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CHOICE SELECTIONS

IN

POETRY AND PROSE,

BOTH NEW AND OLD:

EMBRACING

THE MOST POPULAR PATRIOTIC EFFUSIONS OF THE DAY, THE
RAREST POETICAL GEMS, THE FINEST SPECIMENS OF
ORATORY, AND A FUND OF MIRTH
AND HUMOR.

DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF ACADEMIES, SCHOOLS, PRIVATE
CLASSES, AND THE HOME CIRCLE; AND ESPECIALLY
ADAPTED TO THE USE OF LITERARY SOCIE-
TIES, EXHIBITION-ROOMS, AND OTHER
PUBLIC OCCASIONS,

BY

NATHANIEL K. RICHARDSON,

PROFESSOR OF ELOCUTION AND READING IN VARIOUS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
INSTITUTIONS OF LEARNING.

PHILADELPHIA:

PUBLISHED BY P. GARRETT & CO.,

702 CHESTNUT STREET.

1866.

A

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by

P. GARRETT & CO.,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

LINEAWEAVER & WALLACE,
Book and Job Printers,

31 South Third St., Philada.

Stereotyped by

WESTCOTT & THOMSON.

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OUR only excuse for offering this little work to an appreciative public is the clear conviction that there is a demand for it. An experience of ten years in the school-room has convinced us of the need of a book containing only the best selections from our multiplicity of readers, and also from other sources; and furnished at such a price, that every child in the land may possess it.

This we flatter ourselves we have done, and here present a work, that will be found truly valuable as a class book, either alone, or to use in alternation with larger readers in our various institutions of learning.

For recitations and declamations in Lyceums, literary meetings, and the parlor, it offers rare advantages, containing, as it does, just such selections as would be chosen, and is light and convenient to carry; to say nothing about the price, which is so low, as to place it within the reach of all.

The selections have been made with great care by a popular elocutionist and teacher of this city, with a view to combine Patriotism, Sentiment, Eloquence, and Humor, in proper proportion; and a glance at the table of contents will satisfy any one of the successful achievement of this object, and, also, show that the material has been chosen from the highest sources our country can afford.

About one half of the selections are entirely new, many of which have not previously appeared in book form; while the older ones are composed of such as will never lose their interest and value;-about one-fourth of all are prose selections, from fresh and standard sources;—and in order to avoid monotony, and supply another demand, nearly one fourth is composed of gems of wit and drollery, in prose and verse.

66

Altogether, the book is just what we intended it to be, and pardon the egotism when we say, we are pleased with it;" but we send it forth to seek its own level, feeling assured that whatever merit it may contain, will be appreciated by a discriminating THE PUBLISHERS.

public.

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 1866.

Juila

2077

3

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