y -%., ^ P I ^ «♦ .<: v> ^ V* ^ i> ^ £> £■ t* a?*. aV p- % +*. •£. V> ^ THE ELEMEITS OF PUICTUATION; »k Soto an % te of Capital f *ito. AN ABEIDGMENT "TREATISE ON ENGLISH PUNCTUATION. PREPARED FOR SCHOOLS. BY JOHN WILSON. BOSTON : CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD. 1856. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by JOHN WILSON AND SON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. BOSTON : PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, No. 22, School Street. PEEFACE. At the urgent request of teachers, the author has abridged his " Treatise on English Punctuation," and now presents it, in a condensed shape, with a view to its being generally adopted in common schools. He has omitted the Essay which forms the Introduction to that work, the list of Abbre- viations, the chapter on the Preparation of Copy and on Proof-reading, the Index, and almost all that relates pecu- liarly to authors and printers ; but has, he thinks, retained every thing essential to the knowledge of an art, which, though long neglected or imperfectly comprehended even by a majority of literary men, should be understood by all persons, whether they be readers or writers. By the advice of those whom he has been permitted to con- sult, and to whom he is indebted for various suggestions, the author has interspersed throughout the book a few hints to teachers ; and these he submits to them, in the hope that they will in most cases be found serviceable. But, having been placed by Providence in a sphere of labor different from the honorable and influential one of personally instructing youth, PREFACE. he would not prescribe any definite and unvarying mode of teaching the art which he has attempted to set forth : he has, therefore, composed the book according to a plan which will render it susceptible of being used, in a great measure, according to the taste and judgment of the teacher himself. The rules, the remarks, and the various kinds of exercises, he has so arranged as at once to meet the eye; and the instructor may, at discretion, require his pupil, either, as a first course, to take up only the rules with their explanations, and the exercises on the rules ; or to go regularly through the book, and acquire thorough information on one branch before proceeding to another. 22, School Street, Boston, August, 1856. ra CONTENTS. CHAP. I. — NATURE AND PLAN OF THE WORK. Page. The Uses of Punctuation 1 Grammatical Requisites, and Definitions of the Terms used .... 2 CHAP. II. — THE GRAMMATICAL POINTS. Introductory Observations 8 SECT. I. — THE COMMA. Remarks on the Use of the Comma * 9 Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, connected by the Conjunctions and, or, nor 10 Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a Conjunction 13 Series of Words of the Same Part of Speech 16 Words or Phrases in Apposition 19 Words or Phrases in Contrast 22 The Subject and the Predicate 25 Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses 29 Intermediate Phrases and Clauses 34 Vocative Words, Phrases, and Clauses 37 Adjectival, Participial, and Absolute Phrases 38 Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases 40 Phrases at the End of Sentences or Clauses 44 Inverted or Transposed Expressions 47 One Clause depending on Another 51 Correlative Words, Phrases, and Clauses 54 Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction 57 Clauses having a Verb understood 61 Clauses consisting of Short Quotations or Remarks 64 Numeral Figures and Words 67 « Vi CONTENTS. SECT. H. — THE SEMICOLON. Page. A Sentence consisting of Two Conjoined Clauses 68 Expressions divided into Simpler Parts 71 A Series of Expressions having a Common Dependence 73 Short Sentences slightly Connected 76 Lists of Words, Phrases, and Numbers 78 SECT. HI. — THE COLON. Two Clauses not joined by a Conjunction 79 Conjoined Members of Sentences 82 Quotations, Kemarks, &c, formally Introduced 84 SECT. IV. — THE PERIOD. Complete and Independent Sentences p 86 Names, Titles, and other Words, abbreviated 89 Marks or Figures used instead of Words 90 Letters used for Figures or Words 90 CHAP. HI. — THE GRAMMATICAL AND RHETORICAL POINTS. Introductory Observations 92 SECT. I. — NOTES OF INTERROGATION AND EXCLAMATION. Expressions in the Form of Questions 93 Expressions indicating Passion or Emotion 96 SECT. n. — MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. Words thrown obliquely into the Body of a Sentence 99 SECT. ni. — THE DASH. Broken and Epigrammatic Sentences 103 A Concluding Clause on which other Expressions depend 106 Words repeated Ehetorically 108 Intermediate Expressions which are divisible Ill Ellipsis of the Adverb " Namely " 114 Omission of Letters or Figures 116 Subheads, &c, to Paragraphs 116 CONTENTS. Vll CHAP. IV. — LETTER, SYLLABIC, AND QUOTATION POINTS. Page. Introductory Observations 117 SECT. I. — THE APOSTROPHE. Contractions, or Words Shortened 118 The Genitive or Possessive Case 121 SECT. n. — THE HYPHEN. Kemarks on the Uses of the Hyphen 124 Compound Words 125 Prefixes in Derivative Words 126 The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Pronunciation 130 The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Form, Deri- vation, or Meaning 130 SECT. III. — MARKS OF QUOTATION. Words borrowed from a Speaker or an Author 132 One Quotation within Another 133 Extracts composed of Successive Paragraphs 134 CHAP. V. — MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. Brackets, or Crotchets 137 A Comma Inverted 137 Two Commas 138 The Index, or Hand 138 Three Stars . .138 The Caret 138 The Brace 138 Leaders . . ^ 138 Marks of Ellipsis 139 Accents 139 Marks of Quantity 139 The Cedilla 140 The Tilde , 140 Marks of Reference 140 Vlll CONTENTS. RULES ON THE USE OF CAPITALS. Page. The First Word of a Book, Tract, &c 141 The First Word after a Full Point 141 Appellations of God and Christ 142 Titles of Honor and Eespect 142 Names of Persons, Places, &c 143 Nouns and Adjectives derived from Proper Names 143 Words of Primary Importance 144 The Pronoun /, and the Interjection 145 Commencement of Lines in Verse 145 Prosopopoeia, or Personification 145 Quotations, Examples, &c 146 Capitals used instead of Figures 146 Titlepages, Inscriptions, &c 146 GENERAL EXERCISES. The Two Roads, by Jean Paul Richter ^ . . 147 A Taste for Reading, by George S. Hillard 149 Ancient and Modern Writers, by Charles Sumner 151 The Pen and the Press, by John Critchley Prince 152 ELEMENTS ENGLISH PUNCTUATION. CHAPTER I. NATURE AND PLAN OF THE WORK, AND DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. What Punctuation is. — Punctuation is the art of dividing a written or printed discourse into sentences, and parts of sentences, by means of certain marks called points, for the purpose of exhibiting the various combinations, con- nections, and dependences of words. Its Uses. — The uses of Punctuation consist primarily in its developing, with as much clearness as possible, the sense and the grammatical constructions of a composition ; and secondarily in showing, to some extent, the various pauses which are requisite for accurate reading or delivery. Plan of the Work. — In entering on the practical mode of attaining the information required, it is proposed, for the sake of order and of clearness of conception, to regard the subject as separable into branches. We will therefore treat, in the first place, of the marks pertaining to sentences, which may be divided into two kinds, — the common or principal points, which are chiefly of a grammatical nature ; and the less common but equally necessary points, which, occurring as they often do in animated composition, and being used for' the twofold purpose of bringing out the sense and 1 2 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. aiding the delivery, are entitled to be spoken of as both grammatical and rhetorical. We will, lastly, speak of other marks, which either bear a more intimate relation -to letters and syllables than to words and sentences, or are of a varied and mixed character ; and hence these may be termed letter, syllabic, quotation, and miscellaneous points. Grammatical Kequisites. — Before, however, commen- cing to study the laws which regulate the use of punctuation- marks, the learner should know at least as much of grammar as will enable him to distinguish the different parts of speech into which language may be resolved. Besides this, it is essential that he be acquainted with the various kinds of sentences, their usual constructions, and the mode in which they may be analyzed into their component parts. Taking, therefore, for granted that he is not entirely ignorant of the principles of the English language, we will intrude into the province of the grammarian, only so far as may be necessary for the pupil to form correct notions of the mean- ing of a few terms, which will frequently occur in the rules and remarks, and without a due knowledge of which he would be unable fully to comprehend the laws of Punctuation. definitions or terms. I. A Sentence is an assemblage of words, so arranged as to form a proposition, or two or more related propositions ; making, directly or indirectly, complete sense. IT. A Simple Sentence expresses only a simple proposition. It consists of one nominative, subject, or thing spoken of, and of a single predicate, or affirmation concerning the subject ; as, — 1. Calumny | destroys reputation. 2. The Creator | is good. 3. Kings | reign. In these propositions, the words which precede the perpendicular lines are the subjects, or nominatives ; and those which follow are the predicates. A logician would define a proposition by stating it to be a sentence consisting of a subject; of the copula, or sign of predication ; and DEFINITIONS OP TERMS. 3 of the predicate. But the explanation given will be found sufficiently correct for grammatical purposes. m. A Compound Sentence consists of two or more simple sen- tences in combination, and therefore contains more than one nomina- tive and finite verb, either expressed or understood ; as, — 1. Virtue refines the affections ; but vice debases them. 2. To err is human; to forgive, divine. 3. Age, though it lessens the enjoyment of life, increases our desire of living. That these sentences are compound will be seen at once by resolving each into two simple sentences : " Virtue refines the affections. Vice, on the other hand, debases the affections." — " To err is human. To forgive is divine." — " Age lessens the enjoyment of life. It, how- ever, increases our desire of living." IV. Members. — When a sentence consists of several clauses, admitting of a union of some and a separation of others, those which are combined may together be called members ; as, — The ox knoweth his owner, | and the ass his master's crib : || but Israel doth not know ; | my people do not consider. In this example there are four clauses : the first two forming one member ; the latter two, another member. In many books, however, the word "member" is used in its primary and more extensive sense, as denoting any portion of a sentence, whether a single clause, a phrase, or a word. V. A Clause is a simple sentence, or part of a sentence, united to another, and contains a nominative and a finite verb, either expressed or understood ; as, — 1. That high moral excellence is true greatness | cannot be denied. 2. Candor is a quality | Avhich all admire. 3. Though he slay me, | yet will I trust in him. 4. The smile of gayety may be assumed, | while the heart aches within. 5. Gentleness often disarms the fierce, | and melts the stubborn. When the subject of a proposition is itself a sentence, or contains a finite verb, as in No. 1, above, it is called a nominative clause; when a clause begins with a relative pronoun, as the last in No. 2, it is termed a relative clause ; when clauses are introduced by correspond- ing words, as " though " and " yet " in No. 3, they are named correla- tive ; when one clause is subject to another for completeness of sense, as those in No. 4, they are called dependent ; and when one is simply added to another, co-ordinate or consecutive clauses, as exemplified in No. 5. 4 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. VI. A Phrase consists of at least two words, being a form of expression, or a part of a sentence, which has no finite verb, expressed or understood ; and which, therefore, does not of itself assert any- thing, or make complete sense ; as, — 1. With speed. I 3. Awkward in person. I 5. Law and order. 2. Of all our senses. | 4. Studious of praise. j 6. A man of wisdom. In works on grammar, these and similar expressions are sometimes called imperfect phrases ; but the definition just given will preclude the necessity of using the epithet. An article or any unemphatic word and a noun, or the simple infinitive, — as, " a book," " the man," " to love," — will, to avoid circumlocution, be treated in the following pages, not as a phrase, but as a word. A nominative phrase consists of two or more words standing as the subject of a proposition ; as, " Certain things are agreeable." An adjectival, a participial, a prepositional phrase, are phrases severally beginning with an adjective, a participle, or a preposition ; as, " Boundless as their diversity ; accustomed to strife j with great pie? sure." Those phrases, however, which, though commencing with a preposition, may be used instead of single adverbs, are commonly spoken of as adverbial phrases ; as, " In haste," for " hastily." The nominative absolute, participle absolute, and infinitive absolute, are phrases so called because they are grammatically independent of the other portions of the sentence in which they occur ; as, " He having arrived, we returned to the city." — " Properly speaking, nothing is perfect." — " To begin with the first, I assert," &c. VH. Terms and Expressions. — To avoid repetition, a word or a phrase is sometimes called a term; and a phrase or a clause, an expression. VLTI. Construction. — The construction of a sentence is the mode in which its materials — its words, phrases, or clauses — are combined and arranged. (1) When two or more terms or expressions qualify another, (2) or are qualified by it; (3) when they act as nominatives to the same verb, as subjects of the same predicate ; (4) when they are predicated of the same subject; (5) when they govern the same word or phrase, or (6) are governed by the same verb, participle, or preposition, — they are said to be in the same construction ; as, — 1. The verses are hastily, and in many places unskilfully, written. 2. All people admire men of great learning, talent, or genius. 3. To soothe thy sickness and to watch thy health shall be my pleasure. 4. The baron was a most honorable, valiant, faithful, and friendly person. 5. Complaisance softens and humanizes men of fierce dispositions. 6. My history relates to a period too recent to be remarked, and too far gone to be familiar. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. 5 In the first example, the adverbs " hastily," " unskilfully," qualify the participle " written j " and, in the second, the nouns " learning, talent, genius," are qualified by the adjective " great." In the third example, the infinitive phrases, " to soothe thy sickness " and " to watch thy health," act as nominatives to the verb " shall be," or as subjects of the predicate " shall be my pleasure ; " while, in the fourth, the adjectives " honorable, valiant, faithful, friendly," are predicated of " the baron." In the fifth example, the verbs " softens," " human- izes," govern the phrase " men of fierce dispositions ; " and, in the sixth, the expressions, " a period too recent to be remarked," " too far gone to be familiar," are governed by the preposition " to," or by the phrase " relates to." The adverbs referred to in the first exam- ple, the nouns in the second, the infinitive or nominative phrases in the third, the adjectives in the fourth, the verbs in the fifth, and the expressions in the sixth, are, therefore, respectively said to be in the same construction. Phrases and clauses connected in the same sentence, and formed alike, but without governing or qualifying others or being governed or qualified by them, are sometimes said to be in the same construc- tion. But it would be better to call them co-ordinate or similarly formed expressions. IX. Intermediate Words. — A word, a phrase, or a clause, is called intermediate when it occurs between the extremities of a sen- tence, or of a part of a sentence, and, though required to bring out the full sense of a passage, is not essential to its construction ; as, — 1. Clouds and darkness, indeed, rest upon the future. 2. His views, though large and liberal, were never extravagant. 3. A geranium, which is all beauty, has no vanity. Here the terms and expressions, " indeed," " though large and libe- ral," "which is all beauty," are intermediate, because they do not begin or end each its own sentence, and, though necessary to the full sense, may be omitted without injury to the construction. Intermediate words, phrases, or clauses, are sometimes termed parenthetical. X. Correlatives. — When two words express reciprocal relations, or correspond one to another, they are termed correlative words ; as, " Pompey was not so brave a general as Caesar." — " Though the man was intellectually rich, yet he was morally poor." The phrases or clauses in which correlative words occur are called correlative expressions. Correlatives may be nouns, adjectives, or adverbs ; but those to which reference will be made in this work are chiefly of a conjunctive nature, denoting relations of various kinds, — sometimes that of con- nection, dependence, or consequence ; and sometimes of comparison, similitude, or equality. 6 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. XI. Apposition. — Nouns, pronouns, or phrases, or a noun or pronoun and a phrase, are said to be in apposition, when put in the same case, and signifying the same thing, or when one is used as ex- planatory of the other ; as, " The river Thames." XII. A Series denotes a succession of three or more words, phrases, or clauses, joined in construction ; as, — 1. The hermit's life is private, calm, devotional, and contemplative. 2. Fire of imagination, strength of mind, and firmness of soul, are rare gifts. 3. God's love watcheth over all, provideth for all, maketh wise adaptations for all. The first example exhibits a series of words ; the second, of phrases ; the third, of clauses. What are termed by elocutionists the members of a series will in this work be called particulars. XIII. A Compound Word consists of two or more simple or pri- mitive words ; as, — 1. Fireside. 3. Self-conceit. 2. Nevertheless. | 4. Fellow-workman. The simple words in compounds may, in general, be known from their being separately current in the language. For the sake of brevity, they are sometimes called simples or primitives. The term Derivative is restricted to a compound word, the por- tions of which are not each separately used in English ; as, manly, excitement, consciousness, generalization ; prospectus, circumstance, philosopher, theology. ORAL. EXERCISES. Mention the nature and uses of Punctuation, and analyze the following pieces of composition, agreeably to the present chapter : * — lo Studies. — Reading makes a full man ; conversation, a ready man ; and writing, an exact man. If, therefore, a man write little, he had need have a great memory ; if he converse little, he had need have a present wit ; and, if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that which he doth not. — Lord Bacon, slightly altered. * Hint to the Teacher. — After the pupil has read the first exercise, or a portion of the others, the teacher may request him to point out the sentences of which it consists, to particularize the various clauses and phrases into which these sentences are divided, and to name severally the nominatives, or the subjects of propositions, and their predicates. It is also desirable that the pupil should show the principles according to which the sentences are constructed, by indicating such portions aa either modify or govern others, or are modified and governed by them. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS. ORAL EXERCISES (CONTINUED). 2. GENIUS. — One may have a considerable degree of taste in poetry, eloquence, or any of the fine arts, who has little or hardly any genius for composition or execution in any of these arts ; but genius cannot be found without including, taste also. Genius, therefore, deserves to be considered as a higher power of the mind than taste. Genius always imports something inventive or creative, which does not rest in mere sensibility to beauty where it is perceived, but which can moreover produce new beauties, and exhibit them in such a man- ner as strongly to impress the minds of others. Refined taste forms a good critic ; but genius is further necessary to form the poet or the orator. — Blair. 3. Love of Country. — The love of country, while good in mo- deration, becomes absurd and mischievous when carried to excess, or not governed by reason. We must not allow it to blind us to our defects as a nation, or to errors calling for correction in our social policy. We must not, because we love our own country, hate or despise other countries and their inhabitants : that would be as bad as if every man were to think so highly of himself as to believe that no other person had equal honor or virtue. While ready also to defend our country from unjust aggression, we must take care lest a disposition arise in us to use arms, without sufficient provocation, against neighboring countries ; for war is a tremendous evil, which should never be resorted to but under the strongest necessity. While seeking to promote the interests of our country in its manufactures and commerce, we must not allow ourselves to suppose, that, by injur- ing other countries in these respects, our own country will be benefited. Every country has, on the contrary, an interest in the prosperity of all other countries ; for, when any one is prosperous, it becomes able to buy from others what those others have to sell. In short, all the rules for the conduct of individuals apply equally to nations. We are to love ourselves so far as to seek by all fair means to advance our own interests ; but we are also to love our fellow-creatures, and do them all the good in our power. So a nation may love itself so far as to seek by all fair means to advance its own interests 5 but it is also to love its neighbors, and do them all possible good, and certainly no evil. Such conduct, in both cases alike, is good for both parties : for the more comfortable, happy, and good our neighbors are, it is the pleasanter and more profitable for us to live in the midst of them ; and the more prosperous, contented, and peaceable other countries are, it is the better for the prosperity and tranquillity of our own, — Chambers's Moral Class-Book* * Hint to the Teacher. —To elicit from his pupils further analyses of sentences, the teacher may select a well-written and appropriate piece from any of the re>:*cliug- books used in the school. CHAPTER II. THE GRAMMATICAL POINTS. In accordance with the plan which we have proposed, this chapter will be devoted to the consideration of the principal sentential marks, namely, — 1. The Comma . . . . ... ... . . [ , ] 2. The Semicolon [ ; ] 3. The Colon [ : ] 4. The Period ;...[.] The Comma marks the smallest grammatical division of a sentence, and usually represents the shortest pause ; the Semi- colon and the Colon separate those portions which are less connected than those divided by Commas, and admit each of a greater pause ; and the Period is, what its name denotes, a full stop, which commonly terminates a sentence.* The following passage, exemplifying the four grammatical points, will show how well they are fitted to mark out and to separate the classes of words of which discourse is composed : — He speaks, and his mandate is obeyed; he wishes, and his wish is gra- tified : all whom he sees obey him, and all whom he hears flatter him. But very different, Gregory, is thy condition. * Hint to the Teacher,. — The teacher should hear in mind, that the names of the points have been borrowed from the terms which ancient rhetoricians employed to indicate the various kinds of sentences, and the parts of which they consist. Thus the Period signified a complete circuit of words, — a sentence, making, from its com- mencement to its close, full and perfect sense ; the Colon was the greatest member or division of a period or sentence ; while the Comma indicated a smaller segment of the period, — the least constructive part of a sentence. The term Semicolon, as representing part of a sentence, does not seem to have been used. When the pupils have thoroughly understood the specific purposes for which the common points are used, the teacher may interest his class by reading a few select sentences, and showing the mode in which the terms comma, colon, and period, were anciently employed. THE COMMA. 9 Here the period ending with the word " him " marks that location of the passage which separates it into two distinct sentences ; the colon points out the greatest separation, or, in other words, the most remote connection, which exists between the various elements of the first sen- tence; the semicolon shows the separation which is less remote than that indicated by the colon ; and the comma, the divisions between such expressions as have the greatest mutual relation, or are sepa- rated from each other by the least distinctions in thought.* Sect. I. — THE COMMA. The Comma [ , ] marks the smallest grammatical division in written or printed language, and commonly represents the shortest pause in audible reading. REMARKS. a. It will be noticed, that the comma is here said, not to mark the smallest segment of a composition, but only the least grammatical division ; that is, the least portion into which a sentence can be divided, when regard is had to the sense, and not to the delivery. But many sentences do not at all admit of being divided grammatically ; as, " The great use of books is to rouse us to thought ; ". though, when considered in a rhetorical or elocutionary light, they should be separated into parts, or groups of words, as in reading the example just given : " The great use of books ] is j to rouse us | to thought." b. Some grammarians say that the comma represents the shortest pause, and that this pause is equal to the time required for counting one ; but the remark admits of so many exceptions as to be without any practical value. Numerous instances occur in which the comma is so far from indicating the shortest pause, that a cessation of the voice equal to the time of counting one, two, if not three, is demanded both by the nature of the sentiment and the construction of the lan- guage ; as, for instance, after the word " vice," in the sentence, " Virtue is always advantageous ; vice, never." In other instances, the comma does not exhibit any pause whatever, but merely the grammatical division, as in the expression, " Yes, sir ; " where, in common or unemphatic discourse, no pause can be made between the words. * Hint to the Teacher. — Though to this lesson we attach no exercises, it is es- sential to the progress of the pupil that he he well acquainted with its contents; and the teacher should, therefore, put such questions as will necessarily bring into play the' judgment of those under his care. 10 THE COMMA. RULE I. Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, connected by the Conjunctions akd, or, nor. Two words, belonging to the same part of speech, or used as such, when united in construction by one of the conjunc- tions and, or, nor, are not separated by a comma from each other. EXAMPLES. 1. Pay supreme and undivided homage to goodness and truth. 2. Grand ideas and principles elevate or ennoble the mind. 3. Benefits should be long and gratefully remembered. 4. Virtue or vice predominates in every man and woman. 5. Some monks may be said to be neither of nor in the world. 6. The necessity and the use of physic have been much exaggerated. REMARKS. a. By comparing these examples with Definition VlLL, p. 4, the pupil will see that the words united by the conjunctions and, or, nor, are in construction one with another. But two nouns which are united by a conjunction, without being in the same construction, should be separated by a point ; as, " William spake to James, and Ellen to Mary." — " Men must have recreation ; and literature furnishes that which is most pure, innocent, and refining." 6. The insertion of an article between connected words, as in the sixth example, does not at all affect the validity of the rule. (See p. 4, Definition VI.) c. When the first of two connected words is qualified by a pre- ceding adjective or adverb, which is inapplicable to the second, or when the latter is followed by a term not belonging to the former, a comma is usually required before the conjunction; as, "Donations will be tliankfidly received, and applied to the benefit of the suffer- ing poor." — " 'Twas certain he could write, and cipher too." d. When the conjunction or stands between two nouns, or between a noun and a phrase, which are synonymous, or of which the latter is explanatory of the former, they may be separated by a comma from each other ; as, " The dwelling of Norma was not unaptly compared to the eyry of the ospray, or sea-eagle." e. Some punctuators would apply the preceding remark as a rule to all instances in which one of two words, coupled by the conjunc- tion or, is explanatory of the other. In nouns, we think, the comma is usually required, to show that the terms, which might otherwise TWO CONJOINED WORDS. 11 be regarded as significant of two ideas or things, are designed to represent only one and the same; but the pointing of adjectives and adverbs similarly situated would, in many cases, tend, by the break- ing-up of the connection, to confuse, instead of assisting, the reader. Besides, it should be remembered that qualifying words are seldom, if ever, perfectly synonymous ; and that, even if they were exactly of the same signification, the omission of the commas could scarcely affect the sense. ORAL EXERCISES. After naming the four grammatical points, and describing the nature and uses of the comma, as mentioned in pp. 8, 9, state the first Rule, and assign the reason why the connected words in the following sentences are unpointed: — Liberty and eloquence have been united in all ages. Some children learn early to sing and to dance. It was the greatest act ever done by or for human beings. We often see rank or riches preferred to merit or talent. Let us cherish an earnest and a reverential love of truth. The liberal arts soften and harmonize the temper. No wife's or mother's care for him the milk or corn prepare. An unjust merchant is neither loved nor respected. Be vitally and practically interested in the well-being of all. Let nothing be done insincerely or hypocritically. Let neither indolence nor vice canker the promise of the heart. Within and without us are many foes to rectitude. The youth wrote letters both to and concerning the lady. The firmament and stars express their great Creator's skill. According to Remarks under Rule L, state the reasons for the omission or insertion of commas between conjoined ivords in the following sentences : - Socrates was a virtuous and a wise man. An acorn and a nut were lying side by side in the earth. I would be busy in works of labor and of skill. It is wonderful what genius, and adherence to nature, will do. A convenient spot, and surprise, effected his purpose. The prophet went, and addressed the people. God, and God only, is worthy of our supreme affections. The laverock, or lark, is distinguished for its singing. Parenthetical or intermediate words are often used. * Hint to the Teacher. — Before proceeding to. show how the sentences in these Oral Exercises are regulated hy Rule I. or by the Remarks, the pupil should, under the direction of the teacher, read correctly a few sentences aloud from the present or any other book, in order to see the difference which not unfrequently exists between rhetorical pauses and the grammatical points. (See Remark a f p. 9.) 12 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN.* Write the following sentences, and punctuate those only which, agreeably to some of the Remarks in pp. 10, 11, should have commas : — How many a knot of mystery and misunderstanding would be untied by one word spoken in simple and confiding truth of heart ! The balmy influences of neither sea nor sky could revive or restore that great man. The greatest genius is never so great as when it is chastised and subdued by the highest reason. In composition there is a transposed or inverted order of words, as well as a conventional or common arrangement. (Remark e.) The Greek and Roman writers were once understood and relished in a remarkable degree. If we would not like to be frightened or deceived ourselves, it can- not be right to frighten or deceive others. The charms and beauty of Nature can truly delight him only who in her life views his own. Morality and religion itself, is degraded by the use of unmeaning terms. (Remark c.) Is it sickness or selfishness that spreads most misery through our homes ? The first end to which all wisdom or knowledge ought to be em- ployed is to illustrate the wisdom and goodness of God. Some have neither the resolution nor the power of carrying their projects to a completion. (Remark 6.) Pope examined lines and words with minute and punctilious ob- servation. I would calmly and humbly submit myself to the good and blessed will of God. Let us greet and take by the hand, those who were our youthful companions. (Remark c.) i A thoughtless person perpetually acts and speaks as if it were of no consequence what is said or done. The most ferocious conflicts have been brightened by examples of magnanimous and patriotic virtue. It was found exceedingly difficult or dangerous for the ship to enter the gulf or bay. (Remark d.) The human heart beats quick at the sight or hearing of courageous and disinterested deeds. Let not the hours of hospitality and pleasure interfere with the discharge of our necessary duties. In buying and selling, we must not in any way cheat or overreach each other. * Hint to the Teacher. — Some of the " Exercises to be written " will, as fn this page, be divided by a dash into two parts, for the easier apportionment of the lessons. TWO WORDS NOT CONJOINED. 13 RULE n. Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a Conjunction. Two words, of the same part of speech and in the same construction, if used without a conjunction between them, are separated from each other by a co mm a. EXAMPLES. 1. Lend, lend your wings. 2. The dignity of a man consists in thought, intelligence. 8. Can flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death ? 4. The discipline of suffering nourishes, invigorates virtue. 5. We are fearfully, wonderfully made. 6. Their search extends along, around the path. REMARKS. a. The adverbs more and most, put before adjectives and adverbs, axe regarded as united with the words which they qualify ; as, " Never was beheld a fairer, more beautiful child." Here the punctuation is brought under the operation of the rule, because " more beautiful " is equivalent to the single but antiquated word beautif utter. b. The comma should be omitted between two adjectives, when the first qualifies the second adjective and a noun; as, "The emperor possessed a beautiful white horse ; " that is, the emperor had a white horse that was beautiful. Were a comma placed between the adjec- tives, the sense would be that he possessed a horse that was beautiful and white. c. When two adjectives not synonymous precede a noun, and con- vey only one idea, they are treated as a compound epithet, and united by a hyphen ; as, " The maidens danced amid the festal-sounding shades." d. If two nouns are used as a compound, whether so written or not, or if the former partakes of the nature of an adjective, they are not separated by a comma j as, " Walter Scott ranks high as a fiction- writer." e. When one adverb is followed by another, the former qualifying the latter, no comma is admissible ; as, " The part was remarkably well performed." /. When the first of two prepositions belongs to a verb, it should not be separated by a comma from that which immediately follows it; as, "He walks up towards the hill." Here the term "walks up " may be regarded as a compound verb. 2 14 THE COMMA. g. Conjunctions, of which some notice will be taken under Rule XL, are not subjected to the operation of the present rule ; as, " The pupil of a docile disposition not only loves, hut also venerates, his preceptor." ORAL EXERCISES. Explain how Rule II. requires the insertion of commas between words of the same part of speech in the following sentences : — Tasso's conclave of fiends is a den of ugly, incongruous monsters. Nothing is so intelligible as sincere, disinterested love. Sound, sound the tambourine ! Strike, strike the mandaline The outward, material world is the shadow of the spiritual. Socrates and Plato were philosophers, sages. Genius is not a quality of idle, lazy men. Rash, fruitless war is only splendid murder. Fairly, rightly regarded, religion is the great sentiment of life. Some men have a distaste for plain, sober sense and dry reasoning. A steady, durable good cannot be derived from an external cause. A hardy, honest peasantry are the glory of an agricultural country. Both the idler and the industrious have faculties divine, eternal. Without inward, spiritual freedom, outward liberty is of little worth. Prosperity has multiplied our epicurean, self-indulgent habits. The sun looks down from heaven with a meek, unmelting light. State how the reasons given in the Remarks for the insertion or the omission of commas between woi^ds of the same part of speech (p. 13) will apply to the following sentences : * — The human soul is greater, more sacred, than the State. It is a matter of the finest, the most deliberate calculation. A sound moral judgment is of greater value than a fickle genius. The history of the humblest human life is a tale of marvels. Study the numberless little circumstances of a perplexing affair. How delightful to gaze at the dark-blue sky ! Behold that crowd of keen, anxious-looking men ! Some village Hampden here may rest. The traveller's guide-book blazes with confusion of splendor. The views we take are often very narrowly circumscribed. A stream of flame and smoke came out from the chimney. * To the Teacher. — The pupil's attention should be particularly directed to the fact, that, unless put in the same construction, the two words are not subject to the rule. Thus the sentences given as an exemplification of Remarks 5, c. d, e, /, do not allow a comma between the Italicized words, because, though of the same part of speech, they are not in construction one with the other. (See Definition VIII., pp. 4, 5.) TWO WORDS NOT CONJOINED. 