Project Gutenberg's A Week of Instruction and Amusement,, by Mrs. Harley This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A Week of Instruction and Amusement, or, Mrs. Harley's birthday present to her daughter : interspersed with short stories, outlines of sacred and prophane history, geography &c. Author: Mrs. Harley Release Date: May 31, 2008 [EBook #25659] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INSTRUCTION AND AMUSEMENT *** Produced by Tamise Totterdell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Instruction Instruction. A WEEK OF INSTRUCTION AND AMUSEMENT; OR, MRS. HARLEY'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO HER DAUGHTER. INTERSPERSED WITH SHORT STORIES —OUTLINES OF SACRED AND PROPHANE HISTORY— GEOGRAPHY, &c. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. HARRIS, CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH-YARD. 1812. H. Bryer, Printer, Bridge-Street, Blackfriars, London. ADVERTISEMENT. The following pages were written with the design of communicating, in a manner agreeable to children, some knowledge of those subjects which they so often find tedious and uninteresting.—Should the stories related inspire a love of virtue, and the lessons awaken a desire for the further acquisition of useful knowledge, the attempt, notwithstanding its defect, cannot, it is hoped, be deemed wholly useless. A WEEK OF INSTRUCTION, &c. CHAPTER I. THURSDAY. At a pleasant village a few miles from London, resided a widow-lady of the name of Harley; she had but one child, and to forming her manners and instructing her mind she devoted her whole time. Anne (for so was this little girl named) was an amiable child; she rewarded her mother's care and affection, by paying great attention to her instructions; like all other children, she was fond of play, but seldom murmured when called to attend the hours set apart for working, reading, or learning her lessons: all these she performed extremely well for her age, and had already gone through many of the first books that are put into the hands of children. As a reward for her application, her mamma had promised to write a few stories on purpose for her, and one Thursday in the month of August, the day on which little Anne completed her eighth year, Mrs. Harley presented her the book which contained them, saying, "I shall only permit you to read in this book, my dear Anne, when I have reason to be satisfied with your conduct, for as it is now given to a good little girl, I would never upon any account, allow a naughty one to make use of it. We will begin our mornings with reading one of these stories, and afterwards I will give you a lesson upon different subjects, many of which you are now quite unacquainted with. By pursuing this method you will be daily adding to your stock of knowledge, and will I hope in time become a good and sensible girl: this, my dear, is the first wish of my heart, and you must do every thing in your power to promote it. Be industrious and docile, and you may be sure of succeeding in all I require you to undertake. But come, the morning is so fine that we will go into the garden, where upon yonder seat you shall begin your new study." Little Anne after thanking her mamma for her kind present, followed her to the bench, when they were seated, she opened the book, and the first story that presented itself was The pleasure of giving, much greater than that of receiving. Edward and James were the sons of a respectable farmer, who spared no pains in giving them an education suited to their situation in life. Having been pleased with their good conduct in some circumstances that had lately occurred, he promised them a holiday the first time the weather should be fine enough for them to visit their aunt, who lived a few miles distant from the village where they resided. The wished for morning at length arrived, the farmer gave each of his sons a shilling, and a basket filled with provisions. Thus equipped, they began their journey, and amused themselves on the road, by talking of the pleasure they should have in seeing their good aunt. The best way of spending their shillings was a subject of great importance, "I will have a handsome kite," said Edward, "and the string shall be long enough to allow it to fly as high as the clouds." "Yes," answered James, "but however long your string may be, I believe it must depend upon the wind for flying. Now, I will have a bag of marbles, with these I can always play on the stones in the church-yard after school." "Excepting when it rains brother James; however, as the money is our own, we have each you know a right to please ourselves." Just as Edward finished speaking, a poor little ragged boy came up to the brothers, and asked for a halfpenny to buy a bit of bread, saying he was so very hungry he knew not what to do. "What, have you had no breakfast! my little man?" asked James. "No, sir, nor supper last night, do pray give me a halfpenny, I am so very faint for want of food." Edward immediately took a piece of cake from his basket and gave it to the boy, enquiring at the same time, where his father and mother was. "Alas, my good young gentleman, they are both dead. I lost father about a month ago, and I fear I shall soon follow him, for indeed I am very ill, and not able to work, therefore I must be starved." "O no," said James, "not if I can prevent it, you do indeed look very ill, but take courage, I hope you will soon recover, and surely the parish must provide for you —where do you live?" "Since father died I have had no regular home, and this is not my parish. Sometimes I sleep in a barn. I do what I can to assist an old man, who was my mother's uncle, but he is ill now, and not able to keep me, so I shall be quite [Pg 1] [Pg 2] [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] deserted."