THE HE Mississippi River is the guardian and the pledge of the union of the States of America. Had they been confined to the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, there would have been no geographical unity between them, and the thread of connection between lands that merely fringed the Atlantic must soon have been sundered. 2. The father of rivers gathers his waters from all the clouds that break between the Alleghanies and the farthest ranges of the Rocky Mountains. The ridges of the eastern chain bow their heads at the north and at the south; so that, long before science became the companion of man, nature herself pointed out to the barbarous races how short portages join his tributary rivers to those of the Atlantic coast. 3. At the other side, his mightiest arm interlocks with the arms of the Oregon and the Colorado, and, by the conformation of the earth itself, marshals highways to the Pacific. From his remotest springs, he refuses to suffer his waters to be divided; but, as he bears them all to the bosom of the ocean, the myriads of flags that wave above his head are all the ensigns of one people. 4. States, larger than kingdoms, flourish where he passes; and, beneath his step, cities start into being, more marvelous in their reality than the fabled creations of enchantment. His magnificent valley, lying in the best part of the temperate zone, salubrious and wonderfully fertile, is the chosen muster-ground of the most various elements of human culture brought together by men, summoned from all the civilized nations of the earth, and bound in the bonds of common citizenship by the strong, invisible attraction of republican freedom. 5. Now, that science has come to be the household friend of trade and commerce and travel, and that nature has lent to wealth and intellect the use of her constant forces, the hills, once walls of division, are scaled or pierced or leveled; and the two oceans, between which the republic has unassailably intrenched itself against the outward world, are bound together across the continent by friendly links of iron. George Bancroft. SHORT, but frequent drills on the following tables will be found very useful in giving clear and distinct enunciation. I cannot too strongly recommend this practice. In these exercises, let the word that contains the element be repeatedly pronounced; at each repetition separating more and more the given element from the other elements of the word, until it stands alone, thus: even, e-ven, ē--ven, ē- - -ven, ē, ē, ē. mēte, m-e-te, m- -- -te, m---ē---te, ē, ē, ē. 66 LONG SIMPLE VOWEL SOUNDS. ē, as in ēven, rēcent, ēra, mē, hẽ, scēne, réal, réap. ā, "māte, fāte, pāte, āte, āle, tāke, lāke, fāde. å, ""åsk, låst, väst, staff, shäft, påst, måst, gråft. ä, ""ärm, tär, fär, cälm, pälm, sälve, hälve, älms. û, “ûrn, bûrn, cûr, fûrl, chûrn, tûrn, fûr, bûrst. 66 66 66 a, all, talk, salt, call, ball, hall, malt, walk, small. ō, ""nōte, ōld, gō, spōke. nō, pōle, vōte, rōll, smōke. 66 66.66 ōo, "" moon, loose, tooth, smooth, rood, food, coon. 66 SHORT SIMPLE VOWEL SOUNDS. i, as in it, spill, grip, pit, mit, fit, tick, lit, in, ring. ěmět, wět, pět, lět, gět, sět, rěd, shěd, jět, frět. ă 6 6 ặt, mặt, fắt, sắt, gặt, rặt, bắt, hăd, răp, lặp. ŏ““ not, got, lõt, shot, trot, hot, odd, rock, shock. ŭ " "but, nut, shut, rut, hum, tun, much, thump. |