15 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. In writing the following sentences, punctuate those words only which require commas, in accordance with the second Rule : — The young shepherd promised to buy me a pretty brown ribbon. (Remark 6.) All all, conjure us to act wisely faithfully, in the relation which we sustain. The rosy-crowned Loves, with their many-twinkling feet, frisk with antic Sports and blue-eyed Pleasures. (Remark c.) The intellect and the conscience are intimately indissolubly bound together. Not a few of the wisest grandest spirits have toiled at the work- bench and the plough. (Rule, and Remark d.) The human mind spreads its thoughts abroad into the immeasura- ble the infinite. Does not every man feel, that nothing nothing, could induce him to consent to become a slave ? Of intellectual gifts, the rarest the most glorious, is great inventive genius. (Remarks a, b.) Who will deny that imagination refines elevates, the other mental powers ? A desolate lonely feeling springs up of having exchanged their home for a distant foreign country. (Rule, and Remarks /, b.) The man of true refinement will not object to enter into the honest heartfelt enjoyments of common life. The sugar-cane and coffee-plant welcomed us from the snows of the Great St. Bernard. (Remark d.) All things must work together for certain good, so long as we con- tinue in free unconditional self-surrender to the service of God. Life is to some a heavy benumbing weight of personal helplessness and desolation. No great social change, however beneficial, can occur without par- tial temporary pain. (Remark b, and Rule.) A diviner philosophy awakens the soul to earnest joyful effort for its own perfection. It is not in the absolute external magnitude of the mountain that its real glory most consists. We should have a deeper a more vivid conviction of the importance the sacredness, of our work. (Remark a, and Rule.) This is a poor earthy world, unless it connect itself in our minds with the invisible. If you travel to become a better humaner man, the aim will insure the effect. Our reckless perilous locomotion in this country is but an emblem of our usual unrighteous haste. (Rule, and Remark 5.) 16 THE COMMA. rule m. Series of Words of the same Part of Speech. In a series of words, all of the same part of speech, a comma is inserted between each particular.* EXAMPLES. 1. Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential to happiness. 2. Alfred the Great was a brave, pious, and patriotic prince. 3. Happy is the man who honors, obeys, loves, or serves his Creator. 4. The discourse was beautifully, elegantly, forcibly delivered. 5. The spirit of the Almighty is within, around, and above us. EEJIAEKS. a. When three words of the same part of speech are in juxta- position, the last being preceded by and or or, but do not form a series, the comma is omitted before the conjunction; as, "By the wise arrangement of nature, infancy and childhood last long." Here the noun " nature " is governed by the preposition " of; " and the two following nouns, " infancy and childhood," are of themselves the com- pound nominative to the succeeding verb. The punctuation, therefore, differs from that of a sentence in which three words are used as a series, or in the same construction ; as, " Childhood, youth, and matu- rity last longer or shorter in different individuals." b. When three or more words of the same part of speech, and in the same construction, are severally connected by means of and, or, or no?*, the comma may be omitted after each of the particulars ; as, " Let us freely drink in the soul of love and beauty and wisdom from all nature and art and history." Some writers separate all such serial words by a comma ; but a mode of punctuation so stiff as this seldom aids in developing the sense, and, in sentences requiring other commas, is offensive to the eye, if it does not obscure the meaning. A correct reader will, however, as a matter of course, pause more or less between each particular, in accordance with the nature of the sentiment. * To the Teacher. — That the pupil may have a proper comprehension of the rule and the remarks, he should he required to explain what is meant hy a series of words. (See Definition XII., p. 6.) Some punctuists omit the comma between the last two particulars, when united by either of the conjunctions and, or, nor. But the propriety of inserting it will he obvious to any grammarian, if he consider that the last two words of a series are not more closely connected in construction with each other than with the preceding particulars ; as, " Infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and age are different stages in human life." SERIES OP WORDS. 17 ORAL EXERCISES. Recite the Rule (p. 16) for the insertion of commas betioeen words in a series, as exhibited in the following sentences : — Aright, aleft, above, below, he whirled the rapid sword. Spenser's command of imagery is wide, easy, and luxuriant. The mind is that which knows, feels, and thinks. Honor, affluence, and pleasure seduce the heart. The work was neither dexterously, quickly, nor well done. Milton's poetry is always healthful, bright, and vigorous. The child can creep, skip, walk, or run. Let great principles be wrought into the mind, the heart, the life. The love that woman inspires is exalted, tender, and beneficent. Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian are high authorities in rhetoric. The tendency of poetry is to refine, purify, expand, and elevate. His reign is that of a great, godlike, disinterested being. The air, the earth, the water, teem with delighted existence. Ulysses was wise, eloquent, cautious, and intrepid. The arts prolong, comfort, and cheer human life. Charity beareth, believeth, hopeth, all things. True politeness is modest, unpretending, and generous. Cultivate a kind, generous, and sympathizing temper. Learn patience, calmness, self-command, disinterestedness, love. The good will form new, holier, stronger ties above. Say ichy the omission of a comma betioeen the last two conjoined nouns in the following sentences does not accord with the Rule, but with Remark a : * — In Paradise, Adam and Eve reigned supreme. — There was, in Eve's every gesture, dignity and love. According to the Thompsonian philosophy, heat and cold are an- tagonist identities. In two branches of science, chemistry and natural history, medical men have been the most successful laborers. It is well calculated to render the timber impenetrable to the agents of decomposition, — air and moisture. Dr. TwitchelPs wonderful faculty often rendered the unintelligible plain and clear. In reference to time, hours and days are of great importance : in respect to eternity, years and ages are nothing. * To the Teacher. — The necessity for the punctuation recommended in the note on p. 16 "will he made more evident, if the teacher inspect the sentences here presented, and compare them with Remark a. He will see that they are distinguished from those exhibited under the preceding exercises and under the rule ; that they contain no example of a series of words ; and that the mode of pointing them must therefore be different. 2* 18 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. In putting commas between the serial words in the following sentences, be guided by the third Rule and the Eemarhs (p. 16) : — . The recovery of our little darling dancing singing Mary is worth all the gold that ever was mined. Is a poet utterly deprived of fitting themes, to whom ocean earth and sky are open ? The hardships of a good life prove refine and exalt the human character. No one can find peace but in the growth of an enlightened firm benevolent holy mind. All that charms the eye or the ear or the imagination or the heart is the gift of God. (Remark 6.) Ease indulgence luxury sloth, are the sources of misery ; making a man a poor sordid selfish wretched being. True courage is the exercise result and expression of the highest attributes of our nature. AH have some conceptions of truth kindness honesty self-denial and disinterestedness. Let us every day become more pure kind gentle patient spiritual and devout. The sphere in which we move and act and understand is of a wider circumference to one creature than another. (Remark b.) The Hebrew is closely allied to the Arabic the Phoenician the old Persian the Syriac and the Chaldee. Our present knowledge thoughts feelings characters, are the results of former impressions passions and pursuits. In heaven live the friends benefactors deliverers and ornaments of their race. In a city there is much to inflame imbitter degrade, the minds of the poor. Some have unreasonably denied the strength and fervor and endur- ingness of human love. (Remark b.) Meekly truthfully disinterestedly, the dying man had trod the path of life. Fountains lakes and rivers are as refreshing to the imagination as to the soil through which they pass. The stoical sect was distinguished for producing the most active intrepid virtuous men that ever did honor to human nature. In God we see every thing that we can imagine as great glorious or amiable. We are surer that we think and feel and will than that we have solid and extended limbs and organs. (Remark b.) Scholars have great pleasure in reading Herodotus Thucydides Xenophon Livy Sallust and Tacitus. TEEMS IN APPOSITION. 19 RULE IV. Nouns or Phrases in Apposition. § I. Two or more nouns, put in apposition, should not be separated by a point, if they constitute either a proper name or a single phrase. § II. But two or more phrases in apposition are separated by a comma from each other, and, if the sentence or clause is unfinished, from what follows. EXAMPLES. §1. 1. Sir William Jones was remarkable for the greatness of his attainments. 2. It is well known that the word "philosopher" signifies lover of wisdom. §11. 1. The twin sisters, Piety and Poetry, are wont to dwell together. 2. Walter Scott, the fine poet, the great novelist, will never be forgotten. REMARKS. a. Two pronouns, or a pronoun and a noun, when in apposition, are, agreeably to the first section of the rule, not to be separated by a point ; as, " He himself was the editor of the work." But a pronoun or a noun and an explanatory phrase are subject to the punctuation required by the second section for two phrases ; as, " We, the people of the United States, are lovers of republicanism." b. A comma is put between two nouns or pronouns if used syno- nymously, or if the latter expresses an illustrative or an additional thought; as, "Force of voice is strength, energy; vivacity is life, animation." — "A son, John, was born after his father's death." — " Worship thy Creator, God" c. When a proper name is put after a phrase in apposition, the comma may be omitted ; as, " The great orator Cicero was famed for many excellences." Unless where the noun is introduced by way of explanation ; and, in such a case, it is preceded by a comma, and, in an unfinished clause, followed by the same point; as, "The wisest of the Jewish kings, Solomon, became a fool." d. The word brothers, when put in apposition with a proper name in a firm, is left unpointed ; as, " Smith Brothers and Co." e. When the first of two nouns of the possessive case has the sign of possession, a comma should intervene between them ; as, " The work will be found at Appletorfs, the bookseller." But, if the posses- sive sign is omitted after the first noun, and put after the second, the comma may be dispensed with; as, "At Putnam the publisher's." 20 THE COMMA. f. If a term, preceding a noun or a pronoun, is used absolutely, a comma is inserted only between them ; as, " A trifling scholar, he heeds not the lessons of instruction." g. When a pronoun of the second person immediately precedes a noun, a relative pronoun, or a word or phrase used for a noun, the comma is unnecessary between them ; as, " Thou river, roll ; ye who are aged, come; all ye high Powers." But if the pronoun, as the nominative to a verb, or as the antecedent of a relative, is separated from them, or if it is put in the objective case, a comma should be put before and after the intervening term ; as, Thou, Father, markest the tears I shed." — " What art thou, execrable shape, that darest advance ? " — " On thee, beloved, I wait." h. When the latter of two nouns, pronouns, or phrases, is predi- cated of the former, the comma is not required between them ; as, " Plutarch calls lying the vice of slaves." — " The Romans thought Augustus Caesar a god.'" — " The people elected him president." ORAL EXERCISES. Show how the following sentences exemplify the fourth Rule, in r insertion or omission of commas : — The Emperor Antoninus wrote an excellent work on morals. Mahomet was a native of Mecca, a city in Arabia. The term " reason " has been variously defined. Spenser the poet lived in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The frigate " Jamestown " conveyed corn to the suffering Irish. Chaucer wrote the " Squire's Tale," a tantalizing fragment. Say why, according to the preceding Remarks, commas are inserted or omitted inthe folloioing sentences : — I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come unto thee. The butterfly, child of the summer, flutters in the sun. " Adjunct " is derived from adjunctum, addition, something added. The eloquent preacher Massillon was a Frenchman. The author of " Paradise Lost," Milton, was a noble-minded man. At Thomson the hatter's store. — At Thomson's, the hatter. O Thou whose love can ne'er forget its offspring, man ! Ye Powers and Spirits of this nethermost abyss ! Thou, Lord, art the life and light of all this wondrous world. All agree in designating Howard a philanthropist. * To the Teacher. — To understand the rule and the remarks, and apply them to the punctuation of the sentences in these exercises, it is essential that the learner have a clear conception of the meaniDg of the term "Apposition." (See Defini- tion XI., p. 6.) TERMS IN APPOSITION. 21 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert commas where, according to pp. 19, 20, they are required : — In the Greek language, the word " poet " denotes a maker a crea- tor. (Rule, § I.) The Apostle John was peculiarly beloved by his divine Master Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. (Rule, both sections.) General "Washington the first president of the United States was a true patriot a genuine lover of his country. (Rule, § n.) Marcus Aurelius Antonmus says, " Often return to your true mother Philosophy." (Rule, § I. ; and Remark 6.) Much stress was laid upon pronunciation delivery by the most elo- quent of all orators Demosthenes. (Remark b, and last of c.) London the capital of Great Britain contains nearly three millions of inhabitants. (Remark a, last sentence.) A great and gloomy man the king sat upon the throne of his an- cestors. (Remark f.) I recommend the reading of good books as a source of improvement and delight. (Remark h.) The first expedition of Columbus was fitted out by John of Anjou Duke of Calabria. (Rule, § n.) Thou who hast at thy command the hearts of all men in thy hand ! (First of Remark g.~) 1 Artaxerxes the king decree, that whatsoever Ezra the priest the scribe of the law shall require, &c. (Last of Remark a, and Rule.) The capital of Turkey Constantinople is finely situated on the European side of the Bosphorus. (Last of Remark c.) You blocks ! you stones ! you worse than senseless things ! O you hard hearts ! you cruel men of Rome ! (First of Remark g.) And, when the angel Death stands by, be thou my God my helper nigh. (Rule, § I. ; and last of Remark g.) When, as returns this solemn day, man comes to meet his Maker God. (Remark &.) The world-famed dramatist Shakspeare lived in the reign of the greatest of English queens Elizabeth. (Remark c, both portions.) Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. (Remark a, last sentence.) Johnson's " Allegory of Criticism " an early paper in the " Ram- bier " is a pertinent illustration. (Rule, § II.) Cato the elder one of the consuls of Rome never wore a coat which cost him above a hundred pence. (Rule, both sections.) Diogenes the Greek philosopher lived in a tub. — Hope the balm of life soothes us under every misfortune. (Second of Remark a.) In the firm of Graham Brothers and Co., there are three persons in partnership, — James Graham, his younger brother, and John Jones. (Remark d.) 22 THE COMMA. RULE V. Words or Phrases in Contrast. Words or phrases contrasted with each other, or having a mutual relation to others that follow them, in the same clause, are separated by commas.* EXAMPLES. 1. The author of that work was a distinguished poet, but a bad man. 2. Many persons gratify their eyes and ears, instead of their understandings. 3. Prudence, as well as courage, is necessary to overcome obstacles. 4. Strong proofs, not a loud voice, produce conviction. 5. One may utter many pompous, and speak but few intelligible, words. 6. Avoid, or rather prevent the introduction of, so pernicious a fashion. REMARKS. a. Not a few authors would write the fifth example without a comma after the adjective "intelligible." But though it is well to avoid the use of the point after a qualifying or a governing word when its omission could effect no ambiguity, as in the phrase " deep, lonely thought ; " yet where, as in the instance under the present rule, the words or phrases, which have a common relation to one and the same expression, stand apart, and the first is properly set off by a comma, the insertion of a corresponding comma after the second seems requisite for an easy obtaining of the sense. b. When two contrasted or related words, united by either of the conjunctions but, though, yet, as well as, qualify a following noun or phrase, or refer to the same preposition, the comma may be omitted ; as, " Caesar delivered his orations in elegant but powerful language." — " He was a great though an erring man." — " Hercules had the strength as well as the courage of the lion." c. But if the adverb not, either with or without a conjunction, comes between two such words, a comma should be used after each, in accord- ance with the rule, to indicate their common dependence on the last portion of the sentence ; as, " The strong and violent emotions are the natural produce of an early, if not of a savage, state of society." d. If the above-mentioned conjunctions unite not two words, but a word and a phrase, or two phrases, the commas should be inserted ; as, " Intemperance not only wastes the earnings, but the health and of men." * To the Teacher,. — The principle involved in the rule is, that antitheses, and the relations of two words or phrases to a third term, are in general more clearly indicated when such portions of a sentence are set apart by commas than if these were omitted. WORDS OR PHRASES IN CONTRAST. 23 e. Commas should not be used between words contrasted in pairs, and having prepositions or conjunctions between them ; as, " Let elevation without turgidness, purity without primness, pathos without whining, characterize our style." — " Nothing is more wise or more admirable in action than to be resolute and yet calm, earnest and yet self-possessed, decided and yet modest." f. Two words or phrases connected by out or yet, or if either of these conjunctions be understood, are separated by a comma, when the first term is preceded by not or though ; as, " Not beautiful, but graceful." — "Though black, yet comely; and, though rash, benign." g. When a negative phrase, not immediately connected with a verb, is put before an affirmative one, and does not commence the sentence, the phrases are separated by a comma, not only from each other, but from that portion of the sentence which precedes them ; as, " The greatest evils arise to human society, not from wild beasts, but from untamed passions." h. In some instances, where the insertion of a comma between contrasted phrases, used as a compound intermediate expression, would tend to obscure the connection subsisting between the parts of a sentence, the point between the phrases may be omitted ; as, " The wise and good of every name are, with diversity of gifts but the same spirit, striving, each in his own way, to carry society for- ward into a healthier condition than the present." ORAL EXERCISES. Why, according to the fifth Rule, are certain words and phrases in the follow- ing sentences set off by commas ? — Measure your life by acts of goodness, not by years. Intrinsic worth, and not riches, ought to procure esteem. You were paid to fight against, and not to rail at, Alexander. Washington was the head of the nation, and not of a party. Rhetoric is the science, and oratory the art, of speaking well. There are few voices in the world, but many echoes. To die for truth is not to die for one's country, but for the world. We ought not to betray, but to defend, our country. State the princijrfes, as given in the Remarks, for the omission or the insertion of commas in the following sentences : — Philosophy makes us wiser, Christianity makes us better, men. Milton burned with a deep yet calm love of moral grandeur. He was the model as well as the teacher of his pupils. Socrates was directed by a good, if not a divine, genius. Learning is the ally, not the adversary, of genius. Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull. It is the duty of a child, not to direct, but to obey, his parents. 24 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Punctuate those sentences which require commas, in accordance with the prin- ciples laid down in the preceding Rule and Remarks (pp. 22-3) : — It is not the business of virtue to extirpate the affections but to regulate them. Zeal without knowledge, courage without prudence, and peaceful- ness without principle, are dangerous qualities. (Remark e.) We live in deeds not years ; in thoughts not breaths 5 in feelings not in figures on a dial. Novel-reading is generally calculated to weaken if not to debase the moral powers. (Rule, and Remark c.) Punishments often shock instead of harmonizing with the common feeling and sense of justice. A man's self-reproach may be less for what one has than for what he has not done. (Rule, and Remark «.) He who is insensible to praise is either raised far above or sunk much below the ordinary standard of human nature. Christians have cast away the spirit in settling the precise dignity of then' Master. Benevolence is not merely a feeling but a principle ; not a dream of rapture for the fancy to indulge in but a business for the hand to execute. (Rule, and Remark/.) The Pyrrhonists not only doubted of every thing they saw and heard but of their own existence. A lofty rectitude marked every small as well as every great action of Washington's life. (Remark b.) The treasures of wisdom are not to be seized with a violent hand but to be earned by persevering labor. Those who flatter the prejudices of others are the enemies not the friends of the improvement and happiness of mankind. (Remark c.) God's love. to us is not a technical dogma but a living and practi- cal truth. Christianity may harmonize with but it needs not the sanction of philosophy. (Rule, and Remark a.) Knowledge is conducive if not essential to all the ends of virtue. (Rule, and Remark c.) Most of Homer's defects may reasonably be imputed not to his genius but to the manners of the age in which he lived. The great object of education is not to store the mind with know- ledge but to give activity and vigor to its powers. Motives of the most sincere though fanciful devotion induced the old man to renew the half-defaced inscriptions on the tombs of his ancestors. (Remark 6.) The missionary went forth, not only with the wisdom of the ser- pent but with the simplicity of the dove, to do battle against every form of error and vice. (Remark 7i.) THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE. 25 RULE VI. The Subject and the Predicate. No point is admissible between the subject and the predi- cate, or after any term having a direct reference to what immediately follows. EXAMPLES. 1. Poetry has a natural alliance with the best affections of the human heart. 2. A grandee on the exchange may be a pauper in God's universe. 3. To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in character. 4. The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soul. REMARKS. a. In the above examples, the words " poetry," " grandee," " to be indifferent " (equivalent to the noun indifference), and " love," are the several nominatives to the verbs " has," " may be," and " is." Such phrases as " a grandee on the exchange," " to be totally indifferent to praise or censure," are sometimes called nominative phrases ; and such an expression as " the love which survives the tomb," a nomina- tive clause. (See Definitions V. and VI., pp. 3, 4.) But, logically speaking, all these are the subjects of what are severally predicated of them. b. In these examples, with a partial exception in the first, the nominatives and verbs are accompanied by certain modifying or limiting phrases, so strictly connected in sense with the former as to be grammatically inseparable from them. In other words, each of the sentences expresses an uninterrupted flow of thought, and there- fore allows no marked division. c. There is, however, a class of sentences in which the subject or the predicate is accompanied with expressions, qualifying or expla- natory, that are separable from the portions with which they are connected ; as, " The weakest reasoners, especicdly on the subject of religion, are, generally speaking, the most positive." — " Health, which is OooVs gift, should be preserved." In every such case, two commas must be used, as above, to show the relation of the nominative to its verb, and that of the verb to the chief words in the predicate. d. To the rule there are a few exceptions, required by the peculiar form in which a proposition is sometimes expressed, and by the fact that the insertion of a comma between the subject and the predicate tends occasionally to a clearer perception of an author's meaning. The exceptions are as follow : — 3 26 THE COMMA. e 1. When a sentence is so constructed as to leave it uncertain whether a modifying word belongs to the subject or the predicate, — as in the passage, " The man of talent merely is strong for enterprise and execution," — a comma should be introduced where it will best develop the sense. If the aim of the writer was to speak of a man of mere talent, the comma should be inserted after the adverb " merely ; " but, if of a man of talent who is strong only for enter- prise and execution, it should be placed before the adverb. e 2. When the subject consists of two or more nouns not united by a conjunction, a comma is required before the predicate ; as, " Im- mensity, sublimity, are expressed by a prolongation of the voice." — " Hiches, pleasure, health, become evils to those who do not know how to use them." If, however, the nouns are joined by the conjunction and, the comma between the subject and the predicate is omitted; as, " Sculpture, painting, and poetry will always have admirers." e 3. When the last two of several nouns are united by the conjunc- tion or or nor, a comma should be inserted before the predicate ; as, " The sage, the saint, or the hero, often lies concealed in a plebeian." e 4. When the nominative is followed by two or more words which belong to it, and between which a comma must be inserted, a comma is required also before the verb ; as, " A new feeling of what is due to the ignorant, the poor, and the depraved, lias sprung up in society." — " Worlds above, around, and beneath, arch thee about as a centre." e 5. When between the extremities, either of a nominative clause or of its predicate, occurs a word or an expression requiring to be marked off by commas, a comma should also be introduced imme- diately before the predicate ; as, " The success with which Rousseau passed, coarse and selfish as he was, for a man of deep and tender feeling, appears to have been the signal for a procession of writers to withdraw the public attention from their own transgressions." — " The evil which is intermixed in human society, serves, without question, to exercise the noblest virtues of the human soul." e 6. When the subject consists of a nominative clause, which is apt to be read so closely with the predicate as to confound the sense, a comma should precede the verb; as, "He that sees a building as a common spectator, contents himself with speaking of it in general terms." — " He that places himself neither higher nor lower than he ought to do, exercises the truest humility." — " Whatever is, is right." " The defendant served, moved to set aside the summons." e 7. When a subject is repeated in a different form before its verb, as sometimes ungrammatically occurs, a comma may be used, in solemn or forcible language, between the two forms ; as, " The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me." But, when these modes of expression are used in familiar kinds of writing, it is better to omit the comma; as, "My flocks they do wander." THE SUBJECT AND THE PREDICATE. 27 f. A comma should not be inserted after any of the forms of the verb to be, when used as a copula, or connecting link, between the sub- ject and the predicate ; or before a verb in the infinitive mood, when preceded by another verb ; as, " The sole object of importance is the moral development of society." — " It ill becomes wise and good men to oppose and degrade one another." ORAL. EXERCISES. Explain hovj it is, that, according to the sixth Rule (p. 25), commas are unneces- sary in the folloioing propositions : * — Nature has given all men some conceptions of immortality. The region beyond the grave is not a solitary land. Simplicity of life and manners produces tranquillity of mind. Human affairs are in continual motion and fluctuation. To calculate shrewdly is different from meditating wisely. The earth-clod of the globe has been divinely breathed upon. Aptitude for business is not power of reason. The best monuments of the virtuous are their actions. Misery is the necessary result of a deviation from rectitude. Sensitiveness to the approbation of virtuous men is laudable. The streams of small pleasures fill the lake of happiness. Intemperance is the grossest abuse of the gifts of Providence. His being a scholar prevented any gross mistake in his style. He who masters his passions conquers his greatest enemy. Agreeably to the preceding Remarks, mention why the sentences that follow are pointed or unpointed with commas : — Light, whether it be material or spiritual, is the best reformer. He who teaches, often learns himself. Those who were not so, became cringing and hypocritical. Most of those who have nothing to do, commonly do nothing. He who made it, now preserves and governs it. A youth, a boy, a child, might understand the question. Job, Hesiod, and Homer mention several of the constellations. Neither Swift, Prior, nor Gay, was a sublime poet. The idea of what ought to be, rises up from the bosom of what is. Whoever firmly wills, will be a good man. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The damsels they laugh, and the barons they stare. It needs a divine man to exhibit any thing divine. It is our duty to appropriate our time to valuable purposes. * To the Teachek. — The author's reasons for generally omitting the comma after inseparable adjunctives to nominatives may be seen in his larger work, the " Treatise on English Punctuation," p. 51. 28 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert commas only where required by the Remarks (pp. 25-7) : — It is not in our power to change the established order of things. (Remark f, and Rule.) Patience with the erring and offending is one of the holiest of all forms of character. Philosophy, religion tend to promote just and honorable views of the Creator of the universe. (First of Remark e 2.) Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The highest art of the mind of man is to possess itself with tran- quillity in the hour of danger. (Rule, and Remark f.) He who follows the pleasures of the world is in constant search of care and remorse. To mourn deeply for the death of another loosens from myself the petty desire for life. (Remark e 6.) The vigorous character of composition depends on the decision with which the mind grasps a truth. That our age holds an amount of refinement and civilization which preceding ages did not have seems evident. (Remark e 6.) An excessive or indiscriminate reading of novels and romances is exceedingly injurious to the young. To live soberly, righteously, and piously comprehends the whole of our duty. (Remark e 1 or 4.) Sincere respect for the men of early times may be joined with a clear perception of their weaknesses and errors. He who loves the bristle of bayonets only sees in their glitter what beforehand he felt in his heart. (Remark e 1.) To walk beneath the. porch is still infinitely less than to kneel be- fore the cross. The swan whose neck is out of all proportion to his body is the most beautiful of all birds. (Remark c.) The great sources of intellectual power and progress to a people are its strong and original thinkers. He who troubles himself more than he needs grieves also more than is necessary. (Remark e 6.) ' The grammatical points are not sufficient to indicate either the number or the duration of the pauses. Intelligence, beauty, and modesty are the principal charms of woman. (Remark e 2, last sentence.) The impartial distribution of posthumous fame or censure must have some effect on the most callous and unprincipled. Joy, grief, love, admiration, devotion are ail of them passions which are naturally musical. (Remark e 2, first portion.) The highest literature and art of every age embody its highest spiritual ideal of excellence. RELATIVE CLAUSES. 29 RULE vn. Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses. § I. A comma is put before a relative clause which explains the antecedent, or presents an additional thought. § II. But the point is omitted before a relative which restricts the general meaning of the antecedent to a particular sense. EXAMPLES. § I. 1. Behold the emblem of thy state in flowers, which bloom and die ! 2. Study nature, whose laws and phenomena are all deeply interesting. 3. Channing has set forth great and universal truths, that cannot perish. 4. These were small states, in which every man felt himself to be important. 5. No poet can equal Shakspeare, from whom all may derive wisdom. § II. 1. Every teacher must love a boy w T ho is attentive and docile. 2. Happy are the people whose history is the most wearisome to read. 3. Urbanity often lends a grace to actions that are of themselves ungracious. 4. Some men engage in labors in which they afterwards take no delight. 