—"Well," said Edward, "I will provide you with a dinner to day, and give you money to procure a lodging at night; here is a shilling, my father gave it me to buy toys with, but I can do better without them, than you can without food." The little boy took the shilling, and with tears in his eyes thanked his kind friend. James would not suffer him to depart without accepting his shilling also, and desiring him to call the next morning at their father's, where they would try to be of further use to him, they bade him adieu, and pursued their journey. "I am sure," said Edward, "I feel more pleasure in making that child happy, than in flying the finest kite in the world." "And I," added James, "was a hundred times happier in giving him a shilling, than I was when I received it this morning. Only think how rejoiced the poor boy must be, to have so much money; I dare say he never before, possessed so large a sum, but Edward, we shall have no new kite nor marbles now!—Never mind, brother, we have done a good action, and that, you know, our father says is the surest way to secure happiness"— Thus conversing, these good lads arrived at their aunt's, where they spent a very pleasant day, and in the evening returned home, to delight their father's heart, with an account of their morning's adventure.—The poor boy came the next morning to the farmer's, who having made the necessary enquiries into his former conduct, took him into his service. The brothers had soon the satisfaction of seeing him restored to health, and in time he became a useful, faithful, and grateful servant to his benevolent master. "Well, my dear Anne," said Mrs. Harley, "how do you like my first story?" Anne. O very much mamma, what good children Edward and James were, to give their money to a poor little hungry boy; indeed, if ever I should meet one I will do the same. Mrs. Harley. Then you will do well, and I shall love you dearly. Remember, that the use of reading examples of virtue is to inspire you with the desire to imitate them. But do you, my dear, know of what the story you have just read is composed? Anne. O yes, mamma, of words, is it not? Mrs. Harley. You are right: letters make syllables, one or more syllables make a word, words form a sentence, and a number of sentences compose not only the little story of Edward and James, but all the great books in the library. Now can you tell me how letters are divided? Anne. Not properly mamma, pray explain it to me. Mrs. Harley. I will my dear, and so we begin our FIRST LESSON. Mrs. Harley. Letters of which there are twenty six in our language, are divided into vowels and consonants. There are five proper vowels, a, e, i, o, and u. Y is generally a consonant at the beginning of words, and a vowel at the end of them. Repeat the vowels. Anne. a, e, i, o, u. Y, is sometimes a vowel, and sometimes a consonant. The other letters are all consonants, they are, b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, z. Mrs. Harley. Very well, now you understand the letters, I will explain the other little marks you see in this book. They are called stops: there are six different ones, the comma, which is the shortest; the semicolon;—the colon:—the period. —the note of admiration!—which denotes wonder or surprise—and the note of interrogation? which shews that a question is asked. Repeat them to me. Anne. , ; : . ! ? Mrs. Harley. Quite right, you may now put away your book, and go to play. CHAPTER II. FRIDAY. Mrs. Harley. Here is another story for you Anne. [Pg 9] [Pg 10] [Pg 11] [Pg 12] [Pg 13] [Pg 14] Anne. Thank you, dear mamma, let me begin it directly. The Naughty Girl Reformed. There was once a little girl who had been so much indulged in her infancy, that by the time she arrived at her sixth year, every one disliked her. She was proud and ill-tempered, she wanted whatever she saw, and when any thing was refused her, she immediately began crying and teazing her mamma for it, who being at last quite tired of her importunity, generally gave up the point, and Fanny obtained what she wished for. Now, though the mamma certainly intended to be very kind to her child, yet I think she did wrong in this respect, because children should never have what they cry for. Fanny's ill-temper increased with her years, she quarrelled with all the children who used to play with her, till at length she was quite shunned, and none of her little friends took any notice of her. A lady had given her sister Julia a pretty wax-doll, and she had taken great pleasure in dressing it: almost all her leisure was occupied in making its cloaths, and when they were completed she was quite delighted. It so happened that Fanny was from home when her sister received this present, but no sooner was she returned, and the doll produced, than she began, as usual, to cry for it, and so loud, too, that she disturbed the whole house. For this time, however, her tears were in vain, Julia would not give up her favourite, though she endeavoured to sooth her sister, by promising to lend it her as soon as she should be a little more careful. Fanny was at length pacified, but she watched the first opportunity to get possession of the doll. She soon succeeded, and for some time played with it very carefully, but having acquired a negligent habit of using her toys, she soon forgot its brittle texture, and when tired of nursing it, threw it down on the ground. The face was immediately broken to pieces, and while she was picking up the scattered remains of the once beautiful features, Julia entered the room. On seeing her favourite thus destroyed, she could not help shedding tears, and she reproached Fanny for having taken the doll without permission, especially as she had been so repeatedly desired never to touch it. Fanny felt quite ashamed for her fault, and was really sorry for the mischief she had occasioned: she begged her sister's pardon and promised never again to be so naughty. The good tempered Julia readily forgave her, and for a few days after this misfortune Fanny behaved much better than usual. However, as ill habits are very difficult to be overcome, she soon relapsed into her former fretful and passionate ways; indeed, she made the family so uncomfortable that her mother determined to send her from home, and for that purpose wrote to a relation, entreating her to take the care of Fanny for some time, and try if a different mode of treatment might have some good effect in correcting her faults. Mrs. Benson was eminently