upon, that nobody spoke cept a deaf man in one of Fiji Islands, and a Woman Pekin, so that the world v never so still since the creati The arrangement in the left-hand column is preferabl It gives us an impression that the sentences belong togethe that is, it gives us a true impression; whereas the arrang ment in the right-hand column gives us an impression tha the sentences are independent, that is, it gives us a fals impression. Almost primeval simplicity reigns over this Northern land, almost primeval solitude and stillness. You pass out from the gate of the city, and, as if by magic, the scene changes to a wild, woodland landscape. Around you are forests of fir. Overhead hang the long fan-like branches trailing with moss, and heavy with red and blue cones. Underfoot is a carpet of yellow leaves, and the air is warm and balmy. On a wooden bridge you cross a little silver stream. Anon you come forth into a pleasant and sunny land of farms. Across the road are gates, which are opened for you by troops of flaxen-haired children. The peasants take off their hats as you pass. You sneeze, and they cry, "God bless you!" The houses in the villages and smaller cities are all built of hewn timber, and for the most part painted red. The floors of the taverns are strewn with the fragrant tips of fir boughs. In many villages there are no taverns, and the peasants take turns in receiving travellers. The thrifty housewife shows you into the best chamber, the walls of which are hung round with rude pictures from the Bible; and brings you her heavy silver spoons an heirloom curdled milk from the pan. You have oaten cakes baked some months before; or bread with anise-seed and coriander in it, and perhaps a little pine-bark. — LONGFELLOW: Driftwood, 318. Printed as it appears above, with each sentence separated by indention from its neighbor, the selection seems jagged and disjointed. Re-write it, indenting only the first word, and now observe how smoothly each sentence flows into the sentence that follows, and how compact and orderly the selection appears and is. Beware of separating by indentions sentences that belong together. EXERCISE 2. Re-write the following selections. Combine the sentences of each group without changing the wording, or adding any words, and note the difference in effect, and the greater ease of understanding. Twenty years had passed since Joey ran down the brae to play. Jess, his mother, shook her staff fondly at him. A cart rumbled by, the driver nodding on the shaft. It rounded the corner and stopped suddenly, and then a woman screamed. A handful of men carried Joey's dead body to his mother, and that was the tragedy of Jess's life. BARRIE: A Window in Thrums. [As written above, the third and fourth sentences do not seem to have any connection, in thought, with what precedes and follows. Close up the indentions, and the whole paragraph becomes an intelligible picture.] I used to imagine my mind a room in confusion, and I was to put it in order; so I swept out useless thoughts and dusted foolish fancies away, and furnished it with good resolutions and began again. I'm not a good housekeeper, and never get my room in nice ordI once wrote a poem about it when I was fourteen, and called "My Little Kingdom." It is still hard to rule it, and always will be, I think. - LOUIS MAY ALCOTT: Life, Letters, and Journals. [As written above, the connection of the thought is hard to keep Close up the indentions, and it becomes clear that the words "cobwebs,' ," "housekeeper," " room,' 99 66 ferent sentences, all refer to the mind or the care one should give it.] kingdom," and "rule," in the dif LESSON 4. Faults of Indention: Indentions too Few. 1. In a preceding paper I have spoken of an English Sunday in the country, and its tranquillizing effect upon the landscape ; but where is its sacred influence more strikingly apparent than in the very heart of that great Babel, London? 2. On this sacred day, the gigantic monster is charmed into repose. 3. The intolerable din and struggle of the week are at an end. 4. The shops are shut. 5. The fires of forges and manufactories are extinguished; and the sun, no longer obscured by murky clouds of smoke, pours down a sober, yellow radiance into the quiet streets. 6. The few pedestrians we meet, instead of hurrying forward with anxious countenances, move leisurely along; their brows are smoothed from the wrinkles of business and care; they have put on their Sunday looks, and Sunday manners, with their Sunday clothes, and are cleansed in mind as well as in person. 7. And now the melodious clangor of bells from church towers summons their various flocks to the fold. 8. Forth issues from his mansion the family of the decent tradesman, the small children in advance; then the citizen and his comely spouse, followed by the grown-up daughters, with small morocco-bound prayer-books laid in the folds of their pocket-handkerchiefs. 9. The housemaid looks after them from the window, admiring the finery of the family, and receiving, perhaps, a nod and smile from her young mistresses, at whose toilet she has assisted. 10. Now rumbles along the carriage of some magnate of the city, peradventure an alderman or a sheriff; and now the patter of many feet announces a procession of charity scholars, in uniforms of antique cut, and each with a prayer-book under his arm. 11. The ringing of bells is at an end; the rumbling of the carriage has ceased; the pattering of feet is heard no more; the flocks are folded in ancient churches, cramped up in by-lanes and corners of the crowded city, where the vigilant beadle keeps watch, like the shepherd's dog, round the threshold of the sanctuary. 12. For a time everything is hushed; but soon is heard the deep, pervading sound of the organ, rolling and vibrating through the empty lanes and courts; and the sweet chanting of the choir making them resound with melody and praise. 13. Nevei have I been more sensible of the sanctifying effect of church music than when I have heard it thus poured forth, like a river of joy, through the inmost recesses of this great metropolis, elevating it, as it were, from all the sordid pollutions of the week; and bearing the poor world-worn soul on a tide of triumphant harmony to heaven. 14. The morning service is at an end. 15. The streets are again alive with the congregations returning to their homes, but soon again relapse into silence. 16. Now comes on the Sunday dinner, which, to the city tradesman, is a meal of some importance. 17. There is more leisure for social enjoyment at the board. 18. Members of the family can now gather together, who are separated by the laborious occupations of the week. 19. A schoolboy may be permitted on that day to come to the paternal home; an old friend of the family takes his accustomed Sunday seat at the board, tells over his well-known stories, and rejoices young and old with his well-known jokes. 20. On Sunday afternoon the city pours forth its legions to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the sunshine of the parks and rural environs. 21. Satirists may say what they please about the rural enjoyments of a London citizen on Sunday, but to me there is something delightful in beholding the poor prisoner of the crowded and dusty city enabled thus to come forth once a week and throw himself upon the green bosom of nature. 22. He is like a child restored to the mother's breast; and they who first spread out these noble parks and magnificent pleasure-grounds which surround this huge metropolis, have done at least as much for its health and morality, as if they had expended the amount of cost in hospitals, prisons, and penitentiaries. IRVING: Sketch Book. The pupil should make himself familiar with this selection by reading it a number of times. Let him then note the connection of the sentences. Certain sentences, he will observe, treat of one part of the subject; certain others treat of another part. Thus, sentences 1-6 speak in general terms of the Sunday aspect of the city. These sentences, belonging together in thought, should form a single paragraph. Sentences 7-10 speak of the appearance of the streets when |