5. It is barbarous to injure those from whom we have received a kindness. REMARKS. a. By comparing any of the examples in the first class with its corresponding one or any other in the second, the pupil will see that they are essentially different as to the senses intended to be conveyed. In the former class, the clause at the beginning of the sentence, which contains the antecedent, is of a general character ; that at the end — the relative clause — presents something additional, or explanatory of what has been said. In the latter class, the antecedent clause lays down a proposition which is restrained or limited in its sense by the relative. * fc b. If a relative clause which is explanatory of the antecedent be placed between the extremities of a sentence, a comma is required both after the antecedent word or phrase, and before that verb of which it is the nominative ; as, " Slaves and savages, who receive no education, are proverbially indolent." (See p. 34.) c. But if the nominative is accompanied by a limiting relative clause, — or, to speak more accurately, if the subject is composed of an antecedent and a relative clause, — both points should be omitted ; as, " The man who is faithfidly attached to religion may be relied on with confidence." For, were a comma placed after either " man " 3* 30 THE COMMA. or " religion," or after words corresponding to these in similar sen- tences, a separation would be made between parts, which, from their restrictive character, are obviously inseparable. d. When, however, the antecedent consists of nouns or phrases between which commas are required, a comma should also be inserted before the relative clause, though restrictive; as, "There are many dreams, fictions, or theories, which men substitute for truth." e. A comma, may also be put before the relative pronoun, even when restrictive, if it is immediately followed by a word or an ex- pression enclosed by commas, and especially if the antecedent is qualified by an adjective ; as, " It was only a few discerning friends, who, in the native vigor of his powers, perceived the dawn of Robert- son's future eminence." f A comma should be put before a restrictive relative, when, being separated by several words from its grammatical antecedent, it might improperly be read so as to refer to a proximate term ; as, " Creeds too often carry, in their ruins, the seeds of that faith in the divine and eternal, without which our nobler nature starves and perishes." g. To prevent ambiguity, a comma is sometimes put before the words, of which, of whom, even when used restrictively, to distin- guish the preposition from that which connects two nouns, one of which governs the other ; as, " Compassion is an emotion, of which you should never be ashamed." — "No thought can be just, of which good sense is not the groundwork." — " No thought, of which good sense is not the groundwork, can be just." The insertion of the point will distinguish phrases of this kind from such as occur in the following sentences : " Compassion is an emotion of grief for the sufferings of others." — " The actions of princes are like those great rivers, the courses of which every one beholds, but whose springs have been seen by few." h. The principles stated in both divisions of the rule are applicable to sentences in which an adverb is put for a relative pronoun ; as, " The philosophers took refuge in Persia, where [in which country] they soon became dispersed." — " Mark the majestic simplicity of those laws whereby [by which] the operations x>f the universe are conducted." *. Sentences in which the relative pronoun may be supplied are subject to the same rules as those in which it is expressed ; as, " Ge- nius is not a single faculty of the mind, distinct from all the rest." — " Genius is not a faculty of the mind separate from all the rest." In both forms of the example, the relative pronoun with the verb, which is, is understood after the word " mind ; " but in the former the comma is used, because the first clause makes perfect sense of itself, and the second is explanatory. In the latter form, the comma is omitted, because both clauses are so blended as to be inseparable in sense ; the first being restrained or limited in its meaning by the second. RELATIVE CLAUSES. 31 j. When a present participle is put instead of a relative and a verb, the insertion or omission of the comma will also depend on the principle just stated ; as, " The path of mere power is that of the cannon-ball, destroying [which destroys} every thing in its course." — " There are moral principles slumbering in the souls of the most depraved." h. Sometimes, however, a restrictive clause of the kind mentioned in the two foregoing remarks should be preceded by a comma, when, its antecedent being removed at some distance from the relative pro- noun, the latter is in danger of being connected too closely with a nearer noun ; as, " Commercial nations have an apathy to amuse- ment, distinct from mere gravity of disposition." A comma may also be inserted before and after a clause beginning with an adjective or a past participle, if introduced between the extremities of a sen- tence, in order to show the alliance of the nominative with its verb, or of one noun with another ; as, "A man, distinguished for his virtues and attainments, is commonly respected." I. When the ellipsis may be supplied with the adverb when, involv- ing in its signification a nominative or a relative and a verb, a comma should be inserted before two adjectives or participles restrictive or unrestrictive, or an adjective or participle with words depending on it ; as, " Man, ignorant and uncivilized, is a ferocious savage." — " The death of Socrates, philosophizing with his friends, is the most plea- sant that could be desired." m. When only the relative pronoun is understood, the antecedent should be left unpointed ; as, " The laws we reverence are our brave fathers' legacy ; " that is, the laws which we reverence. ORAL EXERCISES.* State the principles in the seventh Rule (p. 29), and shoio how they may be applied to the sentences that follow : — Avoid rudeness of manners, which must hurt the feelings of others. Every good man must love the country in which he was born. The child was much attached to Jane, who loved him dearly. Virtue is that to which the* man himself contributes. What is more wonderful than the human eye, that sees all around. Death is the season which brings our affections to the test. Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds. Christianity is a religion whose origin is unquestionably divine. He who reads in a proper spirit can scarcely read too much. Nothing is in vain that rouses the mind to thought and reflection. No faculty lives within us which the soul can spare. War is a tremendous evil, to which many have unhappily resorted. * To the Teacher. — To know when to insert or to omit the comma before a rela- tive pronoun or its preposition, it is essential that the pupil be made thoroughly 32 THE COMMA. Mention the reasons, given in the Remarks (pp. 29-31), for inserting or omitting commas in such sentences as the following : — Satan, whom now transcendent' glory raised above his fellows, spake. The eye, that sees all things, sees not itself. Man, who is born of a woman, is of few days. The credulity which has faith in goodness is a sign of goodness. He that is slow to anger is better and nobler than the mighty. Where is the philosopher, the man, who would thus live and die ? He questioned me of the battles, sieges, fortunes, that I have passed. The large book, which I bought years ago, has not yet been read. There is in man a craving for enjoyment, which cannot be destroyed. William left the city of New York, where he was doing well. Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony. Adopt a plan of life founded on religion and virtue. A great mind gazeth on the sun, glorying in its brightness. Genius addresses the consciousness existing in all men. Physical science, separate from morals, parts with its chief dignity. Socrates was one of the greatest sages the world ever saw. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Punctuate, or leave unpointed, the following sentences, as required by the pr> Rule and Remarks (pp. 29-31) : — There is a philosophic spirit which is far more valuable than any limited acquirements of philosophy. (Rule, § II.) We read, with a reverential love, of men devoting themselves to the interests of humanity. (Last of Remark j.) The lever which moves the world of mind is emphatically the printing-press. (Rule,-§ n. ; and Remark c.) Youth is introductory to manhood to which it is a state of prepara- tion. (Rule, § i.) To the Father of lights in whom there is no darkness are we in- debted for all the blessings we enjoy. (Rule, § I. ; Remarks b, m.) Some countries are infested with bands of robbers who attack travellers in the open day. (Rule, § i.) Set at nought the grosser pleasures of sense whereof others are slaves. (Remark h, compared with g.) May we be living flowers in those everlasting gardens of the Lord where angels and seraphs are the guardians ! (Remarks h, f.) Antiquity would have raised altars to that vast and mighty genius who, for the advantage of human-kind, could tame the rage of thunder and of despotism. (Remark e.) conversant with the nature of the restrictive and the explanatory clauses in which it occurs. It is, therefore, desirable that the teacher should, in accordance with Remark a, p. 29, show to his class how the two sections of the Rule will apply to their respective exemplifications. RELATIVE. CLAUSES. 33 The brightest part of thy life is nothing but a flower which withers almost as soon as it has blown. (Rule, § i.) Columbus was sent to the university of Padua where he acquired such knowledge as was then taught. (Remark Ji.) Does the sentiment of patriotism reign in the common soldier who hires himself to be shot at for a few cents a day. (Rule, § I.) A government directing itself resolutely and steadily to the general good becomes a minister of virtue. (Remark I.) The entrance on a new course awakens new energies and powers which rapidly unfold into life and vigor. (Rule, § I.) . The tribes who expose new-born infants condemn those who aban- don their decrepit parents to destruction. (Rule, § n.) The father of history was Herodotus from whom we have an account of the Persian war. (Rule, § I.) No man can be a thorough proficient in navigation who has never been at sea. (Rule, § II.) We should trace in all events the wisdom and benevolence of God from whom descendeth every good and perfect gift. (Rule, § I.) A good reader will often pause where no grammarian would insert a point ; and, on the other hand, he will sometimes neglect the com- mas he finds inserted by the writer. (Remarks h and m.) It is the spirit or motive from which we do any work that con- stitutes it base or noble. (Rule, § II.) There was nothing in the mind of Jesus of which you have not the principle and the capacity in yourself. (Remark g.) Science and Poetry alike recognizing the order and the beauty of the universe are alike handmaids of Devotion. (Remark I.) Go not from the world with the joyless consciousness of those to whom the fountains of its purest bliss have been sealed. (Rule, § n.) Aid in reforming those social abuses the existence of which casts a gloom and blight on the happiness of all. (Last of Remark g.) The benefit arising to us from an enlarged understanding cannot well be overrated. (Last of Remark j.) The seeds of genius which contain within themselves the germs of expanded beauties and divinest sublimities cannot perish. (Rule, § I.) You may treat fife as a problem which has to be wrought out to a successful result. (Rule, § I.) The memory of the eyes that hung over a man in infancy and child- hood will haunt him through all his after-life. (Rule, § n. ; Rem. c.) The Greeks may well boast of having produced a Euclid whose works are esteemed even by the profoundest mathematicians in modern times. (Rule, § I.) * * To the Teacher. — As many of the sentences in this and the two preceding pages afford an exemplification of Rule VI. and Remark c (p. 25), the judgment of the pupil will be well exercised if he is required to point them out, and to show then- application. 34 THE COMMA. RULE VIII. Intermediate Phrases and Clauses. Expressions of an intermediate nature are separated from the context by commas.* EXAMPLES. 1. The sun, with all its attendant planets, is but a very little part of the grand machine of the universe. 2. Books, regarded merely as a gratification, are worth more than all the luxuries on earth. 3. The man of refinement and sensibility finds himself, as it were, in ac- cordance with universal nature. 4. A man of more than ordinary intellectual vigor may, for want of the faculty of expression, be a cipher in society. REMARKS. a. Many short expressions which were formerly enclosed within marks of parenthesis ( ), and which, on account of their construction differing from that of the other portions of the sentence, may properly be called parentheses, are now usually pointed off by commas ; as, " Study, I beseech you, to store your minds with the exquisite learn- ing of former ages." — " ' Thirst for glory,' says a great writer, ' is often founded on ambition and vanity.' " As these short expressions interfere but slightly with the unity of thought conveyed in the con- text, commas are preferable to the parenthetical marks. b. Many writers are accustomed to omit the comma, in all cases, after a conjunction ; but it is evident, that, when a word of this or any other part of speech is divided by a phrase or clause from the portion of the sentence to which it belongs, such intervening expres- sion should have a comma before as well as after it, as in the following example : " Agamemnon still lives before us in the ' tale of Troy divine ; ' but, were not his name embalmed in that imperishable song, there would not now be a rack of it." c. Short intermediate phrases, when closely united in sense to the context, and particularly when introduced into what is itself interme- diate, should be left unpointed; as, "Poesy can portray with much energy the excesses of the passions." This is further exemplified in * To the Teacher. — As no rule in punctuation can be applied more frequently than this to a clear development of the structure and sense of passages, and as none is less understood by the generality of writers, the teacher cannot be too careful in explaining to his pupils what it is that constitutes an intermediate expression. (See Definition IX., p. 5.) INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. 35 a clause of the remark just made, — " when closely united in sense to the context ; " in which the Italicized words partake somewhat of the nature of an intermediate phrase, but are better read in union with the words that precede and follow them. ORAL EXERCISES. Assign the reason, as given in the eighth Rule, for the insertion of commas in the following sentences : — Can great truths, after having been once developed, die ? Every passion, however base or unworthy, is eloquent. Some men are refined, like gold, in the furnace of affliction. It is mind, after all, which does the work of the world. Nature, through all her works, delights in variety. The ship leaps, as it were, from billow to billow. A spiritual nature, to grow in power, demands spiritual liberty. The ocean, in its mighty heavings, makes you serious. Dismiss, as soon as may be, all angry and wrathful thoughts. But, if education cannot do every thing, it can do much. Let us send light and joy, if we can, to every one around us. Man, in his highest mood of thought, aspires to God. There, where knowledge ceases, faith should strongest prove. Take your lot, as it is assigned to you, without murmuring or complaint. Christianity, in the highest sense, is the religion of sorrow. Why, according to the preceding Rule or the Remarks, are the intermediate expressions in the following sentences pointed or unpointed ? — Thou knowest, come what may, that the light of truth cannot be put out. Of nothing may we be more sure than this, that, if we cannot sanctify our present lot, we could sanctify no other. The travellers set out early, and, before the close of the day, ar- rived at the destined place. But, in the formation of character, we know that man is to lay its foundations for himself. Yet, after leaving school, Cowper threw away the next twenty or thirty years of his life almost in doing nothing. We can sometimes trace extraordinary skill in the liberal arts to the existence of a quarry of fine marble. Civilization, which on the whole has never gone backward, is new- shaped and modified by each particular people. The greatest of all human benefits, that at least without which no other benefits can be truly enjoyed, is independence. Burke and Paine were incarnations of the spirits whose conflict has for ages divided the world. 36 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Point the intermediate expressions, except those to which Remark c (p. 34) will apply: — A single hour in the day steadily given to the study of an interest- ing subject brings unexpected accumulations of knowledge. We should remember, that sorrow is at once the lot, the trial, and the privilege of man. (Remark c.) Benevolence is on whatever side we may contemplate the subject a godlike virtue. True it is, that were we cast from birth into solitude we should grow up in brutal ignorance. (Rule, and Remark &.) Excellence is in any position almost the infallible result of the determination to excel. " The virtuous man " it has been beautifully said " proceeds with- out constraint in the path of his duty." (Remarks a and c.) In Dante for the first time in an uninspired bard the dawn of a spiritual day breaks upon us. But when the subject for grief is fixed and inevitable sorrow is to be borne like pain. (Remark b, and Rule.) A people should honor and cultivate as unspeakably useful that literature which calls forth the highest faculties. Without fairness of mind which is only another phrase for disinter- ested love of truth great native powers of understanding are perverted. Simple truths when simply explained are more easily comprehended I believe than is commonly supposed. (Rule, and Remark a.) I would stamp God's name and not Satan's upon every innocent pleasure. And if the intellect requires to be provided with perpetual objects what must it be with the affections ? (Remark 6, and Rule.) Fanaticism in its ill sense is that which makes a man blind to perceive the falseness of an error. Washington's courage whether in battle or in council was as perfect as might be expected from his pure and steady temper of soul. I maintain, that as knowledge extends the range of all imagery is enlarged ; and what is far more important that the conception kindles by the contemplation of higher objects. (Remarks a, 5.) The love of the beautiful and true like the dewdrop in the heart of the crystal remains for ever clear and liquid in the inmost shrine of man's being. (Rule, and Remark c.) Numerous instances there have been as every reader knows of those who have thrown down every obstacle in the way of their men- tal elevation. (Remark a.) We cannot see an individual expire though a stranger or an enemy without being prompted by compassion to lend him every assistance in our power. (Rule, and Remark c.) VOCATIVE WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS. 37 RULE IX. Vocative Words, Phrases, and Clauses. A word or an expression, denoting a person or an object addressed,* is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence. EXAMPLES. 1. Antonio, light my lamp within my chamber. 2. Take these two savages to your care, Charon. 3. Boast not, my dear friends, of to-morrow. KEMAEKS. a. When the terms or expressions in a direct address indicate awe, wonder, or any other strong emotion, it is better to use after them the note of exclamation ; as, " My sister ! O my sister ! " o. For the punctuation of the personal pronoun in a vocative ex- pression, see p. 20, Remark g. ORAL EXERCISE. Assign the reason for the insertion of commas in the following sentences : — Sir, I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your long-expected letter. I am obliged to you, ladies,- for the kindness you have shown. Come hither, Moor. — What would you, Desdemona ? From childhood, seignior, you have been my protector. Idle time, John, is the most ruinous thing in the world. Come, companion of my toils, let us take fresh courage. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. — I am, dear madam, yours. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Punctuate these sentences in accordance with the above Rule : — Continue my dear James to make virtue your principal study. Acquire my daughters the habit of doing every thing well. Descend from heaven Urania. — You weep good Ethelbert. Sir the declaration will inspire the people with increased courage. This my lords is a perilous and tremendous moment. Verres what have you to advance against this charge ? Morning is the best time to study my beloved children. Thou who despisest the outward forms lose not the inward spirit. * To the Teacher. — The teacher may, if he chooses, adopt the more modern nomenclature, and require his pupils to call this the case independent hy address. But, if he refer to the examples in Remark g-, p. 20, where it is put in apposition with nouns or pronouns both in the nominative and the objective case, it may seem ques- tionable whether such a name will always denote its real character. 4 38 THE COMMA. RULE X. Adjectival, Participial, and Absolute Phrases. Adjectival, participial, and absolute phrases are each sepa- rated by a comma from the remainder of the sentence. EXAMPLES. 1. Awkward in his person, James was ill qualified to command respect. 2. Having approved of the plan, the king put it into execution. 3. Peace of mind being secured, we may smile at misfortune. 4. To speak candidly, I do not understand the subject. 5. Generally speaking, the conduct of that man is honorable. REMARKS. * a. The first two examples show the punctuation of adjectival and participial phrases, each being separated by a comma from the clause which follows, and with which it is associated. The last three sever- ally exhibit that of phrases containing the nominative, infinitive, and participle absolute ; so called because they are grammatically inde- pendent of the rest of the sentence in which they occur. b. The nominative absolute, when used pleonastically, is divided by a comma from what follows ; as, " The captain, I hope he will not act thus." — " He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." c. A nominative, though followed by a participle, is not absolute or independent if it be the subject of a verb. In this construction, a comma should be inserted both before and after the participial phrase ; as, " He, being dead, yet speaketh." d. All the phrases referred to, when intermediately used, are enclosed by commas ; as, " James, awkward in his person, was ill qualified to command respect." (See p. 34.) ORAL EXERCISES.* Recite the tenth Rule, and show its application to the folloioing sentences : — Shame being lost, all virtue is lost. — He being dead, we shall live. Speaking in round numbers, he made fifty thousand dollars. Crowded in filth, the poor cease to respect one another. To confess the truth, I was greatly to blame for my indiscretion. We being exceedingly tossed, they lightened the ship. Home Tooke having taken orders, he was refused admission to the bar. His father being dead, the prince succeeded to the throne. * To the Teacher. — The inelegances which occur in some of the exercises, it would be well for the teacher, in passing, to point out to his class. Such sentences we quote not as models of composition, but merely because they are required fully to exemplify the rules and the remarks. PARTICIPIAL AND ABSOLUTE PHRASES. 39 How do the Remarks (p. 38) apply to the punctuation of these sentences f - Timothy Taylor, may he always thus act and speak ! We, being exceedingly tossed, lightened the ship. The prince, his father being dead, succeeded to the throne. This is, to say nothing worse, highly reprehensible. His conduct, generally speaking, is highly honorable. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst. EXEKCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Let the following sentences be pointed according to Rule X. or the Remarks : — Full of desire to answer all demands the truly benevolent do not think it troublesome to aid the cause of the wretched. There are to confess the truth few who are fully qualified for the high office of governing their fellows. (Remark d.) Employed in little things an elevated genius appears like the sun in his evening declination. Being produced by nature ores are called native or natural com- pounds. Home Tooke having taken orders was refused admission to the bar. (Remark c.) To make any happiness sincere it is necessary that we believe it to be lasting. Having the inward life men cannot conceal it ; having divine trea- sures they will not hoard them. A state of ease is generally speaking more attainable than a state of pleasure. (Remark d.) To take some men at their word you would suppose they believed that only one class in society was entitled to consideration. Virtue being abandoned we become terrified with both imaginary and real evils. Physicians the disease once discovered think the cure half wrought. (Remark d.) Surpassing the boast of the too-confident Roman Napoleon but stamped on the earth, and a creation of enchantment arose. Redeeming your time from dangerous waste seek to fill it with employments which you may review with satisfaction. Those who are truly my friends let them come to my assistance. (Remark 6.) To supply this deficiency the Creator endowed him with nobler qualities of intellect. Overwhelmed with shame and remorse the soul feels itself shut out from heaven. There is no single period of history, which all things being taken into consideration will allow us to be indifferent to the progress of mankind. (Remark d) 40 THE COMMA. RULE XL Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases. Adverbs or adverbial phrases, when used as connectives, or when they modify not single words, but clauses or sentences, are each followed by a comma ; and, if used intermediately,* they admit a comma before as well as after them. EXAMPLES. 1. Why. these are testimonies of what the unfriended may do- 2. I proceed, thirdly, to point out the proper state of our temper. 3. On the other hand, let not the imagination be ungovernable. 4. Punctuality is, no doubt, a quality of high importance. 5. The most vigorous thinkers and writers are, in fact, self-taught. KEMAKKS. a. The following words, with others of a similar kind, are pointed in accordance with the rule : " Again, further, moreover, once more, as yet, yea, nay, why, well, first, secondly, finally, accordingly, conse- quently, unquestionably, indisputably, namely, at present, in truth, in short, in fine, in general, in particular, in the mean time, in the next place, in all probability, of late, of course, above all, nevertheless, doubtless, without doubt, true (used for indeed), that is (for namely), on the one hand, on the contrary, for the most part, now and then." b. When any of the adverbs or adverbial phrases in the preceding list, or others of a like character, are used to qualify single words, the commas should be omitted ; as, " The lecture was again delivered." c. Besides the adverbs and adverbial expressions which qualify single words, many of those relating to a whole clause or sentence are sometimes written and printed without commas ; as, " He was formerly a wealthy citizen." The omission of the point is recom- mended wherever the adverb readily coalesces with the context. d. If, however, there is any harshness in the construction, the ad- verbial word or expression may be set off by commas ; as, " Poverty, perhaps, has been the most fertile source of literary crimes." e. The insertion or the omission of commas in respect to such words as hence, also, here, there, seems, in general practice, to be a matter of taste or caprice. But, except when required by peculiar reasons, the points are better omitted. f. When two intermediate adverbs, not qualifying any particular word, come together, that which coalesces least with the other portions * To the Teacher. — It may be necessary to ask the learner to define the term 11 intermediate." (See p. 4, Definition IX.) ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES. 41 of the sentence should alone have a comma both before and after it ; as, " There were, surety, always pretenders in science." g-* Many words ranked as adverbs are sometimes employed con- junctively, and require a different treatment in their punctuation. However, now, then, too, indeed, are, when used as conjunctions, divided by commas from the context ; but when as adverbs, qualifying the words with which they are associated, the separation should not be made. This distinction will be seen from the following examples : — 1. However. — We must, however, pay some deference to the opinions of the wise, however much they are contrary to our own. 2. Now. — I have now shown the consistency of my principles ; and, now, what is the fair and obvious conclusion ? 3. Then. — On these facts, then, I then rested my argument, and afterwards made a few general observations on the subject. 4. Too. — I found, too, a theatre at Alexandria, and another at Cairo ; but he who would enjoy the representations must not be too particular. 5. Indeed. — The young man was indeed culpable in that act, though, indeed, he conducted himself very well in other respects.* When placed at the end of a sentence or a clause, the conjunction too must not be separated from the context by a comma. li. The particle therefore, which is used both as an adverb and a conjunction, may be set off by commas when it occurs intermediately, or obstructs the flow of the composition, and left unpointed when it coalesces with the other parts of the sentence ; as, " Music has charms, and therefore ought to be admired : if, therefore, you have an oppor- tunity of learning that delightful art, study it with avidity." i. As a preposition, besides should not be pointed; but, as an adverb or a conjunction, it takes a comma after, and, if occurring intermediately, also one before it ; as, " Besides him, there was an- other man who acted in the same manner : there were present, besides, several ladies, who seemed to give their approbation." The same remark is applicable to the word notwithstanding. _ j. Used adverbially, yesterday, to-day, &c, are, like the adverbs of time, now, then (Remark g), not separated by points from the words with which they are connected ; as, " John went yesterday to Bath." Jc. All adverbial words or phrases, if followed by an intermediate expression, must, according to p. 34, have a comma after them ; but, if finishing a sentence or a clause, they should have that point which is required by their position. I. When an adverbial word or phrase comes between two phrases or clauses, it must be separated by a comma only from that expression which it does not qualify ; as, " He was saved, for a time at least, from a relapse." * To the Teacher. — The pupil should be made aware, that the repetition, in a single sentence, of the same word in different senses, is not held up for his imitation ; but that it is adopted here merely to illustrate more clearly the use of the comma than could be done by giving examples less liable to critical objection. 4 * 42 THE COMMA. ORAL EXERCISES. Show how the punctuation in these sentences corresponds to Rule XL : — Such, undoubtedly, is the characteristic of genuine virtue. On the contrary, I believe that truth is the great inspirer. There is, now and then, a youth of more than youthful powers. He made the most, mentally, of whatevercame in his way. Undoubtedly, the statement he has made is not correct. _ There are many ends, doubtless, for which each thing exists. But, lastly, let us examine the truth of these arguments. In fact, modern civilization is a corrupted Christianity. Such, in general, is the humiliating aspect of the tomb. Accordingly, the chronicles of the middle ages teem with crimes. The national life, in short, is to a certain extent diseased. Well, proceed with the speech which you have so well begun. According to Remarks (pp. 40-1), assign reasons for the punctuation of the adverbial or conjunctive words and phrases which occur in the following sentences, or for the omission of commas: — Let us further consider the arguments on this subject. How inconceivably thin and tender are the threads of a spider ! Well, I call conversation the sweet interchange of thought. I do not well know why I should think of it in any other respect. He first went to New York, and afterwards to Philadelphia. Attend, first, to the literal sense ; and, secondly, to the metaphorical. Probably there are few who ever accomplish as much as they expected. Few, probably, ever accomplish as much as they expected. Why do you trust your character to be evolved by accident ? If I cannot perform my promise, why, 1 will regret having made it. Here also is the distinction between faith and mere assent. I am inclined, however, to believe this to be a mistaken opinion. However great Napoleon was as a general, he was not a good man. Now, feudalism is the embodiment of satanic pride. Now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am known. It is, then, a mark of wisdom to live virtuously and devoutly. Have not you, too, gone about the earth like an evil genius ? We look at all things too exclusively from our own point of view. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in mere speech. Professors Bentley and Porson were scholars indeed. A certain degree of moral culture, therefore, must be presupposed. A certain degree of moral culture must therefore be presupposed. Besides this, it may be of the greatest advantage to you in business. It may, besides, be of the greatest advantage to you in business. They, notwithstanding, had much love to spare. A man may be rich, notwithstanding pecuniary losses. We shall perhaps leave the city to-morrow morning. ADVERBS AND ADVERBIAL PHRASES. 43 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert commas only where required by Rule XL and Remarks (pp. 40-1) : — Hence the organs of sense are probably in a state of the greatest sensibility in an early period of life. (Remarks e and c.) The children of our cottagers too appear to derive peculiar pleasure from the soft breath of spring. (Remark g 4.) Characters endowed with great excellences will unfortunately often stand in need of great allowances. (Remark /.) However much he was persecuted, he loved his persecutors not the less. (Remark g 1.) The happiness of the dead however is affected by none of these considerations. (Remark g 1.) First men of uncommon moral endowments may be expected to be men of uncommon intellectual powers. (Rule, and Remark a.) If therefore you find that you have a hasty temper, watch it nar- rowly. (Remark Ji.) The Greeks were great reasoners ; and their language accordingly abounds in connectives. (Rule, and Remark a.) This was the object to which the meeting first directed its attention. (Remark b.) Having now removed the objections made to our conduct, I shall take up very little more of your lordships' time. (Remarks b, g 2.) There was great scarcity of corn, and consequently dearth of all other victuals. (Rule, and Remarks a, d.) Sooner or later insulted virtue avenges itself on states, as well as on private men. (Rule.) Without being rash on the one hand or fearful on the other we shall find all things working together for good. (Remark I.) Christ stands immeasurably in advance of the moral attainments of the world. (Remark 6.) And hence perhaps it is that Solomon calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom. (Remark f.) But yesterday the word of Csesar might have stood against the world. (Remark j.) Sometimes doubts and apprehensions will haunt the mind in its searchings for truth. (Rule.) But on the other hand do not suppose that poverty is altogether a waste and howling wilderness. (Rule, and Remark c.) There is undoubtedly very often more happiness in the hut than in the palace. (Rule, and Remark f.) Nature has indeed given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hand of industry. But what are lands, &c. (Remark g 5.) . Society must of course receive beauty into its character and feel- ing. (Rule, and Remark a.) Let us contemplate then this connection, which binds the prosperity of others to our own. (Remark g 3.) 44 THE COMMA. RULE xn. Phrases at the End of Sentences or Clauses. § I. When a phrase beginning with a preposition, an adverb, or a conjunction, relates to or modifies a preceding portion of the sentence, a comma is unnecessary if the parts are closely connected in sense. § II. But the point must be inserted when its omission would occasion ambiguity, or when the phrase begins with a word that obstructs the connection subsisting between the different portions of the sentence. EXAMPLES. § I. 1. For that agency he applied without a recommendation. 2. Cultivate your intellectual powers by habits of study and reflection. 3. The idea is very happily applied under one of its forms. § II. 1. He applied for that agency, without a recommendation. 2. Cultivate your intellectual powers, especially by habits of study, &c. 3. The idea is very happily applied, at least under one of its forms. REMARKS. a. In the first three examples, the phrases beginning with the pre- positions " without," " by," " under, " are closely connected with both portions of the sentence" in which they severally occur, and therefore should not be preceded by a comma. 5. If, in the first example of the second class, the comma were omitted before the preposition " without," the sentence might be wrongly understood to mean, that a person applied for an agency, without its having any recommendation in its favor. Of the next ex- ample, if written without the comma before the adverb " especially," the meaning might be, that, by habits of study and reflection, you should cultivate particularly your intellectual powers, that is, in pre- ference to others ; but this is not the sense. In both of these sentences, the insertion of the comma, as above, leads obviously to the true sig- nification. In the last example, the sense is brought out more clearly by inserting a comma before the modifying words " at least," because they belong rather to the phrase than to the whole clause, and obstruct the connection between " applied " and " under one of its forms." c. If a final phrase conveys an additional thought, or is preceded by another phrase with which it does not readily unite, the comma FINAL PHRASES. 