distinguished for good sense and pleasing manners. She had frequently regretted the improper indulgences that were granted to this little girl, and accepted with alacrity the charge consigned to her care. She made but a short visit to her sister, and when she returned to her own residence, took back her little niece. It had been a very difficult task to persuade Fanny to accompany Mrs. Benson, but at length the engaging manners of this lady quite overcame her reluctance, and after parting very affectionately with her mother and sister, she got into the carriage that was to convey her above a hundred miles from the place where she had hitherto resided. It was night when Mrs. Benson with her young charge arrived at the end of her journey. The motion of the carriage had lulled Fanny to sleep, and she was undressed and put to bed without being conscious of what was passing around her. The next morning on opening her eyes, she was quite surprised to find herself in an apartment with which she was wholly unacquainted, but the sight of her aunt soon brought to her recollection the change that had taken place. Mrs. Benson desired her to rise, but when told to put on her stockings she began to cry, and said that her maid always did it at home. "But here, my dear," replied Mrs. Benson, "you must do it yourself, for I make it an invariable rule never to assist a little girl in any thing she can so easily accomplish by herself. And I must now tell you Fanny, that you never can have what you cry for in my house, so be a good girl and do as you are desired." Fanny then continued to cry very violently, and would not obey; her naughty behaviour had no effect upon her aunt, who continued dressing herself, and when she had finished, went out of the room without noticing it. Fanny being left alone, and finding that no one attended to her tears, at length began to dress, and after she had remained quiet for some time, a servant was sent up to assist her. She then went down stairs, and when she entered the parlour, her aunt said to her, "I am sorry you have been so long dressing, because I have breakfasted; the things are removed, and I cannot suffer them to be brought up again this morning. I am going out, and if you like to accompany me, I will shew you the village, and we will visit some of the cottagers who are employed in making lace, their work, I assure you, is very beautiful." Fanny was greatly disappointed at being deprived of her breakfast, but she fetched her bonnet and followed her aunt. She was quite delighted with her walk, and on her return to the house was very glad to see a plate of bread and fruit on the table. After she had eaten as much as she chose, Mrs. Benson shewed her some pictures, and she remained a tolerably good girl during the rest of the day. The following morning, when Mrs. Benson desired Fanny to read, she was very naughty, and would not say a letter. "Well," said her aunt, "if you will not read you shall neither play nor walk, so when I go out I shall leave you at home." Fanny persisted in her ill-humour, and was therefore obliged to spend the morning alone, instead of enjoying a pleasant ramble in the fields. When Mrs. Benson returned, she asked her niece if she would then try to read, "because," added she "till you have done so, you may be assured I will grant you no amusement." Fanny perceiving that her aunt was quite determined to keep her word, at length took up the book and read as well as she could. Mrs. Benson, pleased with her [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] [Pg 24] compliance, made no allusion to her former obstinacy, but gave her a pretty sattin pincushion, telling her that if she would try to be a good child she should love her dearly. From this time Fanny began to amend; at first she found it very difficult to restrain her temper, but the more she tried, the easier she found the task: and though during the first few months of her residence at Mrs. Benson's she frequently forgot the good resolutions she had formed, yet she was always sincerely sorry for her faults, and endeavoured to make amends by doing whatever she thought would restore her to her aunt's favour. Thus Mrs. Benson had the satisfaction of seeing a child whom she had formerly known so undutiful and ill-tempered, become by degrees quite amiable and obliging: the alteration in her was so great, that when at the end of a year Mrs. Benson carried her to pay a visit to her family, they could hardly trace any resemblance between Fanny such as she now was, and the naughty little girl who had given them so much trouble. She staid in London three weeks, during which time the cloud of ill-humour scarcely once ruffled her brow. At the end of that time Mrs. Benson wished to return home, and Fanny begged to accompany her, fearing that if deprived of her aunt's counsel before her good habits were entirely fixed, she might relapse into her former errors. Several years are now past since these events happened. Fanny has been constantly improving, she is now the delight of her family, and the favourite of all who know her. Let the history of Fanny teach all little girls that to be good is to be happy! "What an interesting story," said Anne, as she shut the book: "now I find what a silly thing it is to be naughty, I will always try to be good." Mrs. Harley. Do my dear child, and you will be sure of success. It gives me pleasure to see you so attentive to the instructions contained in the stories you read. SECOND LESSON. Mrs. Harley. We talked about letters yesterday: to-day I will explain figures or numbers to you, the following is a list of them: those letters which stand for numbers are called numeral letters. 