[or flew,

Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains,
And liquid lapse of murmuring streams;
By these, creatures that lived, and moved and walked,
Birds on the branches warbling; all things smiled
With fragrance, and with joy my heart o'erflowed;
Myself I then perused, and limb by limb

Surveyed, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran
With supple joints, as lively vigor led:

But who I was or where, or from what cause

Knew not. To speak I tried, and forthwith spake : My tongue obeyed, and readily could name

6

Whate'er I saw. Thou sun,' said I, 'fair light!
And thou enlightened earth, so fresh and gay
!
Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods and plains,
And ye that live and move, fair creatures tell,
Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here!" "

ARTICLE II.

PRAXIS FOR WRITING A DESCRIPTION.

1. The directions for writing a description are as follows:

First. Observe the peculiar adjuncts of the object, which is to be described; also, the different qualities of other objects.

Second. Express each peculiarity of the object, in short sentences.

(1.) What are the practical directions for writing a description? Name the first-second-third-fourth-fifth-and sixth?

Third. You may also, for the sake of contrast, write down in brief the different qualities of other objects.

Fourth. Arrange all the ideas in a proper or-der, taking care that the principal characteristics of the object, have a prominent place in the collocation of ideas; and if necessary, be rendered more conspicuous by contrast.

Fifth. Develop and amplify each idea in suitable style, which must generally be the adorned.

Sixth. After you have written your composition, examine how you have observed the qualities of descriptions indicated in No. 5; make the necessary corrections, and lay aside your composition for a few days; after which, review it again; and finally submit it to the revision of another intelligent person.

2. The following outline for the pupil's exercise, may serve as an illustration of this praxis.

It is required of the pupil to develop and amplify the ideas here presented, according to the modes of amplification shown in the first book, (Elements of Composition) and afterward, compare his composition with the original, which is added hereto, and make the necessary corrections.

I.-EXERCISE.

THEME." Sublimity of Mountain Scenery."

OUTLINE OF THE DESCRIPTION.

First Idea. The sight of mountains has ever struck my mind more than any other object.

Second Idea.-I have seen the ocean in tempest.

Third Idea.-I have seen the desert, and the sandy pillars flying across.

Fourth Idea. But the mountain has ever absorbed my attention.

Fifth Idea.-Its magnitude, grandeur, antiquity, beauty, use, strength, and duration, are suggestive ideas of the Divinity.

After the student has finished his composition, let him compare it with the following original description, and make the necessary corrections.

SUBLIMITY OF MOUNTAIN SCENERY.

(By Croly.)

"Of all the sights that nature offers to the eye, and mind of man, mountains have always stirred my strongest feelings. I have seen the ocean, when it was turned up from the bottom, by tempest, and noon was

like night, with the conflict of the billows, and the storm that tore and scattered them in mist and foam, across the sky. I have seen the desert rise around me; and calmly in the midst of thousands, uttering cries of horror, and paralyzed by fear, have contemplated the sandy pillars, coming like the advance of some gigantic city of conflagration, flying across the wilderness, every column glowing with intense fire, and every blast, death; the sky vaulted with gloom, the earth a furnace. But with me, the Mountain, in tempest or in calm, the throne of the thunder, or with the evening sun painting its dells and declivities in colors dipped in heaven, has been the source of the most absorbing sensations. There stands Magnitude, giving the instant impression of a power above man; Grandeur, that defies decay; Antiquity, that tells of ages unnumbered; Beauty, that the touch of time, makes only more beautiful; Use, exhaustless for the service of man; Strength, imperishable as the globe; the monument of eternity; the truest earthly emblem of that ever-living, unchangeable, irresistible majesty, by whom, and for whom, all things were made."

II. EXERCISE.

Is the object of the writer in the above description to inform, please, or persuade? State what sort of style he has used, and how he has observed the rules of descriptions.

III.-EXERCISE.

Find a description in your Rhetorical Reader, and comment on it in the same manner.

IV. EXERCISE.

Write a description of the Falls of Niagara, or of Washington's tomb.

V.-EXERCISE.

Read your composition, and make the same comments, as you have made on others.