45 should be inserted ; as, " A strong idea of religion generally prevailed, even among the most uncultivated savages." — " The ode was fre- quently sung at his request, either in the church or at some occasional meeting of the choir." d. A phrase, at the end of a clause or sentence, of an antithetical character, is preceded by a comma ; as, " Man's true destination is not perfection, but the unceasing perfecting of his nature." (See Rule V., p. 22.) e. No point is required before a final phrase beginning with but, in the sense of except ; as, " None are poor but the mean in mind." f. When a final phrase begins with the words in order before a verb in the infinitive mood, or with the infinitive denoting in order to, it should not be preceded by a comma ; as, " I sent the boy in order to ascertain the fact." — " We do not pray to God to instruct him." Unless the final phrase is removed by several words from the leading one in the preceding portion of the sentence ; as, " Our minds must go out into the infinite and immortal regions, to find sufficiency and satisfaction for the present hour." ORAL EXERCISES. State why, in conformity with Rule XII., commas are used in some of these sentences, and omitted in others : — He was a man of extraordinary powers, both of mind and body. The fertile earth is fragrant after soft showers. Take heed not to place thyself in the power of temptation. View the path you are entering on, with an enlightened mind.* The grandeur of Rome has vanished like a spectre in the night. Poisons are sweet in the moral world, as truly as in the natural. Do thy best to pluck this crawling serpent from my breast. The soul becomes great by the habitual contemplation of great objects. Poverty of mind is often concealed under the garb of splendor. Repentance is not a single act, but a habit of virtue. Truth is not hidden from us by an impenetrable veil. All great things are so, only by the assemblage of small things. Call off the thoughts when running upon disagreeable objects. Keep an inventory of your friends, rather than of your goods. * To the Teacher. — It will be noticed that this example cannot be left unpointed, ■without either producing ambiguity, or conveying a sense different from that which was intended to be conveyed. It is our province here to have to do with sentences only as they are written ; but, in learning to combine the functions of both composer and punctuist, the pupil should be taught to reconstruct all such sentences ; as, in respect to the present one, " View, with an enlightened mind, the path on which you are entering." In this case, however, the sentence would be brought under the operation of Rule VIII., p. 34. 46 THE COMMA. Mention why, in accordance with Remarfo (pp. 44-5), commas are inserted or omitted in the following sentences : — He was a Columbus in a brave heart, if not in achievement. Virtue is not the creature of will, but necessary and immutable. Our best works are fractions, not complete and rounded unities. Nothing remained but to throw himself on the mercy of Heaven. He left the room to see whether all was safe. Cultivate the art of reading, in order to read well. Let me find a charter in your voice } to assist my simpleness* EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. In agreement with Rule XII. and the Remarks, let commas be inserted or omitted in the following sentences : — A year is much in human life particularly to the very young and very old. (Rule, § n.) The first indications of genius disclose themselves at a very early period. (Rule, § I.) Follow the perfections of your enemies rather than the errors of your friends. (Rule, § II. ; and Remark d.) Christianity represents physical evil as the direct appointment of God's love. . (Rule, § i.) The active mind of man seldom or never rests satisfied with its present condition how prosperous soever. (Rule, § n.) The saint owes much of the grace and elegance of his spirit to the influences of sorrow in some form. (Rule, § I.) We cannot bid farewell to so large a portion of human history without deep and earnest thought. (Rule, § n.) Herbert always attracted friends and strangers by the elegance and benignity of his manners. (Rule. § i.) Law should not be the rich man's luxury but the poor man's re- medy. (Rule, § II. ; and Remark d.) Let your affections be cultivated with ardor and purity through all the successive periods of life. (Rule, § I.) Shake not the credit of others in endeavoring to establish your own. (Rule, § II.) Half of what passes among men for talent is nothing but strong health. (Rule, § I. ; and Remark e.) Who can look on this scene without an increase of love and reve- rence and trust ? (Rule, § II.) The soul is nursed for heaven by the discipline of a sacred sorrow. (Rule, § I.) Some men put on the appearance of virtue in order to succeed in their nefarious enterprises. (Rule, § II. ; Remark f, second portion.) Let us not think of the departed as looking on us with earthly, partial affections. (Rule, § I.) INVERTED EXPRESSIONS. 47 RULE XIII. Inverted or Transposed Expressions. Many phrases which, in their natural or usual order, do not require to be punctuated, are, when inverted, set off by a comma from the rest of the sentence. EXAMPLES. 1. By Cowley, the philosopher Hobbes is compared to Columbus. 2. To the wise and good, old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment. 3. Of all our senses, sight is the most perfect and delightful. 4. In perusing the works of enlightened men, we ought to think much. REMARKS. a. The natural or usual order of words in English composition, if adopted in the above sentences, would run as follows : " The philo- sopher Hobbes is compared by Cowley to Columbus." — " Old age presents a scene of tranquil enjoyment to the wise and good." — " Sight is the most perfect and delightful of all our senses." — " We ought to think much in perusing the works of enlightened men." It will be seen, that the phrases which have been punctuated in the examples, are, when put in the usual order, written without commas. 5. In the inverted or rhetorical style in which these sentences are exemplified under the rule, it is obvious, that, if the comma were* omitted, we could not read or understand them, without a greater exercise of the judgment than is required when that point is. inserted after each transposed phrase. c. But the rule, as commonly laid down by grammarians, is by no means universal in its application. The mere circumstance of the transposition of a word or phrase is not a sufficient reason for intro- ducing a comma, as may readily be seen by inspecting either a single page of an author who adopts this style, or a few lines in any of the poets ; and, indeed, the punctuating of all inversions would, in num- berless instances, violate both perspicuity and good taste. Actual usage, too, is so discordant, that, in many cases, it would seem to be a matter of mere choice whether an inverted phrase should have a comma or not. By attention, however, to the various modes in which the sentences under notice are formed, most of the practical difficul- ties would be overcome. d. Thus the inverted portions of a sentence, when they are both clauses, or are equivalent to clauses, should be separated by a comma ; as, " That interesting and valuable history which you lent him, he did not read." — " In believing attainment impossible, you will make it so ; " that is, " If you believe," &c. 48 THE COMMA. e. When inverted expressions severally end and begin with words of the same part of speech,* they are, in general, more easily under- stood if distinguished by an intervening comma ; as, " Of the varie- gated mountain, nought shall remain unchanged." f So, also, inverted phrases, if they severally end and begin with an adjective and a noun, with a noun and an adjective,* or with two adjectives; as, "To each, honor is given." — " To egotists and pedants, sensible men have a strong antipathy." — " By these, vari- ous opinions may be held." g. On the other hand, the comma is usually omitted under the following circumstances : — 1. When the first inverted portion contains a noun governed by a verb in the last part of the sentence ; as, " That interesting and valu- able history he did not read." — " Him and Ms actions you will very probably imitate" 2. When the second portion of the sentence commences with a verb, whether principal or auxiliary, before its nominative ; as, " At the bottom of the garden ran a little rivulet." — " Of the variegated mountain shall nought remain unchanged." 3. When a preposition is removed from the word to which it be- longs, and placed at the beginning of the inverted phrase ; as, " With that portion of the work he was the least satisfied ; " instead of, " He was the least satisfied loith that portion of the work." — " Of all truly noble feelings they were quite unsusceptible." 4. When the first of the inverted portions of a sentence begins with the words it is, or only ; as, " It is in the sphere of intellect alone that men are becoming truly civilized." — " Only on a few slight oc- casions they felt disposed to be merciful." 5. When, though a distinct articulation may require a slight pause, an inverted phrase can be read in close connection with what follows it, without affecting the import of the sentence; as, "In infancy the mind is peculiarly ductile." — " To each the soul of each how dear ! " — " By these swords we acquired our liberties." 6. When an expression precedes an inverted phrase which is con- nected more closely with the latter portion of the sentence than with the former ; as, " However opposite may be the sides from which we start at the foot of the mountain, in approaching its summit we ap- proach one another." If, however, the first part of the sentence were omitted, Remark d would hold good ; as, " In approaching the sum- mit of a mountain, we approach one another." * To the Teacher. — Where inversions often occur, as in poetry, and the insertion of a comma between two nouns, or between a noun and an adjective, would create too many minute subdivisions, the pupil may be taught to dispense with its use. — Under the term ' : adjective," we include the pronominal adjectives. INVERTED EXPRESSIONS. 49 ORAL EXERCISE. Why, according to Rule XIII. and Remarks (]op. 47-8), are commas inserted or omitted between the transposed expressions in these sentences f — To most, religion is a mere tradition or a momentary feeling. In fearless freedom he arose. — By vicious examples be not misled. Of all bad habits, that of idleness is the most incorrigible. In the British Museum is the original work of Copernicus. Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. Only by degrees we turn our thoughts inwardly on ourselves. Without much thought, books cannot be profitably read. Against great force of reasoning it is in vain to contend. By the faults or errors of others, wise men correct their own. In early years the habits of industry are most easily acquired. At his control, despair and anguish fled the struggling soul. Through her rags do the winds of the winter blow bleak. To study the science of spirit, I must enter my own soul. All the appearances of nature I was careful to study. Like a spectre in the night, the grandeur of Rome is vanished. It is only by devotion to liberal pursuits that we can be truly liberal. Greater exploits than force, counsel and wisdom achieve. To thee I pour my prayer. — In power and wealth exult no more. What is the right path, few men take the trouble of inquiring. This great error I wish to expose. — It is a place he aspires to hold. With the many, life is one round of never-ceasing toil. For want of this, genius has been a scourge to the world. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Point the following sentences, or leave them unpointed, in accordance, with the thirteenth Rule and the Remarks thereon; — In the production and preservation of order all men recognize something that is sacred. (Rule.) From the right exercise of our intellectual powers arises one of the chief sources of our happiness. (Remark g 2 or 3.) Through life truth ought to be one of the great objects of human pursuit. (Rule, and Remark e.) In the solemn silence of the mind are formed those great resolu- tions which decide the fate of men. (Remark g 2.) Education is at home a friend, abroad an introduction, in solitude a solace, in society an ornament. (Remark g 5.) Of all our virtuous emotions those of kind regard are the most readily imitated. (Rule.) In the attainment of all excellence in the arts patronage and genius should go hand in hand. (Rule, and Remark e.) Before giving way to anger try to find a reason for not being angry. (Rule, and Remark d.) 5 50 THE COMMA. In the acuteness of the external senses some of the inferior animals excel our species. (Rule, and Remark f.) Over matchless talents probity should throw its brightest lustre. (Rule, and Remark e.) It is from the spirit's own pearl that the good embellish their cha- racter. (Remark g 4.) In every material action of your life consider well its probable result. (Rule.) Only in the light of a sublime faith can the history of our race be read without despondency. (Remarks g 2 or 4.) In the ruffled and angry hour we view every appearance through a false medium. (Rule.) In these hours of golden leisure my chief haunt is the banks of a small stream. (Rule, and Remark f.) This view of religion I propose to make the subject of some free discussion. (Remark g 1.) It is through moral and spiritual power that the rivers of thought and feeling are to be turned. (Remark #4.) On feelings allied to these priestcraft and sorcery have often fas- tened themselves. (Rule, and Remark f.) From the little root of a few letters science has spread its branches over all nature, and raised its head to the heavens. (Rule, and Rem. e.) In order to improve the mind we ought less to learn than to con- template. (Rule, and last portion of Remark d.) With what you have be satisfied. — All you hear believe not. (Rule, and first of Remark d.) In the hurry and eagerness of selfish competition we underrate the silent influence of moral character. (Rule.) When others are asleep, in its own contemplations the soul finds a source of solace and pleasure. (Remark g 6.) In not learning your business perfectly you cannot give satisfaction to your employer. (Rule, and last of Remark d.) To every character its fitting position and appropriate function have been assigned. (Remark g 3.) It is to the unaccountable oblivion of our mortality that the world owes all its fascination. (Remark e 4.) Of all the great men whom Germany has produced Luther has the most German character. (Rule.) By doing nothing we learn to do ill. — To command any subject adequately we must stand above it. (Rule, and last of Remark d.) Through the dim veil of the visible and 'perishing man catches a glimpse of the vast significance of the unseen and the eternal. (Rule, and Remark f.) Into every human being has God breathed an immortal soul. — Into every human being God has breathed an immortal soul. (Re- marks g 2 and f.) DEPENDENT CLAUSES. 51 RULE XIV. One Clause Depending on Another. Two clauses, one depending on the other, are separated by a comma.* EXAMPLES. 1. If you would be revenged on your enemies, let your life be blameless. 2. Wealth is of no real use, except it be well employed. 3. Unless it blossoms in the spring, the tree will not bear fruit in autumn. 4. Till we can go alone, we must lean on the hand of a guide. 5. Fill thy heart with goodness, and thou wilt find that the world is full of good. REMARKS. a. One of the dependent clauses is commonly distinguished by its beginning with a particle expressive of condition, admission, purpose, causation, time, or place. But such sentences are not necessarily thus constructed, as is shown in the fifth example, the clauses of which depend, one on the other, not in form, but in sense ; being equivalent to — "If thou fill thy heart with goodness, thou wilt find," &c. b. A phrase having the import of a conditional clause, and put at the beginning of the sentence, is also distinguished by a comma ; as, " To be good, you must do good ; " that is, " That you may be good, you must do good." (See p. 47, last portion of d.) c. When, in a sentence relating to time, place, or manner, the clause beginning with an adverb is put last, and is closely connected in sense with what precedes it, the comma should not be inserted ; as, " I love my kind where'er I roam." — " You will reap as you sow." Clauses like these may be regarded as akin to the restrictive relative. (See Rule VII., § il, p. 29.) d. But if the adverbs when, where, &c, have only a faint reference to time or place, or introduce an additional idea, they should be pre- ceded by a comma ; as, " Refrain not to speak, when by speaking you may be useful to others." — " Andrew sailed for California, where he does a flourishing business." e. When the conjunctions if and because are used to bind closely together the two clauses between which they are severally placed, * To the Teacher. — Notwithstanding the simplicity of this rule, and the ease with which in a great majority of instances it may be applied, cases are often found in books where the principle is neglected. All, however, that is necessary to bring it into operation may be effected by the teacher's making his pupils fully acquainted with the nature of a clause, and how one clause is said to be dependent on another. (See Definition V., p. 3.) 52 THE COMMA. the comma is unnecessary ; as, " Tell Mm if you will go." — " Sin is not less dangerous because men are hardened by it." f. No point should be introduced between two clauses united by the phrase in order that, or by the conjunction that, when it has the same import, if it is closely connected with the preceding verb ; as, "The man travelled in order that he might regain his strength." But the comma must be inserted if the conjunction or the phrase is separated at some distance from the verb ; as, " Let us consider the following propositions, that we may fully understand the subject." ORAL. EXERCISES. Show how Rule XIV. (p. 51) is applicable to the punctuation of the sentences that follow : — The good which men do is not lost, though it is often disregarded. It were no virtue to bear calamities, if we did not feel them. Where the heart is well guarded, temptations cannot enter. Though a civilization may die, it leaves imperishable records. Wherever we are, we are not forgotten by a kind Providence. Were patrons more disinterested, ingratitude would be more rare. Since none enjoy all blessings, be content with a few. Go where a man may, home is the centre to which his heart turns. As we grow older, life becomes dim in the distance. We obey the laws of society, because they are the laws of virtue. Dare to be good, whatever evil may surround you. If their lungs receive our air, that moment they are free. When beggars die, there are no comets seen. Make up your mind to do a thing, and you will do it. Every thing is beautiful, if left where nature meant it to be.' Where the whole is one dark blot of shade, there can be no picture. How do the Remarks under the fourteenth Rule apply to the punctuation of the following sentences f — Drop upon Fox's grave the tear, 'twill trickle to his rival's bier. By playing with a fool at home, he'll play with you abroad. I will see you when you arrive. — I will go whither thou goest. He went away as soon as I came. — Use time as if you knew its value. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Quietness and peace flourish where justice and reason govern. Let us live while we live. — Fear not, while acting justly. He went to the city of Manchester, where he remained for a year. The age of miracles is past, while that of prejudice remains. Sense shines with the greatest lustre, when it is set in humanity. I fled because I was afraid. — You shall be informed if it is so. Live well that you may die well. — We go that we may be in time. Be studious and diligent, in order that you may become learned. DEPENDENT CLAUSES. 53 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Point, or leave unpointed, the following sentences, according to the principles laid down in the fourteenth Rule and the Remarks: — When the great man is laid in his grave lies of malice are apt to give way to lies of adulation. Decide not by authoritative rules when they are inconsistent with reason. (Rule, and Remark d.) A man may comfort himself for the wrinkles in his face provided his heart be fortified with virtue. We cannot turn in any direction where the Creator's love does not smile around us. (Remark c.) Unless he put a bridle on his tongue the babbler will soon shut himself out from all society. Have respect for yourself that others may not disrespect you. (Rule, and last sentence of Remark f.) We should be ashamed of many of our actions were the world acquainted with our motives. Breathe into men a fervent purpose and you awaken powers before unknown. (Rule, and Remark a.) Where true religion has prevented one crime false religions have afforded a pretext for a thousand. Remember your own feelings in order that you may judge of the feelings of others. (Rule, and last sentence of Remark f.) Some people endeavor to divert their thoughts lest their minds should reproach them. We were present when General Lafayette embarked at Havre for New York. (Remark c.) If there be nothing celestial without us it is only because all is earthly within. Let all dispose their hours till midnight when again we pray your presence. (Remark d.) In how small a compass lie all the elements of man's truest happi- ness if society were only conducted in a rational spirit ! Suppress the first desires of evil as soon as they arise, and extin- guish the spark before it spreads. (Remark c.) There never is true eloquence except when great principles and sentiments have entered into the substance of the soul. We live that we may die. — Attend that you may receive instruc- tion. (Remark f, first sentence.) If women fulfilled truly their divine errand there would be no need of reforming societies. We compare the divine Mind with ours that we may have some- thing Avithin the grasp of our reason to dwell upon. (Remark f.) We weep over the dead because they have no life, and over the living because they have no perfection. (Remark e.) 54 THE COMMA. RULE XV. Correlative Words, Phrases, and Clauses. § I. Two correlative expressions, united by the conjunc- tion as or than, are written without a point between them. § II. But, when united by any other word than these con- junctions, the correlative expressions are distinguished by a comma. EXAMPLES. §i. 1. Men are never | so easily deceived || as when they plot to deceive others. 2. A child in the humblest walks of life is | as richly gifted l| as in the highest. 3. Only | such repentance is beneficial || as makes us wiser and better. 4. Do not spend | more time in bed j| than is required for sleep. § II. 1. But | though learned and methodical, || yet the teacher was not a pedant. 2. A great man will | neither trample on a worm, || nor cringe before a king. 3. All know that | as virtue is its own reward, || so vice is its own punishment. 4. Yes 3 | the more we see of a truly good man, || the better we love him. REMARKS. a. To indicate the true character of the sentences just quoted, we have put two perpendicular lines between each pair of correlative expressions, and a single line before the first expression, in each example. It will be seen, that the phrases or clauses beginning seve- rally with the correlative words, " so — as," " as — as," " such — as," " more — than," which occur in the first class of examples, have a stronger attraction to each other than those commencing with the correlatives " though — yet," " neither — nor," " as — so," " the more — the better," in- the second ; and that, on this account, the expressions under the former division are properly written without commas, and those under the latter with them. 0. (1) When the last of the correlative words requires a comma after it; (2) when vagueness or ambiguity would be occasioned by the omission of a point between the corresponding expressions; or (3) when the correlatives are separated by two or more phrases, — the sense is brought out more clearly by the insertion of a comma before the conjunction as or than; as, — 1. The mind that boasts of its rich endowments is so limited and cramped, as, in comparison with what it might enjoy, to be utterly poor and naked. 2. Greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues. 3. We can no more preserve a stationary attitude | in the moral world, than we can refuse to accompany the physical earth in its rotation. CORRELATIVE EXPRESSIONS. 55 C As an exception to the second division of the rule, it may be remarked, that the comma is better omitted between clauses contain- ing the correlative words so — that, or such — that, when they are short, and closely connected ; as, " John was so much injured that he could not walk." — " The earthquake produced such a shock that it awoke us all." d. Expressions beginning with both — and, whether — or, either — or, neither — nor, are usually left unpointed when they are not clauses, but phrases ; as, " We cannot trace either their causes or their effects." ORAL, EXERCISES.* Agreeably to Rule XV., state %ohy some of the folloioing sentences are printed with, and others without, the comma : — So frowned the mighty combatants, that hell grew darker at the sight. When pride cometh, then cometh shame. — She is as good as he. No one is so much alone in the world as a denier of God. As we do to others, so shall it be done unto us. Man gains wider dominion by his intellect than by his right arm. Wherever man is, there are the elements of poetry. Every one has as much vanity as he is deficient in understanding. If you know that your object is good, then without hesitation seek it. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Though Truth is fearless and absolute, yet she is meek and modest. The more industrious you are, the sooner will you learn a trade. He governed more by a regard to duty than by a prospect of gain. Such as the tree is, such will be the fruit. We can discover nothing so sublime as the spirit of self-sacrifice. The better a proverb is, the more trite it generally becomes. Show how the preceding Remarks will apply to the punctuation of correlative clauses and phrases in the following sentences : — It would have been better for you not to know the truth, than, after you have known it, to shun its counsels. Our sympathy is always awakened more by hearing the speaker, than by reading his works in our closet. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox, and haired therewith. Virtue is so amiable that even the vicious admire it. — Virtue is neither a phantom nor a vain vision. Whether right or wrong, I am held responsible. — Whether my gift be liberal or niggardly is not the question. * To the Teacher. — Before commencing these Exercises, the teacher may ask the pupil a few questions as to the nature and. uses of correlative words or expres- sions. (See Definition X., p. 5.) 56 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Lei these sentences be punctuated or not, agreeably to the fifteenth Rule and the Bemarks (pp. 54-5) : — We are so afraid of each other's doctrines that we cannot cure each other's sins. (Rule, § n.) My engagements are of such a character as will deprive me of partaking the festivities of the day. (Rule, § I.) We must not only avoid what God has forbidden but do what he has commanded. (Rule, § II.) One angel's history may be a volume of more various truth than all the records of our race. (Rule, § I.) Although men are accused for not knowing their own weakness yet perhaps as few know their own strength. (Rule, § n.) He is a better man who wisely speaks than he who talks at ran- dom. (Remark b 2.) No sublimity is so real as that which makes itself deeply felt in union with beauty. (Rule, § I.) Such is the course of nature that whoever lives long must outlive those whom he loves. (Rule, § II.) What thou forbiddest us that will we shun and abhor : what thou commandest us that will we love and pursue. (Rule, § II.) Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as cheerily on the poor man's cottage as on the rich man's palace. (Rule, § I.) The doll-shop is as fit a place for studying character as the fashion- able dinner-party, the assembly, or the ball-room. (Remark b 3.) Better live an honest poor man than die a selfish and grasping millionnaire. (Rule, § I.) The rarer the beauty of the external scene the deeper should be the impression of the unseen God. (Rule, § n.) The evidence of things invisible can never be such as those who rely on purely intellectual assurance will demand. (Rule, § I.) The more a man speaks of himself the less he likes to hear another spoken of. (Rule, § n.) Nothing appears to us so beautiful in human experience as the reciprocal affection of parents and children. (Rule, § I.) The progress of some men is so rapid that they keep ahead of common sense. (Remark c.) Art is capable of not only imitating Nature in her graces but even of adorning her with graces of her own. (Rule, § II.) Rather do good than seem to be. — So five with men as if God saw you. (Rule, § I.) Either the mere will of the magistrate or the conscience of the individual must decide in the case. (Remark d.) I am as much known to God as if I were the single object of his attention. (Rule, § I.) EXPRESSIONS CONSTRUCTED ALIKE. 57 RULE XVI. Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction. Two or more phrases or clauses, when in the same con- struction, are separated by a comma from each other, and, when the} r do not complete a proposition, from the remainder of the sentence.* EXAMPLES. 1. No one ought unnecessarily to wound the feelings of his neighbors, or to insult their religious prepossessions. 2. Regret for the past, grief at the present, and anxiety respecting the future, are plagues which affect the generality of men. 3. Beauty haunts the depths of the earth and sea, and gleams out in the hues of the shell and the precious stone. REMARKS. a. The first and second of these sentences exemplify the use of phrases in the same construction : the third exemplifies that of clauses. Both kinds of expressions are said to be in the same construction, because, in the first example, the infinitives " to wound," " to insult," are each governed by one and the same verb, " ought ; " because, in the second, the whole series of phrases forms a compound nomi- native to the verb " are ; " and because, in the third, the verbs " haunts " and " gleams," occurring respectively in the two clauses, have the same nominative, " beauty." In the second example, the co-ordinate expressions do not conclude the proposition; and there- fore a comma is put after the last of these, in order to point out their common dependence on what follows. b. Co-ordinate expressions,* even if they are not in the same con- struction, are subject to the operation of the rule ; as, " Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them." c. When two brief phrases are formed alike, and united by either of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma is better omitted between them ; as, " A healthy body and a sound mind should be preserved as real blessings." — " The pastimes of youth have a tendency to invigorate the body or to expand the mind." The omission of the point is particularly recommended when two phrases form a compound intermediate expression, or belong to one ; as, " We must file a pro- test against the practice of destroying the birds of the garden ; for, * To the Teacher. — For an explanation of the terms here used, the pupil should be required to compare Remark a with Definitions V., VI., and VIII., pp. 3-5. 58 THE COMMA. besides depriving us of the beauty oftlieir appearance and tlie music of their song, it lets in a flood of insects, whose numbers the birds were commissioned to keep down." (See p. 23, h.) d. If, by omitting the comma, two such phrases might be read so as to obscure or pervert the meaning, the point must be inserted ; as, " Receive blessings with thankfulness, and afflictions with resignation." e. When two connected phrases are different in form or in the num- ber of words, their relation to the context is better seen when they are set off by commas ; as, " Undue susceptibility, and the preponderance of mere feeling over thoughtfulness, may mislead us." f The same mode of punctuation is adopted for a word and a phrase, or for a series consisting partly of words and partly of phrases ; a comma, however, being put after the last particular, when it does not end the clause ; as, " Calmness, modesty, candor, forgetfulness of self, and love of others, are all required for the occasion." g. When a series consists both of words and phrases, all connected by one of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma should be omitted between the single words, but inserted between the phrases ; as, " Some men would be distinguished in their occupation or pursuit or profes- sion, or in the style of living, or in the dignity of office, or in the glare and pride and pomp of power." (See p. 16, 5.) h. When a series consists of phrases or clauses, united by either of the conjunctions just named, the particulars are separated from one another by a comma ; as, " Reach the goal, and gain the prize, and wear the crown." But, if the series is used parenthetically, the com- mas may be omitted ; as, " Through the soul we have direct access to God, and, by a trustful heart and a submissive will and a devoted service, may spiritually unite ourselves with him." (See p. 57,-6.) i. Pairs of words are regarded as phrases, and pointed in accord- ance with the rule ; as, " Anarchy and confusion, poverty and distress, follow a civil war." — " Y/hether we eat or drink, labor or sleep, we should be moderate." j. It is usual to omit the comma between the number of a house or shop and the street, and after the name of a month when preceding that of the year to which it belongs : but, as these words are employed neither adj ectively nor in apposition, the point ought to be inserted ; as, " No. 140, Broadway, New York, August, 1856." In accordance with the same principle, a comma should be put after a reference made to any of the sacred books, when it is followed immediately by mention of the chapter and verse ; as, " John, svi. 20 : " unless the references to Scripture are numerous, when, for the sake of neatness, the comma is better omitted. To the Teacher. — Clauses which are separable into smaller portions requiring a comma will be treated of in p. 71. EXPRESSIONS CONSTRUCTED ALIKE. 59 OEAL EXERCISES. Say why, according to Rule XVI., commas are inserted in these sentences: — To cleanse our own opinions from falsehood, our hearts from malig- nity, and our actions from vice, is our first concern. Great moral principles, pure and generous dispositions, cannot be confined to this or that spot. The true worshipper of beauty sees it in the lowliest flower, meets it in every path, enjoys it everywhere. Eloquence is to be attained by the full culture, the general enrich- ing, of the heart and mind. Has God provided for the poor a coarser earth, a thinner air, a paler sky ? The voice of merriment and of wailing, the steps of the busy and the idle, have ceased in the deserted courts. You may dazzle men's eyes with large enterprises in philanthropy, but possess nothing of the philanthropic spirit. Beauty flows in the waves of light, radiates from the human face divine, and sparkles in the pathway of every child. The Devil loves nothing better than the intolerance of reformers, and dreads nothing so much as their charity and patience. Infinite space, endless numbers, and eternal duration, fill the mind with great ideas. Assign the reasons given in the Remarks (pp. 57-8) for the insertion ov the omission of commas in such sentences as the following : — It is education that characterizes mental power as the talent of an angel or the capacity of a fiend. Eminent talent and distinguished attainment are sometimes con- nected with obliquity of character. The student may, by close application and by proper culture, attain ease and grace in his composition. Some persons mistake abhorrence of vice for uncharitableness, and piety for enthusiasm. Suffering often calls forth our best feelings, and the highest energies of the mind. Fraud, enthusiasm, and narrowness of view, often shape the pre- mises to fit the conclusion. Babylon and Troy and Tyre, and even early Rome, are passing already into fiction. Age never dims their sight, nor slackens their speed, nor weakens their force, nor abates their fidelity. Perfection of mind consists of firmness and mildness, of force and tenderness, of vigor and grace. On the rich and the eloquent, on nobles and priests, the Puritans looked down with contempt. 