1 I One 2 II Two 3 III Three 4 IV Four 5 V Five 6 VI Six 7 VII Seven 8 VIII Eight 9 IX Nine 10 X Ten 11 XI Eleven 12 XII Twelve 13 XIII Thirteen 14 XIV Fourteen 15 XV Fifteen 16 XVI Sixteen 17 XVII Seventeen 18 XVIII Eighteen 19 XIX Nineteen 20 XX Twenty 21 XXI Twenty-one 22 XXII Twenty-two 23 XXIII Twenty-three 24 XXIV Twenty-four 25 XXV Twenty-five 30 XXX Thirty 36 XXXVI Thirty-six 40 XL Forty 47 XLVII Forty-seven [Pg 25] [Pg 26] [Pg 27] [Pg 28] [Pg 29] 50 L Fifty 60 LX Sixty 70 LXX Seventy 80 LXXX Eighty 90 XC Ninety 100 C One hundred 200 CC Two hundred 300 CCC Three hundred 400 CCCC Four hundred 500 D Five hundred 600 DC Six hundred 700 DCC Seven hundred 800 DCCC Eight hundred 900 DCD Nine hundred 1000 M One thousand 1100 MC One thousand one hundred 1500 MD One thousand five hundred 1812 MDCCCXII One thousand eight hundred and twelve In the above list you perceive the numeral letters are I, V, X, L, C, D, and M; the letter that stands for a smaller sum put before one that denotes a greater takes so many from it, and that after it adds so many to it. The numbers you learned long ago; but I don't think you know the numeration table, it will teach you to read any number of figures not exceeding nine: the last figure on the right hand denotes units, or single figures, the one before that tens, then hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, tens of hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, now my dear read the following number, 123,456,789. Anne. One hundred and twenty three millions, four hundred and fifty six thousand, seven hundred and eighty nine. Mrs. Harley. Right; it is absolutely necessary to be able to read figures perfectly, before you can learn arithmetic. Anne. What is arithmetic, mamma? Mrs. Harley. The act of numbering, or computing by numbers, my dear. The four principal rules of arithmetic are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Anne. I wish you would explain them to me. Mrs. Harley. Addition teaches to collect several numbers together in order to know their total value. The answer to a question in addition is therefore called the sum, total, or amount; subtraction teaches to take a less number from a greater, in order to know the remainder. The answer in subtraction is called the remainder, or difference. Multiplication teaches to find the amount of any given number repeated a certain number of times. The answer in multiplication is called the product. The three terms made use of in multiplication are, the multiplicand, or number to be multiplied; the multiplier, or number that multiplies; and the product or answer, which is the amount of the multiplicand and multiplier. Division teaches to find how often one number is contained in another. The answer in division is called the quotient. The four terms made use of in division are, the dividend or number to be divided, the divisor, or number that divides, the quotient or answer which is the number of times one number is contained in another, and the remainder or what is left after dividing. This explanation of arithmetic must serve you for the present, you shall learn the multiplication table, and do some sums every day, and when you are thoroughly acquainted with these rules, we will proceed to the others. CHAPTER III. [Pg 30] [Pg 31] [Pg 32] [Pg 33] SATURDAY. Mrs. Harley. Come hither my dear Anne. Your smiling countenance tells me I may give you a story, so take the book and let us hear the History of an Orphan. One fine autumnal morning in the year 1789, John and Cicely Wortham, with their little son Robert, began a long journey into the North of England. They had hitherto resided at a small village near Abergavenny in South Wales, and there they would most probably have ended their days, had not John been informed of the death of a distant relation at Durham, to whose property he knew himself to be the rightful heir, though to secure it, he found it necessary to repair thither. Having, therefore, disposed of his Welsh hut, and converted all his furniture into money, he removed to London, and after spending a few days there, secured places on the outside of a stage-coach, which was to convey him with his family about half way on their journey. Their conversation chiefly turned on the friends they had left, and the hopes of finding as kind ones in the country whither they were going. Robert was too young to be interested in either the hopes or fears of his parents; at the age of six months he slept as comfortably on his mother's red cloak as if he had been placed on a bed of down. Towards the close of their second day's journey the sky began to darken, and a violent storm of hail and rain completely penetrated the cloaths of our poor travellers. However, as they had been always accustomed to the inclemency of the weather they did not much mind it, and Cicely, who was an excellent mother, took care to prevent her boy from feeling any inconvenience. In this manner they proceeded for several miles, till at length a large stone in the winding of the road overturned the carriage and dashed all the outside passengers with violence to the ground. Poor Cicely was killed on the spot; John had his leg and three of his ribs broken, but little Robert escaped unhurt. This unfortunate family were carried to a neighbouring farm-house, a surgeon was sent for who set John's leg, but all attempts to recover Cicely were fruitless, a stronger and more powerful hand than that of the surgeon had for ever closed her eyes! The melancholy intelligence was for some hours concealed from her husband, but at length he enquired for his wife, and soon discovered in the mournful countenances of those around him that she was no more. This fatal news, together with the pain of his leg and side, so agitated his mind, that his fever increased to a very alarming degree; and the third day from that on which the accident happened, poor John Wortham lay a lifeless corpse by the side of his beloved Cicely. The humane farmer into whose house they had been carried when the coach overset, ordered them to be decently buried. Little Robert attended at their funeral, but was quite unconscious of his loss, though he sadly cried for that nourishment he would never more receive from the breast of a mother. When the undertaker's bill and other expences were paid, farmer Hodson found that no more than six guineas remained for the young orphan. The trunks and pockets of his parents were carefully searched, but no paper appeared that gave the least information either of the name or residence of the unfortunate pair. Hodson made every enquiry that seemed most likely to lead to