The English Reader, Or Pieces in Prose and Poetry

PART I.

Page

3. On forgiveness,

5. A suspicious temper the source of misery to its

possessor,

58

6. Comforts of religion,

59

7. Diffidence of our abilities a mark of wisdom,

60

8. On the importance of order in the distribution of

our time,

61

9. The dignity of virtue amidst corrupt examples,

:

62

10. The mortifications of vice greater than those of virtue,

64

SECT. 1. Happiness is founded in rectitude of conduct,

2. Virtue man's highest interest,

3. The injustice of an uncharitable spirit,

SECT. 4. The misfortunes of men mostly chargeable on them-

selves,

5. On disinterested friendship,

6. On the immortality of the soul,

SECT. 1. The seasons,

2. The cataract of Niagara, in Canada, North America,

3. The grotto of Antiparos,

4. The grotto of Antiparos continued,

5. Earthquake at Catanea,

6. Creation,

7. Charity,

8. Prosperity is redoubled to a good man,

9. On the beauties of the Psalms,

10. Character of Alfred, king of England,

11. Character of Queen Elizabeth,

12. On the slavery of vice,

13. The man of integrity,

14. Gentleness,

Pathetic Pieces.

SECT. 1. Trial and execution of the Earl of Strafford,

101

2. An eminent instance of true fortitude of mind,

102

3. The good man's comfort in affliction,

103

4. The close of life,

104

5. Exalted society, and the renewal of virtuous connexions,

SECT. 1. Cicero against Verres,

2. Speech of Adherbal to the Roman Senate, imploring

their protection against Jugurtha,

121

124

3. The Apostle Paul's noble defence before Festus and

Agrippa,

126

SECT. 4. Lord Mansfield's speech in the House of Lords, 1770,

on the bill for preventing the delays of justice, by

claiming the privilege of parliament,

5. An address to young persons,

SECT. 1. Earthquake at Calabria, in the year 1638,

2. Letter from Pliny to Geminius,

136

139

3. Letter from Pliny to Marcellinus, on the death of an

5. On the government of our thoughts,

143

6. On the evils which flow from unrestrained passions,

145

7. On the proper state of our temper, with respect to one

another,

146

8. Excellence of the Holy Scriptures,

148

9. Reflections occasioned by a review of the blessings,

pronounced by Christ on his disciples, in his sermon

13. The influence of devotion on the happiness of life,

155

14. The planetary and terrestrial worlds comparatively

considered,

157

15. On the power of custom, and the uses to which it

may be applied,

159

16. The pleasures resulting from a proper use of our

19. What are the real and solid enjoyments of human

23. Virtue, when deeply rooted, is not subject to the in-

fluence of fortune,

173

24. The speech of Fabricius, a Roman ambassador, to

king Pyrrhus, who attempted to bribe him to his

interests, by the offer of a great sum of money,

25. Character of James I. king of England,

26. Charles V. emperor of Germany, resigns his dominions,

and retires from the world,

27. The same subject continued,

Select Sentences and Paragraphs.

SECT. 1. Short and easy sentences,

2. Verses in which the lines are of different length,

3. Verses containing exclamations, interrogations, and

parentheses,

4. Verses in various forms,

5. Verses in which sound corresponds to signification,

6. Paragraphs of greater length,

CHAPTER II.

Narrative Pieces.

SECT. 1. The bear and the bees,

2. The nightingale and the glow-worm,

3. The trials of virtue,

4. The youth and the philosopher,

5. Discourse between Adam and Eve, retiring to rest,

6. Religion and death,

5. A paraphrase on the latter part of the 6th chapter

of Matthew,

205

6. The death of a good man a strong incentive to-

virtue,

200

7. Reflections on a future state, from a review of

10. That philosophy, which stops at secondary causes,

2. Rural sounds, as well as rural sights, delightful,

213

3. The rose,

214

SECT. 4. Care of birds for their young,

Page 214

5. Liberty and slavery contrasted,

215

6. Charity. A paraphrase on the 13th chapter of the

First Epistle to the Corinthians,

216

7. Picture of a good man,

917

8. The pleasures of retirement,

219

9. The pleasure and benefit of an improved and well

directed imagination,

220

4. Elegy to pity,

ib:

5. Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk,
during his solitary abode in the Island of Juan

Fernandez,

225

6. Gratitude,

7. A man perishing in the snow; from whence reflec

8. The fire-side,

240

9. Providence vindicated in the present state of man,

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The English Reader, Or Pieces in Prose and Poetry: Selected from the Best ...