60 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WEITTEN. Let the punctuation of such of the following sentences as require to be pointed accord with the Rule and Remarks (pp. 57-8) : — Joint effort conquers nature hews through mountains rears pyra- mids dikes out the ocean. Genius deals with the possible creates new combinations discovers new laws and acts from an insight into principles. Refined manners and polite behavior must not be deemed alto- gether superficial. (First of Remark c.) To be wise in our own eyes to be wise in the opinion of the world and to be wise in the sight of our Creator seldom coincide. It should be the first object of education to form a pure heart high principle an earnest and ingenuous spirit. We live in times that call for wisdom in contemplation and virtue in action. (Rule, and Remark d.) Every human being has a work to carry on within duties to per- form abroad influences to exert which are peculiarly his. Ancient superstition introduced the fine arts into her train called the powers of genius to her aid and employed the painter and the poet to hold out her charms to the world. To the poor and the desolate the timid and the anxious the weary and the aged the idea of a common brotherhood must be full of light. (Rule, and Remark i.) The only distinctions in society which should be recognized are those of the soul of strong principle of incorruptible integrity of use- fulness of cultivated intellect of fidelity in seeking for truth. Do the voice of the wise and the arm of the brave and the blood of the patriot go for nothing in the wild conflict that is desolating the earth ? (Rule, and first of Remark Ji.) Can we imagine that God's highest gift of intelligence imagination and moral power were bestowed to provide only for animal wants ? (Remark f.) AY ant and anxiety and habitual discontent and hate of fancied oppression can never raise a class and excite it to noble efforts. (Rule, and Remarks i, g, e.) How often, in surveying the great man's splendid mansion and wandering through his ancient woods and beautiful gardens have we met with some touching memorial of human affection ! (Remark c.) The pure, kind, trustful heart, intent on duty and only ambitious of usefulness, bears, in the beaming eye and open brow and glad- some voice, unfailing evidence of inward peace and joy. (Last of Remarks c and Ji.) That fortitude which has encountered no dangers that prudence which has surmounted no difficulties that integrity which has been attended by no temptations can at best be considered but as gold not yet brought to the test. THE VERB UNDERSTOOD. 61 RULE xvn. Clauses having a Verb understood. When the clauses of a compound sentence have each a different nominative, but have only one verb, expressed in the first clause and understood in the others, the ellipsis, or place of the verb, should be supplied by a comma. EXAMPLES. 1. A wise man seeks to shine in himself; a fool, to outshine others. 2. The wise man considers what he wants ; the fool, what he abounds in. 3. The wise man is happy in his own approbation ; the fool, in the applause of his fellows. REMARKS. a. In these examples, a comma is inserted after the contrasted nominative, " fool," to indicate, in the first sentence, the ellipsis of the verb " seeks ; " in the second, that of the verb " considers ; " and, in the third, that of the verb and adjective, " is happy." Hence a semicolon is required before the contrasted nominative, to divide each sentence into the two larger portions of which it consists, and to show the relation of its various parts. 6. But, if the clauses equally refer to a final expression, the comma should be omitted after the second nominative, and the semicolon before it changed into a comma ; as, " Longinus possessed most deli- cacy, Aristotle most correctness, of judgment " c. So, also, when two short clauses are joined by either of the con- junctions and, or, nor, but, the comma should be omitted where the verb is understood, and the semicolon after the first clause exchanged for a comma; as, "Life is precarious, and death certain." d. When, too, in a series of clauses, each ellipsis is followed by a preposition or by the comparative as, the free style of pointing seems more appropriate ; as, " Mathematicians have sought knowledge in figures, philosophers in systems, logicians in subtilties, and metaphy- sicians in sounds." e. If, however, obscurity would arise, either in two clauses or in a series, from the omission of the comma, the punctuation adopted in the examples under the rule must be followed ; as, " Power reminds you of weakness ; permanency, of change ; life, of death ; light, of darkness ; and the true, of the false." f When lightness or vivacity characterizes the style, the free mode of pointing is preferable to the other, if no ambiguity would arise from its use. 6 62 THE COMMA. ORAL EXERCISES. Why, according to Rule XVII.,* are commas inserted in these sentences ? — Curiosity allures the wise ; vanity, the foolish ; and pleasure, both. The Grecians excelled in precepts ; the Romans, in examples. Homer was the greater genius ; Virgil, the better artist. Passion overcomes shame ; boldness, fear ; and madness, reason. Anger prompts men to contention ; avarice, to oppression. The benevolent man is esteemed ; the penurious, despised. A robber employs violence ; and a thief, cunning and guile. The young are slaves to novelty ; the old, to custom. War is the law of violence ; peace, the law of love. The Doric dialect was broad and rough ; the Ionic, smooth. Semiramis built Babylon ; Dido, Carthage ; and Romulus, Rome. Labor brings pleasure ; idleness, pain. Plants are formed by culture ; men, by education. One murder makes a villain ; millions, a hero. Pleasant recollections promote cheerfulness ; and painful ones, gloom. Crowns were the playthings of Napoleon ; thrones, his footstool. Truth belongs to the man ; error, to his age. Benevolence is allied to few vices ; selfishness, to fewer virtues. The idle want steadiness of purpose ; the indolent, power of exertion. Assign the reasons for the punctuation of the following sentences, agreeably to the Eemarks (p. 61) : — Shakspeare was the greatest poet, Newton the most distinguished mathematician, that England ever produced. Herder had more of the Oriental fancy, Schleiermacher more of the European acuteness, in his composition. Our existence has no support, our life no aim, our spiritual weak- ness no power to lean upon, without God. The coarse worm yields us a beautiful fly, and the thorny bush a lovely flower. The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation, and the fool when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him. The notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation, but those of Pope by minute attention. Chaucer describes things as they are, Spenser as we wish them to be, Shakspeare as they would be, and Milton as they ought to be. Shakspeare died in 1616, Milton in 1674, Dryden in 1700, Pope in 1744, and Goldsmith in 1774. Bonaparte was a man of unbounded ambition ; and Washington, of disinterested patriotism. * To the Teacher. — The pupil can have little difficulty in understanding and applying the rule, if he be taught to understand the nature of a compound sentence, and, when this is elliptical, to supply the words omitted. (See Definition III., p. 3.) THE VERB UNDERSTOOD. 63 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Punctuate those sentences to which no references are given, in accordance with Rule XVII. ; and the others agreeably to the Remarks (p. 61) : — The character of Milton was peculiarly distinguished by loftiness of thought ; that of Dante by intensity of feeling. Concession is no humiliation nor admission of error any disgrace. (Remark c.) Genius is the intuitive perception of what is ; moral sentiment the feeling of what ought to be. The sculptor sees a statue and the philosopher a principle, where, to the general eye, all is " without form, and void." (Remark 6.) Homer's imagination is by much the most rich and copious ; Vir- gil's the most chaste and correct. The cupola is taken from the human skull pillars from legs thatch- ing from hair and tiling from the scales of fish. (Remark d.) All our mental perceptions suggest their opposites, — the finite the infinite ; the seen the unseen ; time eternity ; creation a God. Avarice must come to the hour of utter destitution and pride to the hour of utter prostration. (Remark c.) The quality the most difficult to be found in public situations is probity ; the least difficult confidence. Some men are eminent for what they possess some for what they achieve and others for what they are. (Remark d.) The first ingredient in conversation is truth ; the next good sense ; the third good-humor ; and the fourth wit. A pictured landscape recalls a familiar scene and a portrait a fami- liar countenance. (Remark c.) Talent is full of thoughts; genius of thought. One has definite acquisitions ; the other indefinite power. Addison taught the intellect and fancy and Richardson the pas- sions, to move at the command of virtue. (Remark b or c.) To mourn without measure is folly; not to mourn at all insensibi- lity. — Foresight is simple ; retrospect multiform. The young are slaves to novelty the old to custom the middle-aged to both the dead to neither. (Remark d.) Custom respects things which are done by the majority; habit those which are done by individuals. A man's true prosperity often begins when he is said to be ruined and his ruin when he is said to be prospering. (Remark c.) Delicacy leans more to feeling; correctness more to reason and judgment. The former is the gift of nature; the latter more the product of culture and art. Rashness is the error of youth ; and timid caution of age. — Hurry is the mark of a weak mind ; despatch of a strong one. (Rule, and Remark e.) 64: THE COMMA. RULE XVIH. Clauses consisting of Short Quotations or Remarks. A short quotation, or any expression that resembles a quotation, is separated by a comma from the clause which introduces it. EXAMPLES. 1. Dr. Thomas Brown truly says, " The benevolent spirit is as -universal in its efforts as the miseries which are capable of being relieved." 2. One of the first lessons of a judicious education is, Learn to think and to discriminate. 3. It may be laid down as a sacred maxim, that every man is wretched in proportion to his vices.* EEMARKS. a. By " a short quotation " is meant a single sentence containing the remark of another writer. By " an expression resembling a quo- tation " is indicated a remark of some degree of importance, to which attention is called in the introductory clause. Such remark is not unfrequently preceded by the conjunction "that," as in the third example ; and, in these cases, the comma is usually inserted before the conjunction. 5. When an indirect quotation or a remark is short, or is preceded by a very brief clause, the comma is not required; as, "Andrew says he loves me." — "J doubt not that mind is immortal." c. But, if the remark or quotation consists of phrases which require to be punctuated, a comma should precede the conjunction, even when the introductory part of the sentence is quite short ; as, " Ossian says, that sorrow, like a cloud on the sun, shaded the soul of Clessamour." d. The comma may be omitted before that, when the clause on which the conjunction depends does not precede the remark, but is thrown in between its parts ; as, " In the ancient world, it is ivell known that the name of poet was the same as that of prophet." e. But when, in similar sentences, the conjunction is omitted, the comma should be substituted, agreeably to the principle adopted in intermediate expressions ; as, " In the ancient world, it is well known, the name of poet was the same as that of prophet." (See p. 34, Rule VIII.) * To the Teacher. — The teacher may, by referring to the third rule under the " Colon," point out to his class the distinction existing between sentences which should have only the comma before a quotation, and those which require a colon. SHORT QUOTATIONS. 65 f. A clause which begins with what, when, where, if, or how, indi- cating an indirect question or remark, is not usually separated from its antecedent clause ; as, " Will no one tell me what she sings ? " — « Revelation clearly informs us how we may obtain happiness." ORAL EXERCISES. Say why, according to Rule XVffl., the following sentences are punctuated: — Patrick Henry commenced by saying, "It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope." The great and decisive test of genius is, that it calls forth power in the souls of others. I am not now to discuss the question, whether the souls of men are naturally equal. The very correct remark has been made, that " it is a great loss to lose an affliction." I reply, I do and must regard heaven as a world of intercourse and sympathy. His grand excellence was this, that he was a true man. — There is much in the proverb, " Without pains, no gains." Such seems to be the disposition of man, whatever makes a dis- tinction produces rivalry. It is a law of man's nature, that he should endeavor to act before- hand the part to which he is destined in a higher state of being. Hoio do the preceding Remarks apply to the insertion or the omission of commas in the sentences that follow ? — St. John says that God is love. — Swift asserts that no man ever wished himself younger. Every one knows James is a very prolific writer. — I trust you feel the importance of the subject. Coleridge said that he had the habit of seeking for the good and beautiful in all his eyes beheld. It cannot be questioned, that we are, as yet, only in the rudiments of the great science of education. Wirt writes, that, as a statesman, Alexander Hamilton was distin- guished for the great extent of his views. Ere another day pass, I hope that you will find yourself surrounded by your wife and children. In delineating the character of Dr. Bowditch, it deserves to be mentioned that he was eminently a self-taught and self-made man. By the sweat of our brow, I say, we have to earn the little which we possess. We all know how a man of mighty genius can impart himself to other minds. 66 THE COMMA. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert commas or not between the clauses of the following sentences, in accord- ance with the eighteenth Rule and the Remarks (pp. 64-5) : — Seneca tells us " There is a settled friendship, nay, a near relation and similitude, between God and good men." In the great science of society, it must be confessed that we have much to learn. (Remark d.) They know not what they say who cry out " Let us build taber- nacles of rest." It may be laid down as an unfailing and universal axiom that " all pride is abject and mean." We know it is wrong. — I tell you that I have not your book. — He said she bought it. (Remark 5.) The true ennoblement of our nature consists in the feeling that our existence stretches beyond the bounds of this globe. It is well known what strange work there has been in the world, under the name and pretence of reformation. (Remark f.) It has long been a subject of inquiry whether there existed in nature a universal language. Tell me when was it that you felt yourself most strongly inclined to go astray ? — Tell me when it was that you felt yourself most strongly inclined to go astray. (Rule, and Remark f.) I say unto all Watch. — It is a true saying that we are never too old to be taught. In the din and bustle of business, it may be the voice of conscience and duty speaks unheard. (Remark e.) Keep it in view that the great object of study is to fit the mind to be an instrument of usefulness in life. It is not enough that we have great qualities : we must also have the management of them. (Remark 6.) A celebrated modern writer says " Take care of the minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves." We affirm that, without some portion of enthusiasm, no person ever became a true poet or painter. (Remark c.) It was said of Socrates that he brought philosophy down from heaven to dwell among men. There is no foundation for the popular doctrine that a state may flourish by arts and crimes. I may say that, of all the men we meet with, nine parts out of ten are what they are, good or evil, useful or not, by their education. (Remark c.) It is one among the pious and valuable maxims which are ascribed to Francis de Sales ," A judicious silence is always better than truth spoken without charity." NUMEKAL FIGURES AND WORDS- 67 RULE XIX. Numeral Figures and Words. With the exception of dates, figures consisting of four or more characters are pointed with a comma before every three from the end, or between each class of hundreds* EXAMPLE. The population of China in 1743, according to the French missionaries, was 150,029,855; in 1825, according to Dr. Morrison, 352,866,002. REMARKS. a. When put in words, numbers are usually left unpointed ; as, to take the first calculation in the example, " The population of China, in 1743, was a hundred and fifty millions "twenty-nine thousand, eight hundred and fifty-five." &. When round numbers are used, and no comparison is made between one sum and another, words are preferable to figures; as, "According to Balbi, the entire population of Africa is thirty-nine millions." EXERCISE TO BE "WRITTEN. Punctuate tlie figures, except those expressive of dates : — The sun is 883210 miles in diameter, about 2774692 miles in cir- cumference, and distant from the earth about 95000000 of miles. The Rocky Mountains rise 12500 feet above the level of the ocean; the Andes, 21440 feet. On April 17, 1790, Dr. Franklin died at Philadelphia, aged eighty- four, and bequeathed $4444 to the people of Boston, for the benefit of young married artificers. Population of the city of New York, in 1790, was 33131 ; in 1800, 60489; in 1810, 96373; in 1820, 123706; in 1830, 202589; in 1840, 312710; in 1850, 515507. According to Murray's " Encyclopaedia of Geography," the popula- tion of the Chinese empire has been estimated as follows: China proper, 148897000 ; Corea, 8463000 ; Thibet and Boutan, 6800000 ; Mandshuria, Mongolia, &c, 9000000 ; Colonies, 1000000. * To the Teacheu. — Properly speaking, the comma, as here used, is neither a grammatical nor a rhetorical point; but, for the easy understanding of the value of sums, it is exceedingly useful. The rule is inserted in this place, merely because a more appropriate situation could not be found for it in the book. 68 Sect. II. — THE SEMICOLON. The Seuicolon [ ; ] is used to separate such parts of a sentence as are somewhat less closely connected than those separated by a comma.* RULE L A Sentence consisting of Two Conjoined Clauses. When two clauses are united by either of the conjunctions for, but, and, or an equivalent word, — the one clause perfect in itself, and the other added as a matter of inference, contrast, or explanation, — they are separated by a semicolon. EXAMPLES. 1. Economy is no disgrace ; for it is better to live on a little than to outlive a great deal. 2. Genius breaks from the fetters of criticism; but its "wanderings are sanc- tioned by its majesty and wisdom. 3. Modesty is one of the chief ornaments of youth; and it has ever been esteemed a presage of rising merit. B Z M A B K S. a. When a conjunction unites two clauses incapable of being sub- divided by a comma, in the last of which the nominative is understood, the insertion of a comma -between the clauses is preferable to that of the semicolon. Thus, were the nominative " it," in the third example, omitted, the sentence would be punctuated as follows : " Modesty is one of the chief ornaments of youth, and has ever been esteemed a presage of rising merit." * To the Teacher. — By reading a few passages in any composition, the teacher ■will see the mistake made by some gra mm arians, when they define the semicolon to be the mark of a pause of less duration than the colon, double the duration of the comma, or half the duration of the period. It always, indeed, marks the intermis- sion of the Toice; but the length of that intermission is never uniform, being deter- mined wholly by the nature and import of the sentences in which the semicolon occurs. TWO CONJOINED CLAUSES. 69 b. When a sentence consists of three or more clauses, united by a conjunction, none of which are susceptible of division, a semicolon should be put between those which are least connected in sense, and a comma only between the others ; as, " The woods may disappear, but the spirit of them will never now ; for it has been felt by a poet, and we can feel for ever what he felt," ORAL EXERCISES. Repeat the preceding Definition and Rule, and say why semicolons are inserted in the following sentences ; — All cannot be great ; and nobody may reasonably expect all the world to be engaged with lauding his merits. Idleness is the parent of every vice ; but well-directed activity is the source of every laudable pursuit and worldly attainment. The spirit of true religion inspires magnanimity ; and magnanimity always breathes gentleness. An entire retreat from worldly affairs is not what religion requires ; nor does it even enjoin a long retreat from them. Religion must be the spirit of every hour ; but it cannot be the meditation of every hour. A clownish air is but a small defect ; yet it is enough to make a man disagreeable. We have carved a cross upon our altars ; but the smoke of our sacrifice goes up to Thor and Odin still. Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared; for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer. Endless existence is a great truth; but an immortality of pure affections and holy employments is far greater. Do not think yourself perfect ; for imperfection is natural to hu- manity. Pope had perhaps the judgment of Dryden ; but Dryden certainly wanted the diligence of Pope. Life is felt to be a great and gracious boon by all who enjoy its light ; and this is not too much felt. Never value yourself upon your fortune ; for this is the sign of a weak mind. Virtue is a real honor; whereas all other distinctions are merely titular. Reasoning implies doubt and uncertainty ; and therefore God does not reason. More was as really a martyr as Cranmer ; and he was much braver and more upright in conduct. The people cannot be profound ; but the truths which regulate the moral and political relations of man are at no great distance from the surface. 70 THE SEMICOLON. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Let the following sentences be punctuated agreeably to the preceding Rule and Remarks (pp. 6*8-9) : — Make a proper use of your time for the loss of it can never be regained. Truth will pass down in fragments to posterity but posterity will collect and compose them into a whole. Ivy is the beauty of old ruins and your faith is not unlike it for it springs up as strongly from amidst fallen hopes. (Remark b.) The most exact economy was observed yet nothing was mean or uncomfortable. Chaucer followed nature everywhere but never went beyond her. (Remark a.) Good and evil are inseparable companions but the latter often hides behind the back of the former. He is a freeman whom the truth makes free and all are slaves beside. The proud have no friends in prosperity for then they know nobody and none in adversity for then no one knows them. (Remark b.) Property left to a child may soon be lost but the inheritance of virtue will abide for ever. Outward suffering is the lot of human nature and it is cheering to see it bravely borne even on the battle-field. A good conscience is a continual feast and proves a spring of joy amidst the greatest distresses. (Remark a.) The study of truth is perpetually joined with the love of virtue for there is no virtue which derives not its original from truth. A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds to religion. Infidelity is not always built upon doubt for this is diffident nor philosophy always upon wisdom for this is meek. (Remark b.) Some persons make a long story short but most persons make a short story long. — Scott built a castle but he broke his heart. Very few works of this class possessed any literary merit but many of them are valuable or curious as records of facts. Great events give scope for great virtues but the main tenor of human life is composed of small occurrences. We promise according to our hopes but perform according to our fears. (Remark a.) The esteem of wise and good men is the greatest of all temporal encouragements to virtue and it is the mark of an abandoned spirit to have no regard for it. The great national epochs are also the epochs of intellectual culti- vation and, accordingly, our literary annals may be arranged in four successive periods. EXPRESSIONS DIVIDED INTO SIMPLER PARTS. 71 RULE II. Expressions divided into Simpler Parts. A semicolon is placed between two or more parts of a sen- tence, when these, or any of them, are divisible by a comma into smaller portions. EXAMPLES. 1. Men are not to be judged by their looks, habits, and appearances; but by the character of their lives and conversations, and by their works. 2. The noblest prophets and apostles have been children once; lisping the speech, laughing the laugh, thinking the thought, of boyhood. 3. As we perceive the shadow to have moved, but did not perceive it moving; so our advances in learning, as they consist of such minute steps, are perceivable only by the distance. REMARKS. a. It is obvious, that, when the smaller portions of a sentence re- quire to be separated by a comma from each other, the construction and sense of the whole passage will be more readily perceived if the larger divisions are set apart by the insertion of a point indicating a less intimate connection. This will show the propriety of putting a semicolon, in the first example, between the negative and the affirmative portion of the sentence ; in the second, between the clause and the series of phrases ; and, in the third, between the members. b. When the insertion of a semicolon would tend to break up the harmony or the dependences of the thought expressed, the larger por- tions of a sentence, though its smaller parts are susceptible of being grammatically divided, should be separated only by a comma.* ORAL EXERCISE. Assign the reason for the insertion of semicolons in the following sentences: — Prosperity is naturally, though not necessarily, attached to virtue and merit ; adversity, to vice and folly. Every thing that happens is both a cause and an effect ; being the effect of what goes before, and the cause of what follows. Argument, as usually managed, is the worst sort of conversation ; as it is generally, in books, the worst sort of reading. It is the first point of wisdom to ward off evils ; the second, to make them beneficial. Employ your time well, if you mean to gain leisure ; and, since you are not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. * To the Teacher — See " Treatise on English Punctuation," p. 117, Remark. 72 THE SEMICOLON. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Agreeably to the Rule (p. 71), insert semicolons in all the following sentences, except one : — Melissa, like the bee, gathers honey from every weed while Arachne, like the spider, sucks poison from the fairest flowers. Be not anxious, impatient, or over-inquisitive but be thoughtful, serious, and calm. The golden rule is a protest against selfishness and selfishness, cleaving as it does to the inward core of our being, is the besetting sin of the world. As a malicious censure, craftily worded and pronounced with assu- rance, is apt to pass with mankind for shrewd wit so a virulent maxim in bold expressions, though without any justness of thought, is readily received for true philosophy. Every particle of dust, every grain of sand, every minutest atom, is an active agent in the mighty whole making itself felt through all the masses in our solar system, and through this on all systems in the universe. By granting that intellectual improvement was unfavorable to pro- ductions of the imagination, we should look to the least cultivated minds for bolder nights than to Milton, Pope, or Byron the absurdity of which is seen by the mere statement of it. When we look up to heaven, and behold the sun shining in glory, or the moon and the stars walking in brightness untaught nature prompts us to adore Him who made them, to bow down and worship in the temple not made with hands. (Remark 6.) Wordsworth, in his poetry, works out wisdom as it comes from the common heart of man, and appeals to that heart in turn causing us to recognize the truth, that there is something in humanity which deserves alike our love and reverence. The most precious of all possessions is power over ourselves power to withstand trial, to bear suffering, to front danger power over plea- sure and pain power to follow our convictions, however resisted by menace and scorn the power of calm reliance in scenes of darkness and storms. As we trust the long-tried affection of a human friend, when, for reasons satisfactory to him, he now and then withholds from us his ultimate purposes so pious souls, acquiescing in ignorance, and con- scious of absolute dependence on the Parent Mind, dissolve their fears and their doubts in perfect faith. There, cold and lifeless, is the heart which just now was the seat of friendship there, dim and sightless, is the eye whose radiant and enlivening orb beamed with intelligence and there, closed for ever, are those lips on whose persuasive accents we have so often and so lately hung with transport. SERIES OF EXPRESSIONS. 73 RULE HI. A Series of Expressions having a Common Dependence. When, in a series of expressions, the particulars depend on a commencing or a concluding portion of the sentence, they should be separated from each other by a semicolon, if they form distinct propositions, or are of a compound nature. EXAMPLES. 1. Philosophers assert, that Nature is unlimited in her operations; that she has inexhaustible treasures in reserve ; that knowledge will always be progressive ; and that all future generations will continue to make discove- ries, of which we have not the slightest idea. 2. To give an early preference to honor above gain, when they stand in competition ; to despise every advantage which cannot be attained without dishonest arts ; to brook no meanness, and stoop to no dissimulation, — are the indications of a great mind, the presages of future eminence and use- fulness in life. 3. If we think of glory in the field; of wisdom in the cabinet; of the purest patriotism ; of the highest integrity, public and private ; of morals without a stain; of religious feelings without intolerance and without extra- vagance, — the august figure of Washington presents itself as the personation of all these ideas. REMARKS. a. The first sentence exemplifies a series of clauses, being each a distinct proposition, but depending all on the words that precede them ; namely, " philosophers assert." The second example illustrates a series of expressions, the first two consisting each of a phrase and a clause ; the third, of two coupled phrases ; and all depending on the portion which concludes the sentence, — on the predicate, " are the in- dications of a great mind," &c. The third example exhibits a series of phrases, which, according to Rule XVI., p. 57, would be punctuated only with a comma, were it not for the compound phrase, " of the highest integrity, public and private," the subdivision of which requires to be distinguished by a point less significant than that between the other phrases.* b. Commas are sometimes preferable to semicolons, when none of the particulars in a series of expressions, except perhaps the last, are * To the Teacher. — If he think it requisite, the teacher may explain to his class, that a dash appended to a comma, as in the second and third examples under the rule, is put after the last particular, to show more clearly the relation of all the particulars to the portion on which they depend. (See Chap. III., Sect. III., Rule II.) 7 74 THE SEMICOLON. divisible into simpler portions ; as, " Poetry \ reveals to us the loveli- ness of nature, brings back the freshness of early feeling, revives the relish of simple pleasures, keeps unquenched the enthusiasm which warmed the spring-time of our being, refines youthful love, strengthens our interest in human nature by vivid delineations of its tenderest and loftiest feelings, spreads our sympathies over all classes of society, knits us by new ties with universal being, and, through the brightness of its prophetic visions, helps faith to lay hold on the future life." (See p. 57.) ORAL EXERCISE. Shoiv how the Rule (p. 73) may be applied to the insertion of semicolons in the following sentences : — Is there any splendor to be found in distant travels beyond that which sits its morning throne in the golden east ; any dome sublimer than that of heaven ; any beauty fairer than that of the verdant and blossoming earth ; any place, though invested with all the sanctities of old time, like that home which is hushed and folded within the embrace of the humblest wall and roof ? Happy, thrice happy, he who relies on the eternity of the soul ; who believes, as the loved fall one after one from his side, that they have returned to their native country ; who feels that each treasure of knowledge he attains, he carries with him through illimitable being ; who sees in virtue the essence and the element of the world he is to inherit. There are men whose powers operate in leisure and in retirement, and whose intellectual vigor deserts them in conversation ; whom merriment confuses, and objection disconcerts ; whose bashfulness restrains their exertion, and suffers them not to speak till the time of speaking is past ; or whose attention to their own character makes them unwilling to utter at hazard what has not been considered, and cannot be recalled. If thou hast never tasted the holy peace which descends into the simplest heart, when it fervently realizes the presence of God ; if no gleam from the future life ever brightens thy earthly way; if the sores and irritations of thy contact with the world are never soothed and softened by the healing consciousness of a divine love, — thou hast studied to little purpose, and the fountains of a true happiness are yet sealed up to thee. That benevolence which prompted Jesus to incessant exertion; which supported him through unparalleled suffering ; which was alike the soul of his discourses, his actions, and his miracles ; which shone through his life and his death ; whose splendors were around his brow, when he expired on the cross, and when he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, — what is it but a glorious revelation of the glorious truth, that God is love ? SERIES OF EXPRESSIONS. 75 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert semicolons or commas between the particulars of each series in these sentences, in accordance with the Rule and Remarks (pp. 73-4) : — The great tendency and purpose of poetry is to carry the mind above and beyond the beaten, dusty, weary walks of ordinary life to lift it into a purer element and to breathe into it more profound and generous emotion. To have even our earthly being extended in everlasting remem- brance to be known wherever the name of virtue can reach and to be known as the benefactors of every age, by the light which we have diffused, or the actions which we have performed or prompted, — who is there that does not feel some desire of this additional immortality ? Benevolence remembers the slave pleads his cause with God and man recognizes in him a human brother respects in him the sacred rights of humanity and claims for him, not as a boon but as a right, that freedom without which humanity withers, and God's child is degraded into a tool or a brute. (Remark 6.) The bad phenomenon of character, which is mainly to be traced to impulse, is that of uncertainty of a being on whom no dependence can be placed who is driven hither and thither by every wind that blows who receives impressions one day from one quarter, another day from another who has neither fixed principles in his intellect, nor harmony and consistency in his conduct. No matter in what language the stranger's doom may have been pronounced no matter what complexion, incompatible with freedom, an Indian or an African sun may have burned upon him no matter in what disastrous battle his liberty may have been cloven down no matter with what solemnities he may have been devoted upon the altar of slavery, — the first moment he touches the sacred soil of Britain, the altar and the god sink together in the dust his soul walks abroad in her own majesty his body swells beyond the measure of his chains, that burst from around him and he stands redeemed, re- generated, and disinthralled by the irresistible Genius of Universal Emancipation. In the light of beauty that floats over the changing aspects of the material universe in the grand, interpreting thought which pervades the broken story of the ages, and translates it into coherency in the spirit which comes to you from the smiles of gladness and the tears of sorrow, and softens your heart in genial sympathy Avith human weal and human woe in the interchange of ideas which kindles enthu- siasm, and draws a higher meaning and purpose out of life, — acknow- ledge realities which transcend the limits of sense own a spiritual world whose mysteries encompass you on every side, by whose laws you are bound, and in whose issues of endless unfolding you are yourself perhaps destined to be involved. 76 THE SEMICOLON. RULE IV. Short Sentences slightly Connected. When several short sentences follow one another, slightly connected in sense or in construction, they should be separated by a semicolon. EXAMPLES. 1. Stones grow; vegetables grow and live; animals grow, live, and feel. 2. Every thing grows old ; every thing passes away; every thing disappears. 