a discovery of little Robert's remaining relations: he advertised the circumstance in several papers, but in vain, and he at length gave up the fruitless search. Though by no means in flourishing circumstances himself, yet he had not the heart to send the poor orphan to the parish, and as he had no children of his own, it was agreed, with his wife's consent, to bring him up as their adopted son. Dame Hodson took the greatest care of her little nursling, and she had the satisfaction of seeing his daily improvement in health and good humour. As Robert grew in years, he discovered to his kind friends a heart framed for the reception of every noble and virtuous sentiment: by the time he attained his twelfth year he was their chief delight, and the affectionate supporter of their declining years. Time passed on, Hodson could not labour as he had done, and two bad years, joined to his infirmities, reduced the family to much distress. Now was the time for the farmer to reap the reward of his generous compassion to a forlorn infant. Robert, ever industrious, earned enough with his own hands to maintain his benefactors. Were they sick, Robert was their nurse—were they sad, Robert was their comforter—he read to them, cheered their drooping spirits, and smoothed the pillow of declining years. It happened about this time, that a gentleman of the name of Goldworthy, bought a large estate in the county where farmer Hodson resided; he heard the story of young Robert, and felt greatly interested for the whole family. He visited them, and found the accounts that had been given him were strictly true, and from that time he resolved to be their friend. Mr. Goldworthy, though master of a large fortune, and consequently placed above the reach of many misfortunes to which the more indigent are exposed, yet possessed a heart always alive to the distresses of others.—He determined with Hodson's consent, to take charge of young Robert, and fit him for some respectable employment, where he might have a larger scope for the exercise of his virtues and more abundant means for gratifying his generous disposition. Hodson with gratitude accepted Mr. Goldworthy's proposal; but no temptation, however alluring to his youthful mind, could induce our hero to quit his old and earliest friends, till Mr. Goldworthy promised to remove them to a cottage adjoining his own house, where they should be furnished with every thing necessary to their support. Here they spent many happy years, and had the heartfelt satisfaction of seeing their beloved boy grow up a respectable and worthy member of society, a useful assistant to his benefactor, and a friend to the poor. [Pg 34] [Pg 35] [Pg 36] [Pg 37] [Pg 38] [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] [Pg 42] [Pg 43] "Dear mamma," said Anne, "I am quite delighted with farmer Hodson and his wife: they deserved Mr. Goldworthy's kindness to them, and what a sweet little boy Robert must have been!" Mrs. Harley. Yes, my dear, he was an excellent youth, and his good conduct met its reward in the affection of his friends. I wish you, my dear child, to be convinced, from this story, that there is no situation in life, however humble, which does not afford opportunities for exercising those duties recommended to us by our Saviour.—To feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and to comfort the afflicted, is, to a certain degree, in the power of us all. You may be in a situation that will enable you to dispense comfort to many; but in relieving strangers, never forget the duties you owe to your own family; be mild and submissive when they correct you, obedient to their wishes, attentive to their instructions, and endeavour by the affectionate gratitude of your conduct, to repay the many hours of anxious solicitude they must spend on your account. Lift up your heart with gratitude to the great God who made you, and, when you reflect on the many blessings you enjoy, never, if you do meet with little disappointments, give way to discontent and murmurings. Remember, it is easy to be good humoured when every thing happens agreeably to our wishes: it is only by cheerfully submitting to the opposition of them that a really good temper is proved. We must now hasten to our other business, or we shall not have time to finish it before dinner. Anne. I am quite ready to attend to you, dear mamma; Grammar, I think, is to be the subject of our lesson. What is the meaning of the word Grammar? THIRD LESSON. Mrs. Harley. The shortest definition I can give you of Grammar, is I believe, my dear, by saying, that it is the art of speaking and writing a language correctly. By parts of speech are meant the different kinds of words of which a language is composed: ours is the English language, and it contains nine parts of speech, which are, The Article, The Noun or Substantive, The Pronoun, The Adjective, The Verb, The Adverb, The Preposition, The Conjunction, The Interjection. Do you think you can remember their names, Anne. Anne. I will try do so, mamma. Mrs. Harley. I will now give you a short explanation of them. An article is placed before a substantive to limit or determine its meaning; the articles are a, an, and the; a or an is called the indefinite article, because it does not point out any particular object: the is called the definite article because it determines what particular object is meant. Do you understand this explanation, my dear? Anne. Perfectly mamma; a man, an orange, mean any man, or any orange; but the man, the orange, refer to some particular man or orange. Mrs. Harley. Quite right, a you perceive is used before a consonant and an before a vowel. A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. Nouns are divided into proper and common; proper nouns are the names of particular persons, places, or things, common nouns are the names that belong to all persons, places or things of the same kind. Give me some examples. Anne. Anne, Clapham, Limetree, are proper nouns; girl, village, tree, are common nouns. Mrs. Harley. Gender is the distinction of sex; there are three genders, the masculine which denotes the male kind as, a man: the feminine which