Essays From
THE ILLUSTRATED
LONDON READING BOOK

Circa 1850


The Illustrated London Reading Book.

 

LONDON:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE

OF

THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS,

198, STRAND.

1851.

THIRD EDITION, WITH ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS


Prince Albert in His Robes As Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
 


INTRODUCTION.

Introduction.
To read and speak with elegance and ease,

Are arts polite that never fail to please;

Yet in those arts how very few excel!

Ten thousand men may read—not one read well.

Though all mankind are speakers in a sense,

How few can soar to heights of eloquence!

The sweet melodious singer trills her lays,

And listening crowds go frantic in her praise;

But he who reads or speaks with feeling true,

Charms and delights, instructs, and moves us too.

Browne.

Letter T.

To deprive Instruction of the terrors with which the young but too often regard it, and strew flowers upon the pathways that lead to Knowledge, is to confer a benefit upon all who are interested in the cause of Education, either as Teachers or Pupils. The design of the following pages is not merely to present to the youthful reader some of the masterpieces of English literature in prose and verse, arranged and selected in such a manner as to please as well as instruct, but to render them more agreeable to the eye and the imagination by Pictorial Representations, in illustration of the subjects. It is hoped that this design has not been altogether unsuccessful, and that the ILLUSTRATED LONDON READING BOOK will recommend itself both to old and young by the appropriateness of the selections, their progressive arrangement, the fidelity of their Illustrations, and the very moderate price at which it is offered to the public.

It has not been thought necessary to prefix to the present Volume any instructions in the art of Elocution, or to direct the accent or intonation of the student by the abundant use of italics or of large capitals. The principal, if not the only secrets of good reading are, to speak slowly, to articulate distinctly, to pause judiciously, and to feel the subject so as, if possible, "to make all that passed in the mind of the Author to be felt by the Auditor," Good oral example upon these points is far better for the young Student than the most elaborate written system.

A series of Educational Works, in other departments of study, similarly illustrated, and at a price equally small, is in preparation. Among the earliest to be issued, may be enumerated a Sequel and Companion to the ILLUSTRATED LONDON READING BOOK, designed for a more advanced class of Students, and consisting of extracts from English Classical Authors, from the earliest periods of English Literature to the present day, with a copious Introductory Chapter upon the arts of Elocution and Composition. The latter will include examples of Style chosen from the beauties of the best Authors, and will also point out by similar examples the Faults to be avoided by all who desire to become, not simply good Readers and Speakers, but elegant Writers of their native language.

Amongst the other works of which the series will be composed, may be mentioned, profusely Illustrated Volumes upon Geographical, Astronomical, Mathematical, and General Science, as well as works essential to the proper training of the youthful mind.

January, 1850.

Decoration.

CONTENTS

For the time being, any titles without a link
can be read from this page HERE.

Abbey, Account of Strata Florida 
Adam and Eve in Paradise (Milton)
Alfred, Anecdote of King (Beauties Of History)
Alfred, Character of King (Hume)
Angling, Lines on (Doubleday)
Antioch, The Siege of (Popular Delusions)
Artillery Tactics
Athens, Present Appearance of
Attock, Description of the Fort of
Bacon, Remarks on Lord (D'Israeli)
Balloons, Account of
Baltic, Battle of the (Campbell)
Beetle, The
Bell, The Founding of the (Mackay)
Bible, Value of the (Buck)
Birds, Appropriateness of the Songs of (Dr. Jenner)
Bower-Birds, Description of the
Bridges, Account of Tubular Railway
Bunyan's Wife, Anecdote of (Lord Campbell)
Bushmen, Account of the
Caesar, Character of Julius (Middleton)
Canada, Intense Cold of (Sir F. Head)
Canary, Account of the
Charity (Prior)
Chatterton, Lines by
Cheerfulness, Description of (Addison)
China, Account of the Great Wall of
Christian Freedom (Pollock)
Clarendon, Account of Lord
Cobra di Capello, Description of the
Condors, Account of
Cruelty to Animals, Wickedness of (Jenyns)
Culloden Battle-field, Description of (Highland Note-Book)
Cyprus, Description of