3. She presses her child to her heart ; she drowns it in her tears ; her fancy catches more than an angel's tongue could describe. REMARKS. a. It will be seen that each example under the rule consists of a number of short sentences, which are somewhat allied in thought and in mode of expression. They are, therefore, separated not by full points, but by semicolons. b. When, in a series of short sentences, each particular is con- structed alike, and the last is preceded by the conjunction and, the separation may be indicated by a comma, instead of a semicolon ; as, " The pride of wealth is contemptible, the pride of learning is pitiable, the pride of dignity is ridiculous, and the pride of bigotry is insup- portable." (See p. 51, Rule, and Remark 6.) ORAL EXERCISE. What is the reason for the insertion of semicolons in these sentences ? — The wind and rain are over ; calm is the noon of day ; the clouds are divided in heaven-; over the green hill flies the inconstant sun. The old men sit at their doors ; the gossip leans over her counter ; the children shout and frolic in the streets. There is good for the good ; there is virtue for the faithful ; there is victory for the valiant ; there is spirituality for the spiritual. When a writer reasons, we look only for perspicuity; when he describes, we expect embellishment; when he decides or relates, we desire plainness and simplicity. The Christian orator speaks the truth plainly to his hearers; he awakens them; he shows them their impending danger; he excites them to action. The temples are profaned ; the soldier's curse resounds in the house of God ; the marble pavement is trampled by iron hoofs ; horses neigh beside the altar. SENTENCES SLIGHTLY CONNECTED. 77 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. ate these short sentences by means of semicolons, in accordance with the preceding Rule and Remarks : — He is poor perhaps his plans have been defeated he finds it difficult to provide for the exigencies of life sickness is permitted to invade the quiet of his household long confinement imprisons his activity. There is a pleasure in the pathless woods there is a rapture on the lonely shore there is society, where none intrudes, by the deej) sea, and music in its roar. Full many a gem, of purest ray serene, the dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness on the desert air. In reading a classical poet, we feel as if we had entered a marble temple, where a cool silence reigns a few quiet statues gleam around us, pure and naked a few short inscriptions tell of the deeds of heroes all is calm, grand, and simple, to the highest perfection of art. Genius, mental power, has surrounded your homes with comfort it has given you the command of the blind forces of matter it has exalted and consecrated your affections it has brought God's immea- surable universe nearer to your hearts and imaginations it has made flowers of paradise spring up even in poor men's gardens. The world is fair around thee the bright and blessed sun shineth on thee the green and flowery fields spread far, and cheer thine eye, and. invite thy footstep the groves are full of melody ten thousand creatures range freely through all the paths of nature : but thou art not satisfied as they are. There is a God. The herbs of the valley, the cedars of the moun- tain, bless him the insect sports in his beams the elephant salutes him with the rising orb of day the bird sings him in the foliage the thun- der proclaims him in the heavens the ocean declares his immensity. Man alone has said, " There is no God." It is pleasant to be virtuous and good, because that is to excel many others it is pleasant to grow better, because that is to excel our- selves it is pleasant to mortify and subdue our lusts, because that is victory it is pleasant to command our appetites and passions, and to keep them in due order, within the bounds of reason and religion, because that is empire. Saints have established our religion by their lives martyrs have confirmed it by their deaths hypocrites have added strength to it by their dissimulation tyrants have purified it by their persecutions infidels have corroborated it by their opposition the arrows of its ene- mies have served for its protection the resistance which it has met with from the combined wit and genius and malice of mankind have brought forth those illustrious and immortal defences which establish its truth upon the basis of demonstration. 7* 78 THE SEMICOLON. RULE V. Lists of Words, Phrases, and Numbers. A semicolon is put before as, to wit, namely, and other words of a similar import, when they precede an example or a specification of particulars, or subjects enumerated ; and also, in lists, between phrases or words, single or in pairs, if but slightly connected with one another. y EXAMPLES. 1. To Greece we are indebted for the three principal orders of architecture ; namely, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. 2. Many words are differently spelled in English; as, "Inquire, enquire; jail, gaol; sceptic, skeptic." 3. De Quincey's Philosophical Writers, 2 vols. Vol. 1. Hamilton; Mackin- tosh; Kant; Herder; Richter; Lessing. Vol. 2. Bentley; Parr. REMARKS. a. In the first and second examples, a semicolon is put before " namely," " as," to exhibit more clearly the particulars which these words serve to introduce. Between the phrases or coupled words of the second example, and the single names in the third, the same point is inserted to show that they are quite distinct one from the other ; in the latter case, each writer constituting a separate subject in the work which treats of them. b. When as, namely, that is, &c, with the terms after them, are used parenthetically, they should be preceded only by a comma ; as, " The word ' reck,' that is, care, denotes a stretching of the mind." — " Of the three cardinal virtues, namely, faith, hope, and charity, the greatest is charity." (See pp. 34, 40.) ORAL EXERCISE. Say why semicolons are used in the following sentences : — The inseparable preposition pre is derived from the Latin prce ; as in " prefix, prejudice, predetermine." Some men distinguish the period of the world into four ages ; viz., the golden age, the silver age, the brazen age, and the iron age. Logicians say that the operations of the mind are three ; namely, 1. Simple apprehension ; 2. Judgment ; 3. Discourse, or reasoning. Our duties to individuals are classed under four heads ; viz., as arising from affinity ; friendship ; benefits received ; contract. Find the increase in the population from 1790 to 1800; to 1810; 1820; 1830; 1840; 1850; from 1800 to 1810; 1810 to 1850. 79 Sect. III. — THE COLON. The Colon [ : ; ] is used in composition between parts less connected than those which are divided by a semicolon, but not so independent as separate and complete sentences.* RULE I. Two Clauses not joined by a Conjunction. A colon should be put after a clause which is complete in itself, but followed, without a conjunction, by some remark, inference, or illustration. EXAMPLES. 1. Virtue is too lovely and useful to be immured in a cell: the world is her sphere of action. 2. Nor was the religion of the Greek drama a mere form : it was full of truth, spirit, and power. 3. In business there is something more than barter, exchange, price, pay- ment: there is a sacred faith of man in man. REMARKS. a. The chief difference between this rule and that on p. 68 is, that the semicolon is used between- two clauses when they are united by a conjunction, and the colon when the particle is omitted. Thus, — Avoid affectation; for it is a contemptible weakness Avoid affectation : it is a contemptible weakness. b. When the conjunction is omitted between clauses having only one verb, a semicolon is preferable, because, by the ellipsis of the verb, the portions of the sentence are dependent in their construction, and are more closely allied ; as, " The path of truth is a plain and safe path; that of falsehood, a perplexing maze." (See p. 61.) * To the Teacher. — Some grammarians nave expressed a wish, to discard the use of the colon, and others have ventured even to expel it from their systems of punctuation. But, though in former times it was common to employ this point where the semicolon or the period might have been more serviceable, the teacher will perceive that there are in composition well-ascertained cases in which the insertion of the colon tends to bring out the ideas of a writer with greater facility. 80 THE COLON. c. Two clauses, of which the former raises the expectation of the latter, or which express a comparison or a contrast one with the other, but without the use of a connecting word, are subject to the rule ; as, " Anger is like rain : it breaks itself upon that on which it falls." — " Cowards die many times : the valiant never taste of death but once." d. Conformably also to the rule, a colon is put after the adverbs yes, no, or after the vocative case when following them, if they are equivalent to a sentence answering a question previously asked or implied ; as, " Will he pretend to say that this is an offensive war, — a war of conquest ? Yes : the gentleman has dared to make this assertion, and for reasons no less extraordinary than the assertion itself." These words are, indeed, often found with a mark of excla- mation after them ; but they are merely abbreviated, though forcible, modes of expressing approval or denial, and have the signification of the sentence, " I emphatically answer in the affirmative," or " in the negative." e. When placed at the beginning of several sentences, to all of which they refer, the adverbial words again, once more, in conclusion, and the absolute phrases to proceed, to conclude, &c, which have the import of clauses, may be distinguished by a colon ; as, " To sum up all : My friends, the time is short. We are as guests in a strange land, who tarry but one night. We wander up and down," &c. ORAL EXERCISES. After reciting the Definition of the colon, mention why that point is inserted in the following sentences : — Harbor no malice in thy heart : it will be a viper in thy bosom. Do not insult a poor man : his misery entitles him to pity. Never flatter the people : leave that to such as mean to betray them. Endeavor to excel : much may be accomplished by perseverance. Study to acquire the habit of thinking : no study is more important. Reading is but an instrument : education is to teach its best use. The word must be spoken : we want more justice, and less charity. It is a miserable thing to live in suspense : it is the life of a spider. A human heart throbs beneath the beggar's gabardine : it is no more than this that stirs with its beating the prince's mantle. The present life is not wholly prosaic, precise, tame, and finite : to the gifted eye, it abounds in the poetic. It is unworthy of one great people to think falsely of another : it is unjust, and therefore unworthy. All reasoning is retrospect : it consists in the application of facts and principles previously known. Nothing is denied to well-directed labor : nothing is ever to be attained without it. TWO CLAUSES NOT CONJOINED. 81 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Let colons be inserted between the clauses of these sentences, in accordance with the Rule or the Remarks (pp. 79, 80) : — The silence of nature is more impressive, would we understand it, than any speech could be it expresses what no speech can utter. Satire should not be like a saw, but a sword it should cut, and not mangle. The philosophies of antiquity addressed themselves to the intellect the simple words of Jesus lay hold of the heart. Contemporaries appreciate the man, rather than his merit posterity will regard the merit, rather than the man. The actions of men are like the index of a book they point out what is most remarkable in them. Character is like stock in trade the more of it a man possesses, the greater his facilities for making additions to it. Men are often warned against old prejudices I would rather warn them against new conceits. The greatness of a gift cannot be determined by its absolute amount it can be truly ascertained only by a moral standard. It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out. For the training of goodness, the ancient reliance was on the right discipline of habit and affection the modern is rather on illumination of understanding. But no the Union cannot be dissolved its fortunes are too brilliant to be marred \ its destinies, too powerful to be resisted. (Rule, and Remarks d, b.) There is a true eloquence, which you cannot too much honor it calls into vigorous exercise both the understanding and the heart of the hearer. As the pupil is often obliged to bend all his faculties to the task before him, and tears sometimes fall on the page he is studying ; so it is in the school of God's providence there are hard lessons in it. This is certain nothing can be done without a recurrence, before every thing else, to strict justice in all the departments of human intercourse. Strive to be a simple, honest, faithful man whatever hidden talent you possess will then come forth in its genuineness, and exert all its power. Are these to be conquered by all Europe united ? No, sir no united nation can be, that has the spirit to resolve not to be conquered. (Remark cl.) The prophet gives the incentives to action the philosopher supplies matter for reflection. One recurs to the heart and the conscience as his medium of influence the other addresses himself to pure intellect. 82 THE COLON. RULE n. Conjoined Members of Sentences, When a sentence consists of two members which are united by a conjunction or an adverb, and either of the members is divisible into clauses separated by semicolons, a colon should be used before the connecting word. EXAMPLES. 1. As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did not see it moving; and it appears that the grass has grown, though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are perceivable only by the distance. 2. Without the capacity of suffering, we might have been what the world, in its common language, terms happy; the passive subjects of a series of agreeable sensations : but we could not have had the delights of conscience ; we could not have felt what it is to be magnanimous, to have the toil and the combat and the victory. REMARKS. a. These sentences are obviously divisible each into two portions. But, as they are susceptible of being subdivided into smaller parts, some of which should be separated by the semicolon, according to the rule on page 71; so, by reason of the principle that a remoter connection requires a point indicating a greater separation, the colon is introduced between the members ; namely, before the connecting words " so " and "• but." 6. In a long sentence, crowded with distinct clauses, of which several are united by conjunctions, it is better to insert a period than a colon between the two members, or largest portions ; as in the following passage from Sir Humphrey Davy : " I envy no quality of mind or intellect in others, be it genius, power, wit, or fancy ; but, if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful, to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing. For it makes life a discipline of goodness ; creates new hopes when all earthly hopes vanish ; and throws over the decay, the destruction, of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights ; awakens life even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity ; makes an instrument of fortune, and shame the ladder of ascent to paradise ; and, far above all combinations of earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and despair." CONJOINED MEMBERS OF SENTENCES. 83 ORAL EXERCISE. Why are colons inserted between the members of the following sentences ? — Every one must, of course, think his own opinions right; for, if he thought them wrong, they would no longer be his opinions : but there is a wide difference between regarding ourselves as infallible, and being firmly convinced of the truth of our creed. He sunk to repose where the red heaths are blended 5 one dream of his childhood his fancy passed o'er : but his battles are fought, and his march it is ended ; the sound of the bagpipe shall wake him no more. How many things are there which a man cannot, with any face or comeliness, say or do himself! A man can scarce allege his own merits with modesty, much less extol them ; a man cannot sometimes brook to supplicate or beg ; and a number of the like : but all these things are graceful in a friend's mouth, which are blushing in a man's own. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Insert both the semicolon and the colon wherever required in these sentences : — The republic may perish the wide arch of our ranged Union may fall star by star its glories may expire stone after stone its columns and its Capitol may moulder and crumble all other names which adorn its annals may be forgotten but, as long as human hearts shall anywhere pant, or human tongues shall anywhere plead, for a true, rational, constitutional liberty, those hearts shall enshrine the memory, and those tongues shall prolong the fame, of George Washington. We are not merely to transmit the world as we receive it to teach, in a stationary repetition, the arts which we have received as the dove builds, this year, just such a nest as was built by the dove that went out from the ark, when the waters had abated but we are to apply the innumerable discoveries, inventions, and improvements, which have been successively made in the world, — and never more than of late years, — and combine and elaborate them into one grand system of condensed efficacy and quickened vitality, in forming and bringing forward our successors. As water, whether it be the dew of heaven or the springs of the earth, doth scatter and lose itself in the ground, except it be collected into some receptacle, where it may by union comfort and sustain itself and, for that cause, the industry of man hath framed and made spring- heads, conduits, cisterns, and pools, which men have accustomed like- wise to beautify and adorn with accomplishments of magnificence and state, as well as of use and necessity so knowledge, whether it descend from divine inspiration or spring from human sense, would soon perish and vanish to oblivion, if it were not preserved in books, traditions, conferences, and places appointed, as universities, colleges, and schools, for the receipt and comforting the same. 84 THE COLON. RULE in. Quotations, Remarks, fyc, formally introduced. A colon should be placed before a quotation, a speech, a course of reasoning, or an enumeration of articles or subjects, when formally introduced. EXAMPLES. 1. The air was sweet and plaintive; and the words, literally translated, were these: "The winds roared and the rains fell, when the poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree." 2. Let us take, in illustration, three poets, in an ascending scale of in- tellectual precedence: Keats, the representative of sensitiveness; Byron, of wilfulness ; Shakspeare, of self-direction. REMARKS. a. By a formal introduction to a quotation, &c., is meant the use of any phrase, or mode of expression, drawing the attention of the reader to what is about to be said. 6. When a quotation or remark is short, and closely connected with the words preceding it, a comma between the parts is sufficient. (See p. 64.) c. When quotations or remarks are introduced by one of the con- necting words, as, namely, that is, a semicolon before and a comma after it are preferable to the colon; as, "I purchased the following articles ; namely, tea, sugar, coffee, and raisins." (See p. 78.) d. When the subjects or things specified consist of words or phrases in apposition with a preceding noun, or with that which is equivalent to it, without any formal introduction, a comma and a dash are used; as, "Energy and audacity of will characterize all ruling men, — statesmen, generals, reformers, orators." ORAL EXERCISE. Say why colons are inserted before quotations, cf c, in the following sentences : — All our conduct towards men should be influenced by this precept : " Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you." The discourse consisted of two parts : in the first was shown the necessity of exercise ; in the second, the advantages that would result from it. When the love of fame acts upon a man of genius, the case ap- pears to stand thus : The generality of the world, distinguished by the name of readers, observe, with a reluctance not unnatural, a QUOTATIONS FORMALLY INTRODUCED. 85 person raising himself above them. All men have some desire of fame j and fame is grounded on comparison. Speaking of party zeal, Pope makes this judicious remark : " There never was any party, faction, sect, or cabal whatsoever, in which the most ignorant were not the most violent; for a bee is not a busier animal than a blockhead." Be our plain answer this : The throne we honor is the people's choice ; the laws we reverence are our brave fathers' legacy ; the faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss beyond the grave. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Let these sentences be punctuated agreeably to the preceding Rule and Remarks : — All admire this sublime passage " God said ' Let there be light ; ' and there was light." (Rule, and Remark 5.) Now, be sure to remember this Unmixed carbonic-acid gas, when inhaled, is a deadly poison. The infinitive mood is sometimes used as the nominative to a verb as "To err" that is, error, "is human." (Remark c; and page 78, Remark b.) When the Roman historians describe an extraordinary man, this always enters into his character as an essential part of it he was of incredible industry and of remarkable application. The philosopher Malebranche makes this curious remark " It is possible that some creatures may think half an hour as long as we do a thousand years, or look upon that space of duration which we call a minute as an hour, a week, a month, or a whole age." Listening intently at the chimney, which communicated with that below, I distinctly heard the husband utter these words " Well, come now : must we kill them both ? " To which the woman replied " Yes ; " and I heard nothing more. (Rule, and Remark b.) It is only necessary to make the experiment to find two things one, how much useful knowledge can be acquired in a very little time ; and the other, how much time can be spared, by good manage- ment, out of the busiest day. Silvio Pellico, in his excellent work on the " Duties of Men," thus remarks " To love our country with truly elevated feeling, we ought to begin by supplying it, in ourselves, with citizens, of whom that country need not feel ashamed." The divine youth lowered the torch. But methought I seized his arm, and cried " What wouldst thou do ? " He answered " I would extinguish the torch." — I exclaimed " Oh, no ! it spreads a sweet light through the darkness of my prison." But he smiled, and said " It is the torch of terrestrial life." (Remark b.) P 86 Sect. IV. — THE PERIOD. The Period, or Full Point [ . ], serves to indicate the end of a sentence which is assertive * in its nature, and inde- pendent of any following sentence. RULE I. Complete and Independent Sentences. When a sentence, not expressive of inquiry or of passion, is complete in itself, and unconnected in construction with what follows, its termination is marked by a period. EXAMPLES. 1. Truth is the basis of every virtue. It is the voice of reason. Let its precepts be religiously obeyed. Never transgress its limits. 2. The right is the supreme good, and includes all other goods. In seeking and adhering to it, we secure our true and only happiness. REMARKS. a. For the mode of pointing short sentences which are slightly connected with each other, see p. 76. o. A full point is admissible between two parts of a long sentence, though they are closely connected in sense by a particle, when either of them can be divided into more simple parts, separated from one another by a semicolon or a colon; as in the following passage, in which the writer treats of Shakspeare : " Other men may have led, on the whole, greater and more impressive lives than he ; other men, acting on their fellows through the same medium of speech that he used, may have expended a greater power of thought, and achieved a greater intellectual effect, in one consistent direction ; other men, too (though this is very questionable), may have contrived to issue the * To the Teacher. — The pupil should understand, that "assertive" is used here, not in opposition to negative, but to interrogative or exclamatory. According to this sense of the word, the following sentence is assertive: " I was not there; " that is, " I assert, or affirm, that I was not there." INDEPENDENT SENTENCES. 87 matter which they did address to the world, in more compact and perfect artistic shapes. But no man that ever lived said such splendid extempore things on all subjects universally; no man that ever lived had the faculty of pouring out, on all occasions, such a flood of the richest and deepest language." c. When the two larger portions of a continuous passage are joined by a conjunction, they may be separated by a period, if several of the minor parts are united to each other also by conjunctions. (See p. 82, Remark b.) d. A full point should be used between two sentences joined by a conjunction, though their parts are incapable of being separated by a semicolon or a colon, if they do not depend one on the other in construction, and are not directly connected ; as, " There are thoughts and images, flashing across the mind in its highest moods, to which we give the name of inspiration. But whom do we honor with this title of the inspired poet ? " From this example, it is evident that the kind of point used depends less on the connecting word than on the construction and nature of the sentences. OEAL EXERCISES. Mention the grammatical use of the period, and the reason for inserting that point in the sentences which follow: — The benefits of conversation greatly depend on the previous attain- ments of those who are supposed either to communicate knowledge or to receive it. If, therefore, instruction be neglected, conversation will grow trifling ; if perverted, dangerous. The character of Washington is among the most cherished contem- plations of my life. It is a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining, without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent light. It is associated and blended with all our reflections on those things which are near and dear to us. Be servants of truth and duty, each in his vocation. Be sincere, pure in heart, earnest, enthusiastic. A virtuous enthusiasm is always self-forgetful and noble : it 'is the only inspiration now vouchsafed to man. Blend humility with learning. Ascend above the present in place and time. Regard fame only as the eternal shadow of excel- lence. Bend in adoration before the right. Cultivate alike the wisdom of experience and the wisdom of hope. Mindful of the future, do not neglect the past : awed by the majesty of antiquity, turn not with indifference from the future. This world is full of beauty, — full of innocent gladness. Open your inmost sense to all the influences of what is brightest and hap- piest in the scenes around you. Let the spirit be clear and transparent, to receive and transmit these blessed influences of the Creator's love, and send out the light of them on other hearts. Only a pure and 88 THE PERIOD. gentle soul can feel them. Keep yours so that they do not come to you in vain. There is impiety in letting all this beauty rise and set on us daily unfelt. To sympathize with the loveliness which blooms and sparkles in every aspect of this terrestrial paradise is silent praise, — that worship of the heart, more audible to the ear of God than the chanted litany of the cathedral. In accordance with the Rule or with the Remarks (pp. 86-7), say why periods are inserted in the following passages : — Truly good books are more thaa mines to those who can under- stand them. They are the breathings of the great souls of past times. Genius is not embalmed in them, as is sometimes said, but lives in them perpetually. But we need not many books to answer the great ends of reading. A few are better than many ; and a little time, given to a faithful study of the few, will be enough to quicken thought and enrich the mind. In whatever way, and in whatever century, the Homeric poems might be created and fashioned, they place before us a time when the heroic age was on the decline, or had perhaps already gone by. For there are two different worlds which both exist together in the com- positions of Homer, — the world of marvels and tradition, which still, however, appears to be near and lively before the eyes of the poet ; and the living circumstances and present concerns of the world, which produced the poet himself. This calamity is peculiar to man. The inferior tribes know no- thing of it. They obey the laws of their life, and so they have no dread of what is to come. The lamb gambols alike through the green pastures or to the place of slaughter. Up to the last flutter of her wings, the bird ceases not to trill her matins upon the air. But the only immortal being upon the earth lives in dread of death. The only being to whom death is an impossibility fears every day that it will come. And if we analyze the nature of this fear, and explore the cause of it, we shall not be at all certain that it will not follow the mere natural man into a future life, and have an important part in its retributions. Legitimate reasoning is impossible without severe thinking; and thinking is neither an easy nor an amusing employment. The reader who would follow a close reasoner to the summit and absolute princi- ple of any one important subject has chosen a chamois-hunter for his guide. Our guide will, indeed, take us the shortest way ; will save us many a wearisome and perilous wandering, and warn us of many a mock road, that had formerly led himself to the brink of chasms and precipices, or at least in an idle circle to the spot from whence he started. But he cannot carry us on his shoulders : we must strain our own sinews as he has strained his, and make firm footing on the naked rock for ourselves by the blood of toil from our own feet. WORDS ABBREVIATED. 89 RULE II Names, Titles, and other Words, abbreviated. The period must be used after every abbreviated word. EXAMPLES. 1. The age of MSS. is, in some instances, known by dates inserted in them. 2. Dr. H.* Marsh, F.R.S., &c., Bishop of Peterborough; b. 1757, d. 1839. 3. The Plays of Wm.* Shakspeare are sometimes printed from the text of Geo.* Stevens, Esq., and Edw.* Malone, Esq. REMARKS. a. When an abbreviated word ends a sentence, only one period is used to show the omission of the letters, and the termination of the sentence ; but any other point required by the construction should be inserted after the period, as exemplified above in the abbrevia- tions "F.R.S., &c," and the "Esq." which appears after the name of George Stevens. In such lists of words, however, as contain many abbreviations, the period only may be used, if no obscurity, or doubtfulness of meaning, would be produced by the omission of the grammatical point. b. Words derived from a foreign language, and introduced into the English, may be written or printed without the period, when they are uniformly used as contractions, and pronounced accordingly ; as, " Two per cent is but small interest." Here, " cent," the abbre- viation of the Latin centum, being now an English word, and pro- nounced as such, the period is unnecessary. c. Such words as 1st, 2dly, 12mo, 8vo (or 8°), are not, strictly speaking, abbreviations ; for the figures represent the first letters of each word. The period, therefore, should not be used, unless any of these terms come at the end of a sentence. When several subjects are specified, or when particular days of a month or various sizes of books are often mentioned, words of this form are perhaps unobjec- tionable : but, in the usual kinds of composition, it would be better to write them in full; as, " The command of the army was given in 1796 to Napoleon Bonaparte, then in the twenty-seventh year of his age." d. Proper names, when shortened and meant so to be pronounced, should not, except at the end of a sentence, be written or printed with a full point ; as, " On the poet's tombstone were inscribed the words, ' O rare Ben Jonson ! ' " * To the Teacher. — When the name of a person or of a place is abbreviated, the period must, as in the examples, be used ; but the pupil should be cautioned against writing abbreviations which are so seldom necessary. (See the author's " Treatise on English Punctuation," pp. 272-6.) 8* 90 THE PERIOD. rule m. Maries or Figures used instead of Words. When either marks or Arabic figures are substituted for words, the period should not be used, except at the end of a sentence; but the full point is inserted before decimals, and between pounds and shillings. EXAMPLES. 1. He borrows $5,000, and agrees to pay interest at 6 per cent per annum. 2. As an illustration of our remarks, see § 2, ^[ 10, notes * and t« 3. 8 + 9 + 7x13-5 + 10x6-12x2-^-5 + 21 = 777. 4. £1. 10s. 6d. sterling is equivalent to $6.78, United-States money. REMARK. Marks and figures are considered as representative signs, not as abbreviations. Hence the propriety of the rule. RULE IV. Letters used for Figures or Words. When numerals are written in characters of the alphabet, instead of words or Arabic figures, it is usual to insert periods after them in all situations ; and, when employed as dates, to separate by periods the portions into which they are divided when audibly read. EXAMPLES. 1. In proof of his position, the learned divine referred to Gen. vi. 12, 13. Ps. lxv. 2; lxxviii. 39. Acts ii. 17. 1 Cor. i. 29. 2. In the titlepages of books and in inscriptions, dates are sometimes put in capitals, instead of figures; as, M.DCCC.LVI. for 1856. REMARK. A full point is, in the first example, put after chapters vi., lxv., lxxviii., ii., and i. ; and, in the second, after M., DCCC, and LVL, — not as being equivalent to the grammatical period, but merely because, of all the marks, it is the least offensive to the eye, and has been generally employed in such cases. ABBREVIATIONS, MARKS, AND FIGURES. 91 ORAL EXERCISES. Assign the reasons given in the three preceding Rules, and in the Remarks un- der them (pp. 89, 90), for the mode of presenting the abbreviations, marlcs, figures, and numeral capitals, which occur in the folloioing sentences : — What will £100 amount to in 34 years, at 4| per cent j)er annum, compound interest ? (Rule III.) The train leaves New York at 9 o'clock, a.m., and 4|, P.M. ; return- ing at 10 in the evening. (Rules III. and II.) Daniel Defoe (b. 1661, d. 1731) is the first person who deserves to be named as a good newspaper-writer. (Rules II. and III.) See Rom. iii. 25, and v. 11. 1 Cor. v. 7. Eph. v. 2. 1 John ii. 2. Matt. xxvi. 28. (Rules II. and IV.) The laws of Phoroneus were instituted 1807 B.C. ; those of Lycur- gus, 884 B.C. ; of Draco, 623 B.C. ; of Solon, 587 B.C. (Rule III. ; and Rule II., Remark a.) But the seasons are not alike in all countries of the same region, for the reasons already given. See chap. vi. § xii. ^] 4, p. 530. (Rule II.) To R. H. Dana, jun., Esq., the well-known author of " Two Years before the Mast," the community are greatly indebted. (Rule II., and first of Remark a.) Titus died in the third year of his reign, and the forty-first year of his age, not without suspicion of being poisoned by his brother Domi- tian, who succeeded him. (Remark c, under Rule II.) Young as he was, the gentleman earned the approbation of his friends, and at length became M.D., F.R.S., F.A.S. (Rule II, and first of Remark a.) Constantine the Great was advanced to the sole dominion of the Roman world, A.D. 325, and soon after openly professed the Christian faith. (Rules II. and III.) Thomas Campbell wrote some beautiful lines on the Scottish king, James IV., who fell at the battle of Flodden. (Rule IV. ; and first portion of Remark a, under Rule II.) The sentiments which chivalry inspired had a wonderful influence on manners and conduct during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. (Remark c, under Rule II.) " Why so crusty, good sir ? " — " Zounds ! " cries Will, in a taking, " who wouldn't be crusty with half a year's baking ? " (Remark d, under Rule II.) There are only two common principles on which every work of imagination must more or less proceed, — 1st, On the expression of those feelings which are common to all men of elevated thinking ; and, 2d, On those patriotic feelings and associations peculiar to the people in whose language it is composed, and on whom it is to exert its nearest and most powerful influence. (Remark c, under Rule II.) 92 CHAPTER III. THE GRAMMATICAL AND RHETORICAL POINTS. Besides the Comma, the Semicolon, the Colon, and the Period, which are properly regarded as the most essential points in bringing out the sense of a written or printed dis- course, there are a few other marks, partly grammatical and partly rhetorical, so much required in peculiar styles of com- position, as to demand, on the part of the learner, a full understanding of the principles by which their uses are regu- lated. These are, — 1. The Note of Interrogation ....[?] 2. The Note of Exclamation ....[!] 3. The Marks of Parenthesis . . . . ( ) 4. The Dash [— ] « In classifying these points as both grammatical and rhetori- cal, we mean to imply, not that those which have come under consideration afford no facilities in delivery, but that the Marks of Interrogation, Exclamation, and Parenthesis, and the Dash, have a more direct bearing on that art. They are rhetorical, so far as they help to exhibit the force. and intensity of a style which is rhetorical in its structure ; but they are also gram- matical, because they often serve to indicate, in connection with other marks, the nature, construction, and sense of the passages in which they occur. 