denotes the female kind as, a woman: and the neuter which denotes things without animated life as, a cabbage. Number is the distinction of one from many: there are two numbers, the singular which speaks of one; and the plural which speaks of more than one. Tell me some nouns with their genders and numbers. Anne. I know that mamma is a noun of the feminine gender and singular number; men is a noun masculine and plural; table is neuter and singular. Mrs. Harley. Very well. A Pronoun is used to avoid repeating the noun as, Frederic was good, and he went out. There are four kinds of pronouns. Personal pronouns, as, I, me; thou, thee; he, him; she, her; it: we, us; you; they, them. Possessive pronouns which denote property, as, my, mine; thy, thine; his; her, hers; its: our, ours; your, yours; their, theirs; whose, ones, and anothers. Relative pronouns which refer to a noun going before or coming [Pg 44] [Pg 45] [Pg 46] [Pg 47] [Pg 48] [Pg 49] [Pg 50] after them; they are, who, whom, which, what, and whether. Demonstrative pronouns point out some particular object; they are, this, these; that, and those. Anne. I don't think I can remember all these words without reading them over a great many times, but I quite understand the use of the pronoun, for it would be very awkward to say, Mary played, Mary laughed, and Mary danced; I ought to say, Mary played, she laughed, and she danced. Mrs. Harley. I am pleased with your attention. The adjective explains the quality, colour, form, size, or any other property of the noun, as, good, blue, square, large. The signification of adjectives may be increased or diminished, and this is called comparison; there are two degrees of comparison, the comparative, which increases or diminishes the quality, is formed by adding er to the adjective in its positive state; the superlative increases or diminishes the comparative to its last degree, and is formed by adding est to the adjective in its positive or original state, as long, longer, longest; short, shorter, shortest. When the adjective consists of more than two syllables, the comparative and superlative are formed by prefixing the words more and most to the adjective; as, beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful. Some adjectives differ entirely from these rules in forming their comparison, as, good, better, best; bad, worse, worst. Now, some examples. Anne. Fine is an adjective because it is a quality, black because it is a colour, coarse is an adjective in its positive state, brighter is the comparative degree, and youngest is the superlative. Mrs. Harley. A verb is a word which signifies to be, to do, or to suffer. Verbs are divided into neuter, active, and passive. Neuter verbs merely signify being, or that kind of action which has no effect upon any thing beyond the performer, as, I am, I sit, I walk. (You may distinguish those neuter verbs that seem to imply action from active verbs by their making a complete sense by themselves, whereas active verbs always require a noun or pronoun after them to finish the sense.) Active verbs, denote action as, I eat, I love, I work. Passive verbs, denote suffering, they are only the participle passive of an active verb with a tense of the neuter verb to be before it; as, I am loved, you are dressed. Any word is a verb before which you can place a noun, a pronoun, or the word to, as Mary talks, he works, to be. The different times when actions are performed are called tenses, there are properly only three, the present, as I am, the past as I was, and the future as I shall be; but these are subdivided into others; and there are a great many other things relating to verbs, which you shall learn when you are a little older. Anne. Thank you, mamma, I believe I understand all that you have told me about verbs, except the meaning of participle passive. Mrs. Harley. A participle passive, my dear, is that part of a verb which follows a tense of either of the verbs to have, or to be. Some people consider it a distinct part of speech. Adverbs denote time, place, manner, and quantity; therefore you may always know them by recollecting their meaning: to-day, there, prettily, much, are adverbs. Prepositions serve to connect words with one another and to shew the relation between them. They require some word after them to complete the sense; as, come to me, up, down, to, from, for, are prepositions. Conjunctions join words and sentences together, as you and I are going, but she stays at home. Interjections express some emotion of the mind as, Alas! Oh! Ah! I am afraid, my dear, you are quite tired of this long lesson, but I don't expect you to remember all I have told you; we will talk over a very small portion of it every day, and then in time you will be able to tell me what part of speech any word is that I may ask you.—I will give you a little example to shew you what I mean and then you shall run away. The rose in your nosegay was very beautiful a little while ago; but alas! it is now quite dead! The, an article definite—rose, a substantive, neuter gender, singular number—in, a preposition—your, a possessive pronoun—nosegay, a substantive—was, a verb neuter past tense—very, an adverb—beautiful, an adjective—a, an article indefinite—little, an adjective—while, a substantive—ago, an adverb—but, a conjunction—alas!, an interjection—it, a personal pronoun neuter gender—is, a verb—now, an adverb—quite, an adverb,—dead, a verb, participle passive. Children might soon understand that a case in grammar signifies the different terminations of nouns and pronouns. A noun has two cases, the nominative which simply names the object: it generally precedes the verb, and answers to the questions who? which? what? The genitive denotes possession and is formed by adding an apostrophe, and the letter s to the nominative; it answers to the question whose? When the plural nominative ends in s the apostrophe only is added: ex. Anne plays. Who? Anne.—Mary's gown. Whose? Mary's.—Birds' feathers. Whose? Birds'. A personal pronoun has two cases the nominative and the objective. The nominative precedes the verb, and requires it to be of the same person and number as itself; it answers to the questions, who? which? what? The objective follows the verb, and answers to the question whom? ex. I dance, who? I.