P. Henry. Seven! why, there were but four, even now. Fal. In buckram? P. Henry. Ay, four in buckram suits. Fal. Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else. Dost thou hear me, Hal? P. Henry. Ay, and mark thee too, Jack. Fal. Do so, for it is worth listening to. These nine in buckram that I told thee of P. Henry. So, two more already. Fal. Their points being broken,-began to give me ground; but I followed me close, came in foot and hand, and with a thought, seven of the eleven I paid. P. Henry. O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two! Fal. But, as ill luck would have it, three misbegotten knaves, in Kendal green, came at my back, and let drive at me;-for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst not see thy hand. P. Henry. These lies are like the father that begets them; gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou knotty-pated fool; thou greasy tallow-tub. Fal. What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth the truth? P. Henry. Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy hand? Come, tell us your reason; what sayest thou to this? Come, your reason, Jack, your reason. Fal. What, upon compulsion? No. Were I at the Nô. strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason upon compulsion! If reasons were as plenty as blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon compulsion. P. Henry. I'll be no longer guilty of this sin. This sanguine coward, this bed-presser, this horse-back breaker, this huge hill of flesh Fal. Awây, you stârveling, you êel-skin, you dried nêat's-tongue, you stock-fish! O for breath to utter what is like thee! you tailòr's yard, you sheath, you bow-case, you vile standing tuck SHAKESPEARE. HINTS ABOUT ADDITIONAL SELECTIONS. Dialogues, dialect pieces, and humorous selections are useful in school for the purpose of breaking up the tendency to stiffness, formality, and monotony in reading. There are times when the ripple of laughter is music in the school-room, and when the sunlight of humor is needed to dispel the mists of a gloomy day. There seems to be no good reason why the flashes of wit and humor that delight a whole nation should be altogether shut out from the school-room, because they do not form a part of "classic literature." Though such humorous and dialect selections might not seem appro、 priate for a drill-book like this volume, the wise and cheerful teacher will make good use of them, taking care, of course, to exclude objectionable selections. Teachers will do well to bear in mind that the taste of boys and girls from fourteen to eighteen years of age is not so critical as that of men and women of middle age. These extracts should be read at sight, the book being passed from hand to hand, and one book serving for the whole class. Many excellent selections can be found in such books as Lowell's "Biglow Papers," Dickens's "Pickwick Papers," Bret Harte's "Poems," Saxe's "Poems," Hood's "Poems," Mark Twain's books, Monroe's "Humorous Readings," Garrett's "Speaker's Garland," Shoemaker's "Elocutionist's Annual," and many other books of "Selections." PART III. MISCELLANEOUS SELECTIONS. SECTION I. PROSE SELECTIONS. 1. ELOCUTIONAY TRAINING. 1. Elocutionary training should be begun in early life, because then the vocal organs are flexible. It is a serious defect in our school methods of instruction, that the expressive faculties, comprising feeling, affection, emotion, passion, imagination, fancy, association, imitation, and description, are called so little into action. Elocution, when properly taught, calls into active exercise the expressive faculties, and tends to educate the child as a social being. 2. In most ungraded schools in the country, and in many city schools, an hour of the closing afternoon of each week may be usefully devoted to declamation, dialogue, and select readings. It is not advisable to compel every child in school to take part in these exercises, for there are some who never can become good readers, and others who are so awkward and diffident that it is cruel to force them upon the school stage with a declamation. 3. Appropriate selections should at first be made by (277) |