT.

The power of accent, said Professor Cadmus, is very great. It produces a change in the sound of the word; and in many cases, changes its meaning. Thus, pérfume is the name of odor; but perfúme means to produce odor.

Oh, I see now, said Wilmer, the use of accent! I will try and accent my words in the right way.

Professor Cadmus continued: The ear must be made familiar with the power of accent. It must learn to notice its difference in different words. Exercise and the careful imitation of good speakers will secure correctness.

Father, I wish you would give me some exercises. I will try and imitate you.

I will do so, said Professor Cadmus, with pleasure.

1. The accent is on the first syllable in these words: ánchor, vápor, lóver, wórship, cáreful, wálking, táken.

2. The accent is on the second syllable in these words: refúse, harpoon, brigáde, beréft, abóde, invént, believe.

3. The accent is on the third syllable in these words: disembárk, animósity, cavaliér, architecture, incapácity.

I will now give you another exercise. It will teach you the nature of accent. The words are alike in spelling; but the accent changes their meaning, and converts the name of a thing into the name of an action.

Hills add very much, said Professor Cadmus, to the beauty of a scene. An unbroken level is tiresome. The eye looks over it in vain for some change. Now, what hills are to a scene, emphasis, my son, is to a sentence: what hills are to scenery, emphasis is to language. It is one of the charms of good reading, and always pleases us. It is one of the parts of good reading.

I cannot

Emphasis, father, is a great trouble to me. understand it. I do not know how to make it. I will show you, my son, said Professor Cadmus.

I looked upon it.

An artist was busy at his canvas. There was only the dim outline of a landscape. The objects were faint. Hills, trees, rocks and animals were barely seen.

I came again. A change had passed upon it. The work of the artist was advancing. The distant hills were visible. The trees were green, and the clouds floated in the blue heavens.

I came once more. The artist was gazing on his work. There was a smile of triumph on his lip. Happy man! I gazed too, and wondered. It was a picture indeed. The large oak seemed to grow, rocks were gray with moss, and sheep grazed by them. An old man sat in the foreground, and taught his grandson lessons from the stones and babbling brook. It was beautiful. The objects STOOD OUT as in nature.

What made them, father?

SHADES and SHADOWS, my son. These brought them out to view. And shades and shadows, my son, are only waves of light.

Father, did they all stand out?

Oh no, my son. Only those that the artist wished to stand out-only those he wished us to notice and feel.

Now, my son, language is just such a picture. Emphasis is just such shades and shadows. It brings out boldly to view the words of language which are most striking.

Does it bring all the words out, father?

No, my son. Only those words that the writer or speaker wishes.

I see now, father. I can feel what emphasis is, but I cannot tell it in words. Will you tell me?

EMPHASIS DEFINED.

I will try, said Professor Cadmus. It is a very important subject, and requires constant attention.

Emphasis is force of voice on words which the speaker or writer wishes to stand out boldly. The word, emphasis, comes