—We love her, whom? her. [Pg 51] [Pg 52] [Pg 53] [Pg 54] [Pg 55] [Pg 56] [Pg 57] [Pg 58] Singular. Plural. Nom. Objec. Nom. Objec. I Me We Us Thou Thee You You He Him They Them She Her It It The accusative case of the relative pronoun who is whom. CHAPTER IV SUNDAY. Mrs. Harley. Come hither, my love: you know that to-day is called Sunday, and is set apart for the observance of religious duties. You have read in the Bible that God created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that therein is, in the space of six days, that he rested on the seventh, and called that day holy, ordering his people so to observe it, and to abstain from every kind of labour throughout its duration. Therefore, the Jews, to whom this commandment was originally given, keep their sabbath on Saturday, the last day in the week; but Christians, who have been taught the blessed religion of Jesus, begin the week with praising God. No command for changing the day of worship seems ever to have been given, either by our Saviour or the apostles; but we know that it was the custom of the earliest Christians, even during our Lord's time, to meet together on the first day of the week for the purpose of holding religious assemblies; and all nations which have embraced the religion of the New Testament have adhered to this practice. Anne. Thank you, mamma. Will you now perform your promise of giving me a new morning and evening prayer? Mrs. Harley. In the evening I will, my dear; but at present, I wish to give you a short account of the contents of the books contained in the sacred volumes. As yet you have only read detached parts of them, and before you proceed to a more general perusal, it may be useful to have some distinct idea of the whole. The account I shall give you I have chiefly extracted from Dr. Prettyman's Elements of Christian Theology. All the books of the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, excepting a few passages towards the conclusion of the volume, which appear in the Chaldee tongue. The English translation used in all our churches was begun and completed in the reign of James the first. The five first books of the Bible are, Genesis, which begins with an account of the creation of the world, and ends with the death of Joseph. Exodus, which relates the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt; their bondage in that country, deliverance by Moses, and the promulgation of the law. Leviticus, which describes the offices and duties of the Levites and priests. Numbers, which contains an account of the numbering of the people in the wilderness when a very miraculous increase was found to have taken place since the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt. Deuteronomy, which contains a repetition of the civil and moral law, and ends with the death of Moses. These five books are called the Pentateuch, and were written by Moses. They contain the history of 2552 years and a half. Joshua, contains an account of the conquest and division of Canaan among the twelve tribes, and ends with the death of Joshua. This book is supposed to have been written by himself, excepting the last few verses, which were added by one of his successors. Judges gives an account of the Jewish history from the death of Moses to that of Sampson. It was most probably written by Samuel. Ruth contains the history of the person of that name, a native of Moab: she married Boaz an Israelite, and was the great grandmother of David. This book is generally ascribed to Samuel. The first book of Samuel completes the government [Pg 59] [Pg 60] [Pg 61] [Pg 62] [Pg 63] [Pg 64] [Pg 65] of the Judges, and relates the appointment of Saul to be king of Israel, the rejection of his family, and the anointing of David. The second book of Samuel continues the history of David after the death of Saul. Most probably, Samuel wrote the first 24 chapters of the first book, and the prophets Gad and Nathan the remainder of it, and all the second. The first book of Kings commences with an account of the death of David, and continues to that of Jehosaphat. The second book of Kings continues the history of the kings of Judah and Israel to the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. These books were probably compiled by Ezra, from the records which were kept both at Jerusalem and Samaria of all public transactions. The two books of Chronicles contain a great many genealogical tables, and various circumstances omitted in the other historical books of Scripture. Ezra, continues the Jewish history from the edict of Cyrus (which permitted the Jews to return to their own land, and rebuild their temple,) to the reform effected among them, by Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra wrote part of this book in Chaldee. Nehemiah gives an account of his own appointment to the government of Judea, and his administration to the year of the world 3595, at which period the scripture history closes. Esther, contains the history of a Jewish captive of that name, who by her good qualities gained the affections of Ahasuerus, and was by him raised to the throne of Persia. It is supposed that by Ahasuerus is meant Artaxerxes Longimanus. There is great diversity of opinion concerning the author of this book; it has been ascribed to Ezra, to Mordecai, and to the joint labours of the great synagogue. Job, contains the history of a man remarkable for his piety and patience, under severe afflictions. The author of this book is very uncertain. Some ascribe it to Moses, others to Job himself. The Psalms, are a collection of hymns in praise of God, written by different persons, but as the greater part of them was composed by David, they are generally called the Psalms of David. The Proverbs, are a collection of short sentences, written by Solomon, in which much excellent advice is contained. Ecclesiastes, is supposed to have been written by Solomon, after he repented of the idolatry and sin into which he fell, towards the close of his life, and with the design to point out the vanity of worldly pursuits, in order to induce men to prepare for that state, where there will be no vanity nor vexation of spirit. The Song of Solomon, is a pastoral dialogue, supposed to have been written by him, upon his marriage with the daughter of Pharoah. It is universally allowed that the 16 Prophetical Books, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, which describe the desolation of Judah, during the Babylonian captivity, and prophecy the still greater misfortunes to be suffered at a future time, were written by the persons whose names they bear. The four great prophets were, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.