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THE

RHETORICAL READER.

CHAPTER I.

READING. ITS CONNEXION WITH GOOD EDUCATION.

THE art of reading well is indispensable to one who expects to be a public speaker; because the principles on which it depends are the same as those which belong to rhetorical delivery in general, and because nearly all bad speakers were prepared to be so, by early mismanagement of the voice in reading.

But the subject is one of common interest to all, who aim at a good education. Every intelligent father, who would have his son or daughter qualified to hold a respectable rank in well-bred society, will regard it as among the very first of polite accomplishments, that they should be able to read well. But beyond this, the talent may be applied to many important purposes of business, of rational entertainment, and of religious duty. Of the multitudes who are not called to speak in public, including the whole of one sex, and all but comparatively a few of the other, there is no one to whom the ability to read in a graceful and impressive manner, may not be of great value. In this country, then, where the advantages of education are open to all, and where it is a primary object with parents of all classes, to have their children well instructed, it would seem reasonable to presume that nearly all our youth, of both sexes, must be good readers. Yet the number who can

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