Danish Encampment, Account of a
Deity, Omniscience of the (Addison)
Dogs, A Chapter on
Dove, Return of the (Mackay)
Edward VI., Character of (Burnet)
Elegy in a Country Churchyard (Gray)
Elizabeth (Queen), at Tilbury Fort (English History)
Envy, Wickedness of (Dr. Johnson)
Faith's Guiding Star (Eliza Cook)
Farewell (Barton)
Filial Love (Dr. Dodd)
Fortitude (Blair)
Fox, Description of the Long-eared
Frederick of Prussia and his Page (Beauties Of History)
Gambier Islanders, Account of
Gelert (W. Spencer)
Gentleness, Character of (Blair)
Goldsmith, Remarks on the Style of (Campbell)
Goliah Aratoo, Description of the
Greece, Isles of (Byron)
Greece, The Shores of (Byron)
Gresham, Account of Sir Thomas
Grief, The First (Mrs. Hemans)
Grouse, Description of the
Hagar and Ishmael, Story of
Hampden, Account of John
Hercules, The Choice of (Tatler)
Holly Bough (Mackay)
Hope (Campbell)
Iguana, Description of the
Industry, Value of (Blair)
Integrity (Dr. Dodd)
Ivy in the Dungeon (Mackay)
"Jack The Giant Killer," Origin of (Carlyle)
Jalapa, Description of
Jewels, Description of the Crown
Joppa, Account of
Jordan, Description of the River
Jordan's Banks (Byron)
Juggernaut, Account of the Car of
Kaffir Chiefs, Account of

Kaffir Letter-carrier, Account of
Kangaroo, Description of the
Knowledge, on the Attainment of (Dr. Watts)
Leopard, Description of the Black
Lighthouse, Description of Hartlepool
Lilies (Mrs. Hemans)
Mangouste, Description of the
Mariana (Tennyson)
Mariners of England (Campbell)
Martello Towers, Account of
Mary's (Queen) Bower, at Chatsworth
Microscope, Revelations of the (Dr. Mantell)
Midnight Thoughts (Young)
Mill-stream, Lines on a (Mary Howitt)
Music, Remarks on (Usher)
Napoleon, Character of (General Foy)
Nature and its Lord
Nature, The Order of (Pope)
Naval Tactics
Nests of Birds, Construction of (Sturm)
Niagara, Account of the Falls of (Sir James Alexander)
Nightingale and Glowworm (Cowper)
Olive, Description of the
Othello's History (Shakspeare)
Owls, Account of
Owls, (Two) and the Sparrow (Gay)
Palm-Tree, Account of the
Palm-Tree, Lines on a (Mrs. Hemans)
Parrot, Lines on a (Campbell)
Patmos, Description of the Isle of
Paul and Virginia, Supposed Tombs of
Pekin, Description of 
Peter the Hermit Preaching the First Crusade (Popular Delusions)
Poetry, Rise of, among the Romans (Spence)
Polar Regions, Description of the
Pompeii, Account of
Poor, The Afflicted (Crabbe)
Pyramid Lake, Account of the
Railway Tunnels, Difficulties of
Rainbow, Account of a Lunar
Rattlesnake, Account of the (F. T. Buckland)
Rome, Lines on (Rogers)
Rookery, Dialogue about a (Evenings At Home)
Sardis, Description of
Schoolboy's Pilgrimage (Jane Taylor)
Seasons (Thomson)
Shakspeare, Remarks on
Sheep, Description of Thibetan
Sierra Nevada, Description of the (Fremont's Travel)
Siloam, Account of the Pool of
Sleep, Henry IV.'s Soliloquy on (Shakspeare)
Sloth, Description of the
Smyrna, Description of
Staffa, Description of (Highland Note-Book)
Stag, The hunted (Sir W. Scott)
Starling, Story of a (Sterne)  Reason gone smashed.
St. Bernard, Account of the Dogs of (The Menageries)
St. Cecilia, Ode to (Dryden)
Stepping-stones, The (Wordsworth)
Stony Cross, Description of
Stream, the Nameless (Mackay)
Study, Remarks on (Lord Bacon)
Sun Fish, Capture of a (Captain Bedford, R. N.)
Sydney, Generosity of Sir Philip (Beauties Of History)
Tabor, Description of Mount
Tapir, Description of the
Telegraph, Account of the Electric (Sir F. Head)
Time, What is it? (Rev. J. Marsden)
Turkish Customs
Tyre, the Siege of (Langhorne's Plutarch)
Una and the Lion (Spenser)
Universe, Grandeur of the (Addison)
Vocabulary
Waterloo, Description of the Field of
Winter Thoughts (Thomson)
Writing, On Simplicity in (Hume)

Return to the essays 
*
 Return to the Front Page