—The twelve minor prophets were, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The books of the New Testament were all originally written in Greek; except St. Matthew's Gospel, and St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, which many commentators suppose to have been originally composed in Hebrew, and then immediately translated into Greek; but opinions in this respect are much divided. The Four Gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, give an account of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of our Saviour. The Acts of the Apostles written by Luke, gives an historical account of the progress of Christianity after our Saviour's ascension. The latter part of the book is confined to the history of Saint Paul, of whom St. Luke was the constant companion for many years. Of the fourteen Epistles ascribed to St. Paul, viz. Romans, 1 and 2 to the Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 to the Thessalonians, 1 and 2 to Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Hebrews, the first thirteen have, in all ages of the Church, been universally acknowledged to be written by him. Many doubts have been entertained concerning the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. St. Paul was born at Tarsus the principal city of Cilicia in Asia Minor, and was by birth both a Jew and a citizen of Rome. St. Paul is not mentioned in the Gospels, nor is it known whether he ever heard our Saviour preach. His name is first noticed in the account of St. Stephen's Martyrdom, which was followed by a severe persecution of the Church at Jerusalem, in which St. Paul, (who was then called Saul) distinguished himself among its enemies, by his activity and violence. He was going to Damascus, to bring back bound any Christians whom he might find there, when his miraculous conversion took place: after which, he became one of the most zealous preachers of the Gospel; and as he devoted much of his time to the instruction of the Gentiles, he is called the Apostle of the Gentiles. Gentiles, was the appellation by which all nations were distinguished, that were not Jews, and consequently the Gentiles were Pagans. St. Paul performed many voyages and journies in the service of the [Pg 66] [Pg 67] [Pg 68] [Pg 69] [Pg 70] [Pg 71] [Pg 72] [Pg 73] Christian religion, and the New Testament history closes A. D. 63, with his release from a two years imprisonment at Rome; no ancient author has left any particulars of the remaining part of this Apostle's life. The Epistle of St. James was written by that Apostle, who is called James the Less, the son of Alphæus or Cleophat, which are supposed to be the same name, differently written. It contains much excellent instruction. The two Epistles of St. Peter, were written by that Apostle, who enjoyed the favour of his divine master, in a peculiar degree. St. Peter seems to have been almost the constant companion of our Lord, and was extremely zealous in propagating his religion, though he was occasionally led into great errors, particularly the denial of his master, but his bitter remorse and repentance, prove that his sorrow for this crime was sincere. He admitted Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, into the Christian faith, but as the chief of his instructions were confined to the Jews, he is called the apostle of the Jews. The three Epistles of St. John, were written by the apostle who was favoured with the greatest share of our Saviour's affection. He leaned on his bosom at the last supper, and was one of the first who were made acquainted with his resurrection. The Epistle of St. Jude was written by the apostle, who was also called Lebbæus and Thaddæus, he was the brother of James the Less, and excepting in the catalogue of the apostles, is only once mentioned in the Gospels. (John chap. 14, verse 22). The Revelation of John the divine, was written by the same Evangelist and Apostle who wrote the Gospels and Epistles bearing that name. The Revelation is a prophetical book, and was written by St. John, during his banishment to the isle of Patmos, in the time of Domitian. St. John is supposed to have been the youngest of the Apostles, and to have survived all the rest. He died at Ephesus in Asia Minor, in the third year of the emperor Trajan's reign, A. D. 100.—The Apostles were twelve good men, whom Jesus chose to be the ministers of his gospel. They were entrusted with the power of working miracles: and their names were, Simon Peter, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphæus (called also James the Less,) Thaddeus whose sirname was Jude, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot.—After the death of Judas Iscariot who betrayed our Saviour, Matthias was chosen in his stead. The Disciples of Christ, were those who learned of him as their master. Thus, my dear, I have given you a short account of all the books contained in the sacred volumes. I will now mention to you, a few of the principal Jewish sects, and then proceed to some description of the history of that people. There does not appear to have been any difference of religious opinions among the Jews, till after the cessation of prophecy: most of them sprang up, subsequent to the return from the Babylonian captivity. The Scribes are not usually considered as a religious sect: they were writers of the law, and often perverted the meaning of the text, instead of explaining it. "Scribes," "doctors of the law," and "lawyers," were only differ...