93 Sect. I. — THE NOTES OF INTERROGATION AND EXCLAMATION. 1. The Note of Interrogation [ ? ] shows that a question is denoted by the words to which it is annexed. 2. The Note op Exclamation [ ! ] indicates passion or emotion. E E M A K K. The notes of interrogation and exclamation do not mark the rela- tive pauses of the voice ; occupying, as they do, sometimes the place of the comma or the semicolon, and sometimes that of the colon or the period. But they are usually put at the end of sentences, and are equivalent to a full point ; requiring, therefore, in the majority of instances, the word that follows to begin with a capital letter, as after the period. RULE I. Expressions in the Form of Questions. The note of interrogation is placed at the end of every question.* EXAMPLES. 1. Why, for so many a year, has the poet or the philosopher wandered amid the fragments of Athens or of Eome ; and paused, with strange and kindling feelings, amid their broken columns, their mouldering temples, their deserted plains ? It is because their day of glory is past. 2. How can he exalt his thoughts to any thing great or noble who only believes, that, after a short term on the stage of existence, he is to sink into oblivion, and to lose his consciousness for ever? REMARKS. a. The first of these passages exemplifies a sentence expressive of direct inquiry ; the second, one that is assertive in its meaning, but interrogative in its structure or form. * To the Teacher. — It should be explained to the pupil, that this rule applies to all questions, whether they require answers, or are put, merely for the sake of emphasis, in an interrogative form. 94 THE NOTE OF INTERROGATION. b. The mark of interrogation should not be used when it is only affirmed that a question has been asked, and the expression denoting inquiry is put in any other shape than that of a direct question ; as, " I was asked if I would stop for dinner." If put in the interrogative form, this sentence would be read and punctuated according to the rule : " I was asked, ' Will you stop for dinner ? ' " c. In some instances, however, a question may be assertive in its form, but interrogative in its sense ; as, " You will stop for dinner ? " In order to distinguish a sentence of this kind from one that is affir- mative both in form and signification, it is obvious that the note of interrogation should be employed. d. It is a common error to make one interrogative mark represent several successive questions, which, though connected in sense, are in construction distinct and separate; and to substitute semicolons or dashes where notes of interrogation should be used. In the following passage, therefore, each question should be distinguished by its appro- priate mark, and not by dashes, which are used in the original: " What is civilization ? Where is it ? What does it consist in ? By what is it excluded ? Where does it commence ? Where does it end ? By what sign is it known ? How is it denned ? In short, what does it mean ? " e. When, however, the expressions denoting inquiry cannot be separated, and read alone, without materially injuring the sense, one mark of interrogation, placed at the end of all the questions, will be sufficient ; as, " Ah ! whither now are fled those dreams of greatness j those busy, bustling days ; those gay-spent, festive nights ; those veer- ing thoughts, lost between good and ill, that shared thy life ? " ORAL EXERCISES. After mentioning the distinctive uses of the notes of interrogation and exclama- tion, say xvhy interrogative marks are inserted in these sentences : — Are there not seasons of spring in the moral world ? and is not the present age one of them ? Who can look only at the muscles of the hand, and doubt that man was made to work ? The past, the mighty past, the parent of the present, — where is it? What is it? Are the palaces of kings to be regarded with more interest than the humbler roofs that shelter millions of human beings ? Who would tear asunder the best affections of the heart, the noblest instincts of our nature ? Have you more liberty allowed you to wound your neighbor's cha- racter than you have to shed his blood ? What but the ever-living power of literature and religion preserved the light of civilization, and the intellectual stores of the past, undi- INTERROGATORY EXPRESSIONS. 95 minished in Greece, during the long- and dreary ages of the decline and downfall of the Roman empire ? A gaudy verbosity is always eloquence in the opinion of him who writes it ; but what is the effect on the reader ? Greece, indeed, fell ; but how did she fall ? Did she fall like Baby- lon ? Did she fall " like Lucifer, never to hope again " ? * Bion, seeing a person who was tearing the hair of his head for sor- row, said, "Does this man think that baldness is a remedy for grief?" Is the celestial fire which glowed in their hearts for ever quenched, and nought but ashes left to mingle with the earth, and be blown around the world ? You say you will repent in some future period of time ; but are you sure of arriving at that period of time ? Have you one hour in your hand ? Have you one minute at your disposal ? Show how the Bale or the Remarks (pp. 93-4) will apply to the punctuation of these sentences : — " Honest man," says I, " be so good as to inform me whether I am in the way to Mirlington." The question is not what we might actually wish with our present views, but what with juster views we ought to wish. When a king asked Euclid the mathematician whether he could not explain his art to him in a more compendious manner, he was answered that there was no royal way to geometry. " The sun not yet set, Thomas ? " — " Not quite, sir. It blazes through the trees on the hill yonder, as if their branches were all on fire." The Phoenicians invented letters ; but what did they do with them ? Apply them to the record, the diffusion, transmission, and preservation of knowledge? You do not expect me to leave my family, when we are all so com- fortable, and brave the perils of a long passage and sickly climate, for the mere chance of getting gold ? Can gray hairs make folly venerable ? and is not their period to be reserved for retirement and meditation ? Are the stars, that gem the vault of the heavens above us, mere decorations of the night, or suns and centres of planetary systems ? Where be your gibes now ; your gambols ; your songs ; your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table in a roar ? Are you conscious of a like increase in wisdom, — -in pure endeavors to make yourself and other men what you and they ought to be ? Is there any man so swelled by the conceit of his union with the true church, as to stand apart, and say, " I am holier than thou " ? * * To the Teacher. — See the author's " Treatise on English Punctuation," p. 156, Remark /,• and p. 161, Remark e. 96 THE NOTE OP EXCLAMATION. RULE n. Expressions indicating Passion or Emotion. The note of exclamation is put after terms and expressions denoting an ardent wish, admiration, wonder, contempt, or any other strong emotion. EXAMPLES. 1. Would that we had maintained our humble state, and continued to live in peace and poverty ! 2. How sweet are the slumbers of him who can lie down on his pillow, and review the transactions of every day, without condemning himself ! 3. What a fearful handwriting upon the walls that surround the deeds of darkness, duplicity, and sensual crime ! 4. Away, all ye Csesars and Napoleons ! to your own dark and frightful domains of slaughter and misery ! 5. Hurra, hurra! There goes our Jimmy! Come out here, you little blunderhead ! REMARKS. a. Generally speaking, only those sentences, clauses, or phrases, should have the note of exclamation, which demand a fervid, pas- sionate mode of delivery ; or which commence with any of the inter- jections; with verbs in the imperative mood, adverbs, or prepositions, uttering a stern command or forcibly calling attention ; with the adverbs Tiow, ivhat, unless they denote affirmation or inquiry ; or with the case of address, when used in a solemn style, or emphasized by the use of the word O. b. Between the interjections O and oh there exists an essential difference, which is frequently neglected even by some of our best writers. The former is properly prefixed to an expression in a direct address ; but the latter ought never to be so employed. should be used without the mark of exclamation immediately after it ; but oil, sometimes with and sometimes without it, according to the construc- tion and sense of the passage in which the word occurs. The following sentences will illustrate the difference spoken of, and the true mode of punctuation : — 1. The heavens and earth, Lord! proclaim thy boundless power. 2. When, my countrymen ! will you begin to exert your vigor? 3. blessed spirit, who art freed from earth ! rejoice. 4. Oh ! nothing is further from my thoughts than to deceive you. 5. Oh, what a glorious part you may act on the theatre of humanity! 6. Oh that all classes of society were both enlightened and virtuous ! * * To the Teacher. — The reasons for the mode of pointing adopted in these examples are assigned in " Treatise on English Punctuation," pp. 160-1. EXCLAMATORY EXPRESSIONS. 97 c. Wherever interjections, or any other words indicative of deep emotion or fervid passion, are not meant to be significant in them- selves, but to form part of a phrase, clause, or sentence, it is recom- mended that the mark of exclamation be put, not after each of these words, but only at the end of each expression ; as, " Ah me!" — " Alas, my noble boy ! that thou shouldst die ! " — " All hail, ye patriots brave ! " — " Rouse, ye Romans ! rouse, ye slaves ! " * ORAL EXERCISES. Why are notes of exclamation inserted in the following examples ? — Alas, poor Yorick ! — Alas for the man who has not learned to work ! We shall be so happy ! — Live, live, ye incomparable pair ! Behold the daughter of Innocence ! — How peaceful is the grave ! O Freedom ! thou art not, as poets dream, a fair young girl. How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood ! All hail, thou noble land, our fathers' native soil ! Praise to the men for whose writings I am the better and wiser ! What! kill thy friend, who lent thee money, for asking thee for it! The secret I implore : out with it ! speak ! discover ! utter ! Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness ! Down, soothless insulter ! I trust not the tale. — Ha, ha, ha ! Charge, Chester, charge ! on, Stanley, on ! — Out, out, Lucetta ! Oh the great deep of suffering in every human breast ! Show how RemarJcs b and c apply to the punctuation of these sentences : — O Providence ! how many poor insects of thine are exposed to be trodden to death in each path ! This, O men of Athens ! my duty prompted me to represent to you on this occasion. Oh ! you are wounded, my lord. — Oh ! many a dream was in the ship an hour before her death. Oh, bloodiest picture in the book of time ! Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime. Oh that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains ! Alas for his poor family ! — Alas that folly and falsehood should be so hard to grapple with ! Alas, poor creature ! I will soon revenge this cruelty upon the author of it. * To the Teacher. — The learner should be strongly impressed with the impro- priety of inserting marks of exclamation in those parts of his composition where the form of his sentences or the nature of his conceptions will not permit their use. A mode of punctuation which is characterized by its simplicity will indirectly help him to avoid affectation and quackery in style. 9 98 INTERROGATIVE AND EXCL AMATIVE MARKS. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Let notes of interrogation and exclamation be inserted in the folloiving sentences, agreeably to the principles laid down in the two preceding Rules, and the Remarks under them (pp. 93-7) : — How often, in an instant, doth a hand unseen shift the scene of the world — Alas those happy days are gone. (Rule II.) Does not the mind, after all, spread its own hue over all the scenes of life (Rule I.) On you and on your children be the peril of the innocent blood which shall be shed this day (Rule II.) Why is it that the names of Howard and Thornton and Clarkson and Wilberforce will be held in everlasting remembrance (Rule I.) Peace to their manes May the turf He lightly on their breast, and the verdure over their grave be as perpetual as their memories (Rule H.) Is he who triumphed in the hope of immortality inferior to the worm, his companion in the tomb Will light never rise on the long night of the grave (Rule I.) What a piece of work is man How noble in reason how infinite in faculties in form and moving how express and admirable in action how like an angel in apprehension how like a god (Rule H.) Triptolemus asked Mordaunt, with a voice which faltered with ap- prehension, whether he thought there was any danger. (Remark 6, under Rule I.) O John Milton thou art among the angels and the seraphs that were once thy glorious song ; and this world is dear to them for what thou thyself wert in it. (Rule II. and Remark b.) You do not think, I hope, that I will join in conversation with such a man, or that I will so far betray my character as to give countenance to such desperate proceedings (Remark c, under Rule I.) How happy the station which every minute furnishes opportunities of doing good to thousands how dangerous that which every moment exposes to the injury of millions (Rule II.) Whither shall I turn Wretch that I am to what place shall I be- take myself Shall I go to the capitol — alas it is overflowed with my brother's blood; or shall I retire to my house (Both Rules.) Why do you envy yonder earl, by whose estate I pass He cannot see farther into this magnificence, or enjoy it more, than you can. (Rule!) Oh the littleness of man's heart, capable of loving only by units and in successive emotions, and therefore contracting the infinite heart of God to the narrowness of his own (Rule II. and Remark 6.) What words can declare the immeasurable worth of books what rhetoric set forth the importance of that great invention which diffused them over the whole earth, to glad its myriads of minds (Rule I. and Remark d.) 99 Sect. IL — MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. Marks of Parenthesis consist of two curved lines ( ), which serve to indicate that an expression is inserted in the body of a sentence, with which it has no connection in sense or in construction.* REMARK. These two curves are sometimes called parentheses, or a paren- thesis, — the same word that indicates the fund of phrase or clause which they enclose. But, as this designation tends to produce ambi- guity or confusion of ideas, it would be better to name them " marks of parenthesis," and to restrict the term "parenthesis" to signify, what it properly means, those words which are put between such portions of a sentence as are intimately connected in sense and in construction. RULE. Words thrown obliquely into the Body of a Sentence. The marks of parenthesis enclose only those words which break the unity of the sentence into which they are thrown, and which may therefore be omitted without injury to its sense or its construction.* EXAMPLES. 1. The Egyptian style of architecture (see Dr. Pocock, not his discourses, but his prints) was apparently the mother of the Greek. 2. If we exercise right principles (and we cannot have them unless we exercise them), they must be perpetually on the increase. * To the Teacher. — The teacher -will prohably find it necessary to point out to his class the distinction between a parenthesis and a mere parenthetical or interme- diate expression. This he may do by comparing Definition IX., on page 5, with the explanation, given in the present page, of the use of the parenthetical marks. 100 MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. BEMAKKS. a. If a point would not be required between those parts of a sen- tence in which a parenthesis occurs, none should be used along with the parenthetical marks ; as, " Are you still (I fear you are) far from being comfortably settled ? " Here these marks are unaccompanied by any point, because, in its simple state, the sentence would be with- out it ; as, " Are you still far from being comfortably settled ? " 6. But, when a comma or any other point is necessary where the incidental clause is thrown in, it should be placed after the last mark of parenthesis ; as, " Pride, in some disguise or other (often a secret to the proud man himself), is the most ordinary spring of action among men." c. Sometimes the parenthetical portion of a sentence is designed to express either inquiry or an emotion of wonder, astonishment, delight, &c, when the main passage is in its nature affirmative. In cases of this kind, the point required, if there were no parenthesis, is to be inserted before the first mark under consideration, and that which belongs to the enclosed portion before the second ; as, " While the Christian desires the approbation of his fellow-men, (and why should he not desire it ?) he disdains to receive their good-will by dis- honorable means." d. Before the first parenthetical mark, however, no point should be used, if not required in case the parenthetical words were omitted 5 as, " The rocks (hard-hearted varlets !) melted not into tears, nor did the trees hang their heads in silent sorrow." e. In reports of speeches, where a particular reference is sometimes made either to the present or a former speaker, or where the sense of the auditors is expressed by approbation or disapprobation, it is usual to enclose the inserted words within marks of parenthesis ; as, " The lucid exposition which has been made of the object of the meet- ing by the Right Reverend Bishop (M'llvaine) lightens the task of recommending it to an audience like this. I do not know but I should act more advisably to leave his cogent and persuasive^ statement to produce its natural effect, without any attempt on my part to enforce it. (No.) » f. Sometimes marks of parenthesis are used to enclose an expres- sion standing apart from the context, and added by way of explanation, or in reference to some other passage. Examples of this kind may be seen in the "Exercises to be written," which occur in the present volume. The same marks are also used, particularly in dictionaries and in didactic and scientific works, to enclose the Arabic figures or the letters of the alphabet, when enumerating definitions of words, or subjects treated of; as, " (A.) The unlawfulness of suicide appears from the following considerations : (1.) Suicide is unlawful on account of its general consequences. (2.) Because it is the duty of the self- WORDS THROWN INTO A SENTENCE. 101 murderer to live in the world, and be useful in it. (3.) Because he deprives himself of all further opportunity to prepare for happiness in a future state." But, unless it is necessary to distinguish the let- ters or figures from the simpler modes of specification, the marks of parenthesis are better omitted. g. "When a parenthetical expression is short, or coincides with the rest of the sentence, the marks of parenthesis may be omitted, and commas used instead; as, "Every star, if we may judge by analogy, is a sun to a system of planets." The intervening words, says I, says lie, and others of a similar character, should all be written only with commas. (See p. 34, Remark «.) ORAL EXERCISE. Show how the Rule and Hie Remarks (pp. 99, 100) apply to the punctuation of the following sentences : — I have seen charity (if charity it may be called) insult with an air of pity. The Tyrians were the first (if we may believe what is told us by writers of high antiquity) who learned the art of navigation. Know, then, this truth (enough for man to know) : Virtue alone is happiness below. Whether writing prose or verse (for a portion of the work is in prose), this author knows both what to blot, and when to stop. Do we, then (for this one question covers the whole ground of the subject), — do we observe the strict conditions of our vast and unsur- passably momentous work ? The most remote country, towards the East, of which the Greeks had any definite knowledge (and their acquaintance with it was, at the best, extremely imperfect), was India. I am so ill at present, (an illness of my own procuring last night : who is perfect ?) that nothing but your very great kindness could make me write. She had managed this matter so well, (oh, how artful a woman she was !) that my father's heart was gone before I suspected it was in danger. Perhaps (for who can guess the effects of chance ?) here Hunt may box, or Mahomet may dance. Consider (and may the consideration sink deep into your hearts ! ) the fatal consequences of a wicked life. Yet, in the mere outside of nature's works, if I may so express myself, there is a splendor and a magnificence to which even untutored minds cannot attend without great delight. " You say," said the judge, " that the bag you lost had a hundred and ten dollars in it ? " — " Yes, sir." — " Then," replied the judge, " this cannot be your bag, as it contained but a hundred dollars." 9* 102 MARKS OF PARENTHESIS. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Introduce the marks of parenthesis into their respective places: — Not a few are the incitements of the working classes would they were greater ! to the accumulation of property, and even to the invest- ment of land. (Remark d.) There is nothing that we call a good which may not be converted into a curse that is, nothing that is providential or external, and not of the soul ; nor is there an evil of that nature which is not thoroughly a good. (Remark b.) Under God, and by those spiritual aids which are ever vouchsafed in exact proportion to our endeavors to obtain them, how gracious and glorious is this truth ! we are morally and religiously, as well as intellectually, the makers of ourselves. (Remark c.) Sir, T hope the big gentleman that has just sat down Mr. Francis Archer will do me the justice to believe, that, as I receive little satis- faction from being offended, so I am not sedulous to find out cause for offence. Applause. (Remark e.) There is a power have you not felt it ? in the presence, conversa- tion, and example of a man of strong principle and magnanimity, to lift us, at least for the moment, from our vulgar and tame habits of thought, and to kindle some generous aspirations after the excellence which we were made to attain. (Remarks d and g.) I mention these instances, not to undervalue science it would be folly to attempt that ; for science, when true to its name, is true know- ledge, but to show that its name is sometimes wrongfully assumed, and that its professors, when not guided by humility, may prove but misleading counsellors. (Remark 6.) No lesson of a practical kind and all lessons ought to be practical requires to be so often repeated as that which enjoins upon the mind a state of passivity ; for what an electrical thing is it ! How does it dart forth after this and that, flitting from sweet to sweet for it never willingly tastes of bitter things, and " feeding itself without fear " ! (Remarks a and b.) Inquiring the road to Mirlington, I addressed him by the name of Honesty. The fellow whether to show his wit before his mistress, or whether he was displeased with my familiarity, I cannot tell directed me to follow a part of my face which, I was well assured, could be no guide to me, and that other parts would follow of consequence. (Remarks a and 5.) Socrates has often expressly said, that he considered human life in general and without doubt the state of the world in his day must have eminently tended to make him so consider it in the light of an imprisonment of the soul, or of a malady under which the nobler spirit is condemned to linger, until it be set free and purified by the healing touch of death. (Remark a.) 103 Sect. HI. — THE DASH. The Dash [ — ] is a straight horizontal line, used for the purposes specified in the following rules.* RULE I. Broken and Epigrammatic Sentences. The dash is used where a sentence breaks off abruptly, and the subject is changed ; where the sense is suspended, and is continued after a short interruption; where a significant or long pause is required ; and where there is an unexpected or epigrammatic turn in the sentiment. EXAMPLES. 1. Was there ever a bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever But I scorn to boast. 2. Then the eye of a child — who can look unmoved into that " well unde- fined," in which heaven itself seems to be reflected? 3. You have given the command to a person of illustrious birth, of ancient family, of innumerable statues, but — of no experience. 4. Here lies the geeat False marble, where ? Nothing but sor- did dust lies here. REMARKS. a. In the preceding examples, no grammatical point is used with the dash, because, in the first two and the last one, none would seem to be required if the sentences broken off had been finished ; and because, in the third, the word " but," before the mark showing the * To the Teacher. — There is perhaps no point of whose uses a knowledge is more requisite than those of the dash, and none respecting which there is a greater amount of ignorance: some writers unceremoniously introducing it every where to supply the place of the comma, the semicolon, or the colon; and others as impolitely banishing it from that province which cannot be so well occupied by any other point. The principles of its application are not, indeed, difficult to understand ; but they should not be hurried over, as if the employment or rejection of the dash were a matter of no importance. 104 THE DASH. suspensive pause, is intimately connected in sense with the phrase that follows it. But, if the parts of a sentence, between which the pause of suspension is to be made, are susceptible of being grammatically divided, their proper point should be inserted before the dash ; as, " He sometimes counsel takes, — and sometimes snuff." b. Passages of the following kind, in which an unfinished question is taken up immediately afterwards in an alternate form, may be brought under the operation of the present rule ; the dash, with a comma before it, being placed after the commencing portion of the sentence : " Who could best describe to you a country, — he who had travelled its entire surface, or he who had just landed on its shores ? Who could best breathe into you the spirit of Christian love, — he who had scarcely learned to control his own passions, or Jesus of Nazareth ? " ORAL EXERCISE. Why are dashes inserted in the folloioing sentences 1 — Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, any thing but — live for it. Greece, Carthage, Rome, — where are they ? The pages of his- tory — how is it that they are so dark and sad ? If you will give me your attention, I will show you But stop ! I do not know that you wish to see. Leonidas, Cato, Phocion, Tell, — one peculiarity marks them all : they dared and suffered for their native land. If thou art he, so much respected once ■ But, oh, how fallen ! how degraded!. The good woman was allowed by everybody, except her husband, to be a sweet-tempered lady — when not in liquor. I take — eh ! oh ! — as much exercise — eh ! — as I can, Madam Gout. You know my sedentary state. Hast thou — But how shall I ask a question which must bring tears into so many eyes ? There are several methods of humbling a proud man ; but the best is to — take no notice of him. " Sir, I beg leave to tell you, that you are " " What am I, sir ? How dare " " Dare, sir ! " Come, Gaza, Ashdod, come ! Let Ekron boast, and Askelon rejoice ; for Saul is — nothing. " Lord Cardinal ! if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, hold up thy hand ; make signal of thy hope." — He dies, and makes no sign. " I plunged right into the debate, and " " Did not say a word to the point, of course." Horror burst the bands of sleep ; but my feelings Words are too weak, too powerless, to express them. BROKEN AND EPIGRAMMATIC SENTENCES. 105 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. In the following sentences, insert dashes wherever necessary: — " I forgot my " " Your portmanteau ? " hastily interrupted Henry. " The same." To reward men according to their worth alas ! the perfection of this, we know, amounts to the millennium. Thou dost not mean No, no : thou wouldst not have me make a trial of my skill upon my child ! At church, in silks and satins new, with hoop of monstrous size, she never slumbered in her pew but when she shut her eyes. " Please your honor," quoth Trim, " the Inquisition is the vilest " " Prithee, spare thy description, Trim. I hate the very name of it," said my father. Frankness, suavity, tenderness, benevolence, breathed through their exercise. And his family But he is gone : that noble heart beats no more. He suffered, but his pangs are o'er ; enjoyed, but his delights are fled ; had friends, his friends are now no more ; and foes, his foes are dead. When the poor victims were bayoneted, clinging round the knees of the soldiers, would my friend But I cannot pursue the strain of my interrogation. Approaching the head of the bed, where my poor young com- panion, with throat uncovered, was lying, with one hand the monster grasped his knife, and with the other ah, cousin ! with the other he seized a ham. What beside a few mouldering and brittle ruins, which time is imperceptibly touching down into dust, what, beside these, remains of the glory, the grandeur, the intelligence, the supremacy, of the Grecian republics, or the empire of Rome ? The people lifted up their voices, and blessed the good St. Nicholas ; and, from that time forth, the sage Van Kortland was held in more honor than ever for his great talent at dreaming, and was pronounced a most useful citizen and a right good man when he was asleep. In thirty years the western breeze had not fanned his blood : he had seen no sun, no moon, in all that time ; nor had the voice of friend or kinsman breathed through his lattice. His children but here my heart began to bleed, and I was forced to go on with another part of the portrait. I now solemnly declare, that, so far as personal happiness is con- cerned, I would infinitely prefer to pass my life as a member of the bar, in the practice of my profession, according to the ability which God has given me, to that life which I have led, and in which I have held places of high trust, honor, respectability, and obloquy. 106 THE DASH. rule n. A Concluding Clause on whicli other Expressions depend. A dash should be used after several words or expressions, when these constitute a nominative which is broken off, and resumed in a summary form ; and after a long member, or a series of phrases or clauses, when they lead to an important conclusion. EXAMPLES. 1. That patriotism which, catching its inspirations from the immortal God, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below all lesser, grovelling, personal interests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of self- sacrifice, of valor, of devotion, and of death itself, — that is public virtue; that is the noblest, the sublimest, of all public virtues. 2. The infinity of worlds, and the narrow spot of earth which we call our country or our home ; the eternity of ages, and the few hours of life ; the almighty power of God, and human nothingness, — it is impossible to think of these in succession, without a feeling like that which is produced by the sublimest eloquence. REMARK. Instead of a comma and a dash, which are used in these examples immediately before the finishing clause of the sentence, some writers would insert a colon; but the punctuation adopted above seems to exhibit the construction and sense to more advantage, and to be more in harmony with the rhetorical character of such passages. ORAL EXERCISE. State why dashes are inserted in the following sentences : — At school and at college, the great vision of Rome broods over the mind with a power which is never suspended or disputed : her great men, her beautiful legends, her history, the height to Avhich she rose, and the depth to which she fell, — these make up one half of a stu- dent's ideal world. When ambition practises the monstrous doctrine of millions made for individuals, their playthings, to be demolished at their caprice ; sporting wantonly with the rights, the peace, the comforts, the exist- ence, of nations, as if their intoxicated pride would, if possible, make God's earth itself their football, — is not the good man indignant? The affections which spread beyond ourselves, and stretch far into futurity ; the workings of mighty passions, which seem to arm the soul with an almost superhuman energy; the innocent and irrepressible A CONCLUDING CLAUSE. 107 joy of infancy ; the bloom and buoyancy and dazzling hopes of youth ; the throbbings of the heart, when it first wakes to love, and dreams of a happiness too vast for earth ; woman, with her beauty and grace and gentleness, and fulness of feeling, and depth of affection, and blushes of purity, and the tones and looks which only a mother's heart can inspire, — these are all poetical. That gush of human sympathy which brought tears into Charles Lamb's eyes, when he mingled in the living tide which pours through the streets of London, and he felt his heart beat responsive to the warm pulse of joy as it throbbed past him, — what was it but the vivid con- sciousness of God; the breath of the Father, softening the bosom over which it swept, and filling it with his own merciful tenderness towards the great family of man ? EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Let dashes be introduced into these sentences, in accordance with the Ride: — The collision of mind with mind ; the tug and strain of intellectual wrestling ; the tension of every mental fibre, as the student reaches forth to take hold of the topmost pinnacle of thought ; the. shout of joy that swells up from gladsome voices, as he stands upon the sum- mit, with error under his feet, these make men. The modest flower, nestling in the meadow-grass ; the happy tree, as it laughs and riots in the wind ; the moody cloud, knitting its brow in solemn thought; the river that has been flowing all night long; the sound of the thirsty earth, as it drinks and relishes the rain, these things are as a full hymn when they flow from the melody of nature, but an empty rhythm when scanned by the finger of art. Wherever on this earth an understanding is active to know and serve the truth ; wherever a heart beats with kind and pure and gene- rous affections ; wherever a home spreads its sheltering wing over husband and wife, and parent and child, there, under every diversity of outward circumstance, the true worth and dignity and peace of man's soul are within reach of all. When, at God's decree, human greatness from all its state falls to the ground like a leaf; when death, usually doing its work in silence, seems to cry out over the bier of the high and distinguished ; when some figure, that has moved with imposing tread in our sight, towers still more out of the dark valley ; when the drapery of mourning unrolls itself from private chambers to line the streets, darken the windows, and hang the heavens in black ; when the stroke of the bell adds a sabbath solemnity to the days of the week, and the boom of guns, better fired over the dead than at the living, echoes all through our territory ; while the wheels of business stop, and labor leans its head, and trade foregoes its gains, and communication, save on one theme, ceases, we may well ask the meaning and cause. 108 THE DASH. RULE HI. Words Repeated Rhetorically.* The dash is used before a word or phrase repeated in an exclamatory or an emphatic manner. EXAMPLES. 1. Shall I, who was born, I might almost say, but certainly brought up, in the tent of my father, that most excellent general — shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations, but of the Alps themselves — shall I compare myself with this half-year captain ? — a captain, before whom should one place the two armies without their ensigns, I am persuaded he would not know to which of them he is consul. 2. Newton was a Christian ; — Newton ! whose mind burst forth from the fetters cast by nature on our finite conceptions ; — Newton ! whose science was truth, and the foundation of whose knowledge of it was philosophy; not those visionary and arrogant presumptions which too often usurp its name, but philosophy resting on the basis of mathematics, which, like figrxres, cannot lie ; — Newton ! who earned the line and rule to the utmost barriers of creation, and explored the principles by which, no doubt, all created matter is held together and exists. REMARKS. a. Before the iteration of the words " shall I," in the first example, dashes are put without any other point, to show that what precedes is unfinished. After the expression, " this half-year captain," a note of interrogation is placed, because the question terminates here. b. In the second example, semicolons are introduced before the dashes, in order to separate with greater clearness the various members, some of which are divisible into clauses. But, in the more simple kinds of sentences (as in the first four under the Oral Exercise, p. 109), a comma will be sufficient before the clash. c. After expressions of the kind under consideration, it is seldom necessary to put the exclamatory mark ; as, " Edmund Burke was a man who added to the pride, not merely of his country, but of his species ; — a man who robed the very soul of inspiration in the splendors of a pure and overpowering eloquence." The construction of the language used, and the nature of the sentiment, will readily indicate what point, if any, should be inserted. * To the Teacher. — As a word or phrase, when repeated in a rhetorical manner, is called by some elocutionists an echo, the teacher may, if he thinks proper, adopt the term. WORDS REPEATED RHETORICALLY. 109 d. When a parenthesis is introduced before an iterated expression, the dash should both precede and follow the parenthetical marks ; as,— When I am old — (and, oh, how soon Will life's sweet morning yield to noon, And noon's broad, fervid, earnest light Be shaded in the solemn night ! Till like a story well-nigh told Will seem my life, when I am old), — When I am old, this breezy earth Will lose for me its voice of mirth ; The streams will have an undertone Of sadness not by right their own. OBAL EXERCISE. Explain the reason why dashes are inserted in these sentences : — You speak like a boy, — like a boy who thinks the old, gnarled oak can be twisted as easily as the young sapling. Never is virtue left without sympathy, — sympathy dearer and tenderer for the misfortune that has tried it, and proved its fidelity. There are, indeed, I acknowledge, to the honor of the human kind, — there are persons in the world who feel that the possession of good dispositions is their best reward. All great discoveries, not purely accidental, will be gifts to insight ; and the true man of science will be he who can best ascend into the thoughts of God, — he who burns before the throne in the clearest, purest, mildest light of reason. Man is led to the conception of a Power and an Intelligence superior to his own, and adequate to the production and maintenance of all that he sees in nature ; — a Power and Intelligence to which he may well apply the term " infinite." Can Parliament be so dead to its dignity and duty as to give its sanction to measures thus obtruded and forced upon them ? — mea- sures, my lords, which have reduced this late-flourishing kingdom to scorn and contempt. He hears the raven's cry ; and shall he not hear, and will he not avenge, the wrongs that his nobler animals suffer ? — wrongs that cry out against man, from youth to age, in the city and in the field, by the way and by the fireside. Then I told what a tall, upright, graceful person their great-grand- mother Field once was, and how in her youth she was esteemed the best dancer — (here Alice's little right foot played an involuntary movement, till, upon my looking grave, it desisted) — the best dancer, I was saying, in the county, till a cruel disease, called a cancer, came, and bowed her down with pain ; but it could never bend her good spirits, or make them stoop, but they were still upright, because she was so good and religious. 10 110 THE DASH. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Let dashes be inserted before the echoes in the following passages : — The voices in the waves are always whispering to Florence, in their ceaseless murmuring, of love; of love eternal and illimitable, not bounded by the confines of this world or by the end of time, but ranging still, beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the invisible country far away. We must take a wakeful and active interest, that seeks them out ; an interest that examines into the causes of their degradation, and labors to raise them to a more just social position ; an interest that comes from faith in man as the child of God, and from faith in God as the heavenly Father ; an interest that never despairs of the fallen or the lost, but makes Him who was the friend of publicans and sin- ners its model. Truth should be enshrined in our inmost hearts, and become the object of our fervent contemplation, our earnest desire and aspiration. Consecrate, above all things, truth, whatever prejudices it may pro- scribe, whatever advantages it may forfeit, and whatever privileges it may level ; truth, though its recompense should be the privations of poverty or the darkness of the dungeon ; truth, the first lesson for the child, and the last word of the dying ; truth, the world's regenerator, God's image on earth, the essence of virtue in the character, the foundation of happiness in the heart ; truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It is the sorrow which draws sweetness from the affections, and is hallowed by conscience, the sorrow that mingles its sanctifying drop in the cup of virtuous love and pure-souled friendship, the sorrow which mortifies young ambition, and tempers presumptuous enthu- siasm, the sorrow which makes us feel our weakness and inefficiency, when we have put forth earnest efforts to serve the truth and aid human progress, this is the sorrow which chastens and exalts the spirit, and fills it with a noble seriousness, and binds it by holier ties to that ideal of perfection and blessedness which never perishes from the trust and the aspiration of the true servants of God. It remains with you, then, to decide whether that freedom at whose voice the kingdoms of Europe awoke from the sleep of ages, to run a career of virtuous emulation in every thing great and good; the freedom which dispelled the mists of superstition, and invited the nations to behold their God ; whose magic torch kindled the rays of genius, the enthusiasm of poetry, and the flame of eloquence ; the freedom which poured into our lap opulence and arts, and embellished life with innumerable institutions and improvements, till it became a theatre of wonders ; it is for you to decide, whether this freedom shall yet survive, or be covered with a funeral pall, and wrapped in eternal gloom. THE LONGER INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. Ill RULE IV. Intermediate Expressions * which are Divisible. The dash is generally used before and after the longer intermediate expressions, when they are separable into por- tions requiring points between them, EXAMPLES. 1. The whole deportment of a child is delightful. Its smile — always so ready when there is no distress, and so soon recurring when that distress has passed away — is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond. 2. The archetypes, the ideal forms of things without, — if not, as some philosophers have said, in a metaphysical sense, yet in a moral sense, — exist within us. REMARKS. a. When a sentence, being assertive, can be read without a point between the parts into which a parenthetical expression is introduced, — that is, on the supposition of its being excluded, — none will be requisite along with the dashes ; as in the first example under the rule, which, if the intermediate clauses were omitted, would read thus : " Its smile is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond." b. But when, without the intermediate words, such a sentence would require a comma or any other grammatical mark at the place where they occur, both the dashes must be preceded by that mark, as in the second example. c. The parenthetical portion, even though incapable of subdivision, is enclosed by dashes, when it contains an echo of what precedes, or is thrown in by way of explanation ; as, " It was under the influence of impulse — the impulse of nature on his own poetic spirit — that Burns went forth singing in glory and in joy on the mountain-side." (See p. 108.) d. If a parenthesis, distinguished by dashes instead of the proper parenthetical marks, is expressive of inquiry or emotion, a note of interrogation or of exclamation should be used before the second dash, whatever be the point, if any, required before the first ; as, " How little — may it not be ? — the most considerate feel the import of a grateful acknowledgment to God ! " "In conformity with a rule of the Trotters, ' never to flinch from duty,' I stand here, not to make a speech, — for who would expect me to make a speech ? — but to * To the Teacher. — For the merely grammatical mode of pointing parentheses and intermediate expressions, see pp. 99-102, and pp. 34-6. 112 THE DASH. thank you for the honor you have done us, and to give you some reminiscences of the Trotter family." e. Where one parenthetic clause is contained within another, both of which should be distinctly perceived, that which is less connected in construction, whatever the order, should be enclosed by the usual marks, and the other set off by dashes, as in the following lines : — " Sir Smug," he cries (for lowest at the board — Just made fifth chaplain of his patron lord, His shoulders witnessing, by many a shrug, How much his feelings suffered — sat Sir Smug), " Your office is to winnow false from true : Come, prophet, drink; and tell us what think you." ORAL EXERCISE.* Show how these sentences exemplify the Rule and the Remarks : — The true test of a great man — that, at least, which must secure his place among the highest order of great men — is his having been in advance of his age. In youth — that is to say, somewhere between the period of child- hood and manhood — there is commonly a striking development of sensibility and imagination. The magnificent creations of Southey's poetry — piled up, like clouds at sunset, in the calm serenity of his capacious intellect — have always been duly appreciated by poetical students and critical readers ; but by the public at large they are neglected. In the heathen world, — where mankind had no divine revelation, but followed the impulse of nature alone, — religion was often the basis of civil government. Demosthenes, Julius Caesar, Henry the Fourth of France, Lord Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Franklin, Washington, Napoleon, — differ- ent as they were in their intellectual and moral qualities, — were all renowned as hard workers. When we look up to the first rank of genius, — to Socrates and Plato and Pythagoras, to Paul and Luther, to Bacon and Leibnitz and Newton, — - we find they are men who bow before the infinite sanctities which their souls discern. Religion — who can doubt it ? — is the noblest of themes for the exercise of intellect. I wished — oh ! why should I not have wished ? — that all my , fellow-men possessed the blessings of a benign civilization and a pure form of Christianity. * To the Teacher. — Reasons should be assigned by the class, not only for the dashes introduced into this exercise, but for the use of the points accompanying them in some of the sentences, and for their omission in others. THE LONGER INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS. 113 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. According to pages 111-12, insert in the following sentences the parenthetical dashes, zoith the points accompanying them zohen required: — In pure description such as is not warmed by passion, or deepened by philosophical reflection Shelley is a great master. (Rule, and Rem. 6.) In our dwellings and in concert-rooms, ay, and in opera-houses so the theme be pure and great there is preaching as surely as within church-walls. (Remarks 6 and c.) Either there is a resemblance and analogy but how imperfect between the attributes of the Divinity and our conceptions of them, or we cannot have any conceptions at all. (Remark d.) It is no exaggeration to say, that Milton alone has surpassed if even he has surpassed some of the noble sonnets of Wordsworth, dedicated to liberty and inspired by patriotism. (Remark c.) There was a deep wisdom in the governing maxim of the old Ca- tholic church though often, it must be confessed, meagrely understood and falsely applied that truth is to be found in a central point equally remote from divergent errors. (Rule, and Remark b.) It is when man is in his truest moods and these come never oftener than in his sorrows and self-communings that he finds himself most in harmony with nature, and most rejoices in her kindly and wholesome influence. (Remark b.) The gods of the Greeks those graceful forms which Homer drew in verse, and Phidias realized in marble were scarcely more irrational than the objects to which, in the name of Christianity, many have paid their homage. (Rule, and Remark a.) "When a people shall learn that its greatest benefactors and most important members are men devoted to the«liberal instruction of all its classes to the work of raising to life its buried intellect it will have opened to itself the path of true glory. (Remarks b and c.) The contest between Christianity and the heathenish philosophy between the old polytheism and the new belief, a poetical mythology and a religion of morality is the most remarkable intellectual contest which has ever been exhibited and determined among the human race. (Rule, and Remark a.) Christianity which, as a reform lastingly affecting all the social relations of men, yet remains to be philosophically estimated (our limits forbid our entering upon that tempting field of inquiry) had sown the seeds whose fruit might supplement the pre-existing system. (Rule, and Remarks a, e.) With regard to the powers of speech those powers which the very second year of our existence generally calls into action, the exercise of which goes on at our sports, our studies, our walks, our very meals, and which is never long suspended, except at the hour of refreshing sleep how few surpass their fellow-creatures of common information and moderate attainments ! (Rule, and Remark b.) 10* 114 THE DASH. RULE V. Ellipsis of the Adverb " Namely" The dash is commonly used where there is an ellipsis of such words as namely, that is, and others having a similar import. EXAMPLES. 1. The four greatest names in English poetry are almost the first we come to, — Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspeare, and Milton. 2. Nicholas Copernicus was instructed in that seminary where it is always happy when any one can be well taught, — the family circle. 3. Gray and Collins aimed at the dazzling imagery and magnificence of ■ lyrical poetry, — the direct antipodes of Pope. REMARKS. a. In the first two examples, the adverb namely, and, in the third example, the words which are, might be expressed where the dash is inserted; this mark being, in such cases, unnecessary. But it will readily be seen, that, as exhibited in the briefer mode and with the rhetorical mark, the sentences are more effective than they would be if the words understood were supplied. b. A comma is required before the dash, in accordance with the second branch of the rule (p. 19) on words and phrases in apposition. The dash is annexed merely to lengthen the pause made in delivery. c. When words after which namely is understood are followed by a quotation or a remark^naking sense in itself, the comma and dash are better omitted, and a colon substituted in their place ; unless the quotation or remark commences a new paragraph, when a comma or colon and a dash are used, according to the degree of connection sub- sisting between the parts of the passage. (See p. 84.) ORAL EXERCISE. Why are dashes inserted in the following sentences f — There is something infinitely nobler than all the creations of ge- nius, — a pure and godlike life. We should be enterprising in the exercise of our own minds, and in exploring the great sources of truth, — nature, man, revelation. Kings and their subjects, masters and slaves, find a common level in two places, — at the foot of the cross, and in the grave. The essence of all poetry may be said to consist in three things, — invention, expression, inspiration. From an illusion of the imagination arises one of the most impor- tant principles of human nature, — the dread of death. ELLIPSIS OF THE WORD "NAMELY." 115 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert a comma and a dash where the ellipsis of the adverb "namely," or a similar expression, occurs in the following sentences : — Angry thoughts canker the mind, and dispose it to the worst tem- per in the world that of fixed malice and revenge. There are two kinds of evils those which cannot be cured, and those which can. I see in this world two heaps one of happiness, and the other of misery. Amongst us men, these three things are a large part of our virtue to endure, to forgive, and ourselves to get pardon. The orations of Caesar were admired for two qualities which are seldom found together strength and elegance. Among uncivilized nations, only one profession is honorable that of arms. In 1813, Moore entered upon his noble poetical and patriotic task writing lyrics for the ancient music of his native country. Milton's life was a true poem; or it might be compared to an an- them on his own favorite organ high-toned, solemn, and majestic. Faith builds, in the dungeon and the lazar-house, its sublimest shrines ; and up, through roofs of stone, that shut up the eye of Heaven, ascends the ladder where the angels glide to and fro Prayer. The best shelter that the world affords us is the first the affections into which we are born, and which are too natural for us to know their worth till they are disturbed. In my analysis of the nature of love, I have stated its two great elements a vivid pleasure in the contemplation of the object of regard, and a desire of the happiness of that object. The more sympathies we gain or awaken for what is beautiful, by so much deeper will be our sympathy for that which is most beautiful the human soul. It is remarked by Rousseau, that every people in the ancient world that can be said to have had morals has respected the sex Sparta, Germany, Rome. Many a brilliant reputation resembles a pageant showy and unsub- stantial, attracting the acclamations of the crowd, and forgotten as soon as it has passed. If men would confine their talk to those subjects only which they understood, that which St. John informs us took place once in heaven would happen very frequently on earth " silence for the space of half an hour." The violator of the sacred laws of justice feels, that the unhappy effects of his own conduct have rendered him the proper object of the resentment and indignation of mankind, and of what is the natural consequence vengeance and punishment. 116 THE DASH. RULE VL Omission of Letters or Figures. The dash is often used to denote an omission of letters or figures. EXAMPLES. 1. By H ns ! for .... By Heavens ! 2. Matt. ix. 1-6 Matt. ix. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. 3. The years 1856-7 The years 1856, 1857. RULE vn. Subheads, fyc, to Paragraphs. The dash should be inserted between a title and the subject- matter, and also between the subject-matter and the authority from which it is taken, when they occur in the same paragraph. EXAMPLE. Fidelity to God. — Whatever station or rank Thou shalt assign me, I will die ten thousand deaths sooner than abandon it. — Socrates. REMARKS. a. The dash is sometimes inserted between a question and an answer, when they come together in the same paragraph ; as, " Who created you ? — God." b. So, also, the dash is useful to connect separate paragraphs, dia- logues, &c, when it is deemed necessary to save room. Thus : — " How are you, Trepid? How do you feel to-day, Mr. Trepid?" — "A great deal worse than I was, thank you; almost dead, I am obliged to you." — " Why, Trepid, what is the matter with you? " — " Nothing, I tell you, in particular; but a great deal is the matter with me in general." c. A dash is commonly inserted between the word chapter or sec- tion with its accompanying numeral, and the title of a subject, when they are placed in the same line. Thus : — SECT. LV. — THE POWER OF IMAGINATION. d. A dash is also put after an expression connected in sense and construction with what follows, if the latter necessarily begins a new line ; as, " Occasionally, perhaps, he was — ' Lofty and sour to them that loved him not; But, to those men that sought him, sweet as summer.' " 117 CHAPTER IV. LETTER, SYLLABIC, AND QUOTATION POINTS. The points treated of in the two preceding chapters have been classified into two kinds, — 1. The grammatical ; and, 2. The grammatical and rhetorical. As previously stated, they are used for the purpose of developing the sense of a composition, by exhibiting the various connections and con- structions of words, phrases, and clauses; and of aiding the delivery, by showing the nature of sentences, as affirmative, interrogative, emotional, parenthetic, suspensive, or broken. The marks to be considered in this chapter are — 1. The Apostrophe [ ' ] 2. The Hyphen [-] 3. The Marks of Quotation . . . . [" "] These are put into a class different from the others, because, though they serve to bring out the sense and to aid a just delivery, they do not exhibit any analysis of sentences, or point out the relation of their parts to one another, but call the attention merely to letters or syllables, as do the Apostro- phe and the Hyphen, or to something foreign to the meaning and construction of the passages to which they are prefixed and annexed, as is the case with the Marks of Quotation. All these points are, however, frequently required in some kinds of composition; and the proper modes of using them should therefore be well understood. 118 Sect. I. — THE APOSTROPHE. The Apostrophe [ ' ] is a mark distinguished in appear- ance from a comma, only in being placed above the line ; but its uses are altogether different. RULE I. Contractions, or Words Shortened. The apostrophe is used, chiefly in poetry and -in familiar dialogue, to denote the omission of a letter or of letters. EXAMPLES. I've . contracted for . I have. 'em them. i'the in the. o'er over. he 's . contracted for . he is. ne'er never. thou'rt ...... thou art. 'tis it is. REMARKS. a. Though not, strictly speaking, contractions, the plurals of mere letters or of Arabic figures are formed by the insertion of an apostro- phe before the s ; as, " Mark all the a's and o's in your exercise." — " In this sum there are four 2's and three 5's." b. It was once a common practice, especially in verse, to write and print tho' and thro', instead of though and through ; but these abbre- viated forms are now discontinued, for the very just reason that they do not shorten the pronunciation of the words, — the chief object for which contractions are used. c. The apostrophe is erroneously used in the words to, the, heaven, power, every, threatening, and others of a similar nature, when written, as they frequently are in verse, f, th\ heaven, pow'r, evWy, threatening, &c. ; for, though apparently, in the full or uncontracted form, making a syllable additional to the number of the feet required by the verse, they are never pronounced differently from the same words in prose, nor does this pronunciation at all affect the rhythm. d. It seems to have been once the practice to pronounce, as an additional syllable, the ed in the imperfect tense of verbs, in past participles, and in participial adjectives ; and hence arose the propriety, in poetical works of a bygone age, of omitting the e in words of this CONTRACTIONS AND ELISIONS. 119 sort, and of supplying its place with an apostrophe, when the termi- nation treated of coalesced in pronunciation with the primitive to which d or ed was attached. Now, however, that this syllable is not separately enunciated in prose, — except in learned, beloved, cursed, winged, when used as adjectives, and in some instances where a com- bination of harsh consonants necessarily requires the ed always to be articulated as a syllable ; and except also in Sacred Scripture, portions of which should be read in a very solemn manner, — the propriety of supplying the place of the e with an apostrophe is exceedingly ques- tionable. In many recent publications, therefore, the mark of con- traction has been thrown aside in regard to such words, and a grave accent placed on the e in those only which are lengthened for the sake of the rhythm ; as will be seen in the following lines : — I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled On wheels of amber and of gold ; I praised the moon, whose softer eye Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky ; And moon and sun in answer said, "Our days of light are numbered.''' 1 e. Some of the past participles, having the termination ed, are in verse frequently written or printed with a t, as in the words blest, drest, dreamt; and this mode of spelling, though not analogical, is by no means unpleasant to the eye. In prose, however, when parti- ciples having both terminations occur, it is better to adopt that which is more usual ; being, to speak generally, the regular form, ed. ORAL EXERCISES. State the reason given in the Rule for inserting an apostrophe in the words thus marked, and read them both in the contracted and the full form: — 'Mid such a heavenly scene as this, death is an empty name. Thou'lt yet survive the storm, and bloom in paradise. Methought that I lay naked and faint 'neath a tropic sky. If I'd a throne, I'd freely share it with thee. That lesson in my memory I'll treasure up with care. I might have lived, and 'joyed immortal bliss. 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy. Let me thy voice betimes i'the morning hear. The thing they can't but purpose, they postpone. E'en with the tender tear which nature sheds o'er those we love. You're overwatched, my lord : He down and rest. Here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal.* * To the Teacher. — These sentences are given merely as an exercise for the necessary insertion of the apostrophe in abbreviated words ; but the pupil should be made aware, that, though in poetry and in dialogues such abbreviations are quite proper, they are not used by writers of prose who have any claim to elegance. 120 THE APOSTROPHE. Show how the insertion or the omission of apostrophes in certain words, occurring in these portions of verse, is borne out by the preceding Remarks: — Strike — till the last armed foe expires ! Here Edwin and his Emma oft would stray, To enjoy the coolness of the evening breeze. The toiling ploughman drives his thirsty teams To taste the slippery streams. The bird let loose in Eastern skies, When hastening fondly home, Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies Where idle warblers roam. Unthinking, idle, wild, and young, I laughed and talked, and danced and sung; And, proud of health, of freedom vain, Dreamt not of sorrow, care, or pain. Serenity broods o'er my mind; „ For I daily pray to Heaven, That, when the hour of death arrives, My sins may be forgiven. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Insert the apostrophe wherever necessary; and mark a grave accent on the vowel in ed in verse, when pronounced as an additional syllable : — As Yorkshire Humphrey, tother day, Oer London Bridge was stufhping. That forked flash, that pealing crash, Seemed from the wave to sweep her. For who but He that arched the skies Could raise the daisy's purple bud, Mould its green cup, its wiry stem, Its fringed border nicely spin, And cut the gold-embossed gem, That, set in silver, gleams within? Now, brothers, bending oer the accursed loom, Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom. Then lighted from his gorgeous throne ; for now Twixt host and host but narrow space was left. Approach, and read (for thou canst read) the lay Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn. Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt, Splitst the unwedgea'ble and gnarled oak, Than the soft myrtle. Blest be the day I scaped the wrangling crew From Pyrrho's maze and Epicurus' sty, And held high converse with the godlike few, Who, to the enraptured heart and ear and eye, Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love and melody! THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 121 RULE H. The Genitive or Possessive Case. The apostrophe is used to distinguish the possessive case of nouns ; which is usually formed in the singular number by adding to the nominative an s, with an apostrophe before it, and in the plural by simply annexing this mark. EXAMPLES. 1. What majesty attends Night's lovely queen ! 2. The Ages' voice speaks everlasting truth. REMARKS. a. The apostrophe is sometimes used in the singular number with- out the additional s, when the nominative ends in s, ss, ce, or x ; as, "Moses' rod," "for righteousness' sake," "for conscience' sake," " the administratrix' sale." This mode of punctuation holds good chiefly in proper names having a foreign termination, and in such common nouns as are seldom used in the plural, — an exception to the rule of forming the possessive singular, which is founded on the propriety of modifying the disagreeable nature of the hissing sound. b. Recourse, however, should not be had to the principle laid down in the preceding remark, Avhen its adoption would cause ambiguity, or when the addition of the s is not offensive to a refined ear. For instance, the Italic words in the phrases, " Burns' s Poems," " James's book," " Thomas's cloak," " the fox's tail," though they contain the hissing sound, are not particularly unpleasant, and are far more ana- logical and significant than the abbreviated forms, " Burns' Poems," "James' book," " Thomas' cloak," "the fox' tail." c. To form the possessive case plural, the apostrophe, with an s after it, is added to the nominative plural, when it does not end in that letter ; as, " Men's passions ; women's tenderness." d. The possessive case of pronouns is formed without an apostro- phe ; as, — SINGULAR. Mine. Yours His. PLURAL. Ours. Yours. Theirs. SINGULAR. Hers. Its. Whose. PLURAL. Theirs. Theirs. Whose.* * To the Teacher. — Some grammarians would use the apostrophe before the s in ours, yours, hers, its, theirs. But the pupil should be shown the inaccuracy of this punctuation, from the mode in which the other pronouns in the possessive case are always written ; namely, mine, his, and whose ; which exhibit the case without the mark in question. 11 122 THE APOSTROPHE. ORAL EXERCISES. State the reason for the insertion and position of the apostrophe in these sentences : — A man's manners not unfrequently indicate his morals. On eagles' wings he seemed to soar. — Our enemies' resistance. The shepherd-swain on Scotia's mountains fed his little flock. And the Persians' gems and gold were the Grecians' funeral pyre. We will not shrink from life's severest due. — Woman's rights. Few columns rose to mark her patriots' last repose. The sun is the poet's, the invalid's, and the hypochondriac's friend. The ladies' gloves and shawls were exceedingly handsome. O majestic Night, Nature's great ancestor, Day's elder born ! He must strike the second heat upon the Muses' anvil. Mother's wag, pretty boy, father's sorrow, father's joy. Spirit of Good ! on this week's verge I stand. Bid them in duty's sphere as meekly move. Why is that sleeper laid to rest in manhood's pride ? Who loves not spring's voluptuous hours, or summer's splendid reign ? Is sparkling wit the world's exclusive right ? The Turk awoke : he woke to hear his sentry's shriek. The people's shouts were long and loud. — Thy mercies' monument. A friend should bear a friend's infirmities. — The ox's hide. SIioio how the Rule or the Remarks (p. 121) are applicable to the possessive case in the following ifarases and sentences : — Adam's book, not Adams's : the book did not belong to Adams. John Quincy Adams's death was no common bereavement. Sir Humphrey Davy's safety-lamp. — Davis's Straits, Josephus's " History of the Jews " is a very interesting work. Andrew's hat, not Andrews's. — Andrews's " Latin Reader." Henry Brooke's " Fool of Quality " is a celebrated novel. Joshua Brookes's museum was filled with anatomical specimens. Sir Matthew Hale's " Contemplations, Moral and Divine." The ever-memorable John Hale's " Golden Remains." William Ames's writings were once prized much above their worth. For quietness' sake, the man would not enter into any dispute. Col. Matthews's delivery. — Matthew's Gospel, not Matthews's. The witness's testimony agreed with the facts of the case. Athanasius' friends, as well as his foes, were numerous and powerful. Let Temperance' smile the cup of gladness cheer. Nor roamed Parnassus' heights nor Pindus' hallowed shade. There is no impropriety in speaking of the cockatrice's den. I oft have sat on Thames' sweet bank to hear my friend. Like the silver crimson shroud, that Phoebus' smiling looks doth grace. After two years, Porcius Festus came into Felix's room. THE POSSESSIVE CASE. 123 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Agreeably to the Rule and the Remarks on page 121, insert apostrophes in, or annex them to, the nouns in the possessive case which occur in the following sentences; but let the pronouns remain unmarked: — The traveller went to lodge, not in Mr. Jacob's house, but in Mr. Jacobss. (Rule, and Remark 6.) I am going to the booksellers [sing.'] to purchase Popes Homer and Drydens Virgil. Procrustes bed. — Hortensius influence. — Achilles shield. — Poca- hontas father. — Sophocles Greek Grammar. (Remark a.) Robert Burnss prose as well as poetical writings are astonishing productions. (Remark b.) Fames proud temple shines afar. — From mens experience do thou learn wisdom. (Rule, and Remark c.) They applauded that conduct of his, but condemned hers and yours. The reason of its being done I cannot tell. (Remark d.) He had the surgeons [sing.], the physicians [sing.], and the apo- thecarys advice. The tendency of Dickenss genius, both in delineating the • actual and the natural, is to personify, to individualize. (Remark b.) Goethes " Wilhelm Meister " was the rich result of ten years labor. John Parrys children played with David Parriss. — Williams wig was purchased at Mr. Williamss shop. (Rule, and Remark b.) I would rather have arrived at one profound conclusion of the sages meditation in his dim study, than to win the gaze of the mul- titude. Should you have occasion to refer, in writing or in print, to Burns sermons, meaning the sermons of Burn, you must be careful to put the apostrophe in its right place. (Rule, and comp. Remark b.) A drunkard once reeled up to him with the remark, " Mr. White- field, I am one of your converts." — "I think it very likely," was the reply ; " for I am sure you are none of Gods." Behold Affections garden, whose sweet flowers — A blending of all odors, forms, and hues — Were nursed by Fancy and the gentle Muse In heaven-born Poesys delightful bowers. Ye who appreciate the poet's powers, And love the bright creations of his mind, Come, linger here awhile, and ye shall find A noble solace in your milder hours : Here Byrons genius, like an eagle, towers In dread sublimity; while Rogers lute, Moores native harp, and Campbells classic flute, Mingle in harmony, as beams with showers. Can their high strains of inspiration roll, Nor soothe the heart, nor elevate the soul? 124 Sect. H. — THE HYPHEN. The Hyphen [ - ] is sometimes employed to join the constituent parts of compound and derivative words. It is also used to divide words into syllables, for the purpose either of exhibiting the pronunciation, or of showing the simple portions into which words of more than one syllable may be resolved. EEMAEK S. a. From this explanation, it will be seen that the hyphen is used for two very different purposes, — to join and to separate. As a mark of junction, it is inserted between the simple w'ords of which certain compounds are formed ; and, in peculiar circumstances, between a preposition, or a portion of a word, and the word to which it is prefixed ; as, " the inhuman and fiendish slave-trade ; " " a man of § pre-eminence ; " " the Neo-Platonic philosophers." As a mark of separation, it is employed by lexicographers and by writers or printers to analyze words, and to divide them into syllables ; by the former to show as accurately as possible the pronunciation, and by the latter to disunite portions of words that cannot be brought into a line of manuscript or of letterpress. b. The distinction between a compound and a derivative word is, that the former consists of two or more simple words which are separately and commonly used in English ; whereas the latter is made up of simple w^orcls, or portions of words, which are not each separately current in the language ; as, pseudo-apostle. (See p. 6, Def. XIII.) c. But the simple words which make up compounds and derivatives are not always united by the hyphen ; a few only of the latter being thus distinguished, and a very considerable number of the former, particularly those which form compound nouns, having coalesced so closely in pronunciation as to require them to be presented to the eye as one word. It is, therefore, a matter of importance to ascertain when it will be proper to join the parts of compounds with the hyphen, and when to unite them without this connecting mark.* The mode of using the hyphen in syllabication is also attended with difficulties, which may, in a great measure, be obviated by an appeal to certain principles. * To the Teacher. — In the author's larger work, pp. 209-18, an attempt has been made to effect, in some degree, this object; but much has yet to be done before all the difficulties connected with compound words can be resolved. COMPOUND WORDS. 125 RULE I. Compound Words. § I. When each of the words of which a compound is formed retains its original accent, they should be united by a hyphen. § II. But, when the compound word has only one accent, its parts are consolidated ; being written or printed without the hyphen. EXAMPLES. §1. 1. The all -wise' God. 2. In'cense-breath'ing morn. § II. 1. A fortunate bookseller. 2. A mean no'bleman. REMARK S. " bookseller " and " nobleman," are compounds, because they severally represent not two separate ideas, but one compound idea. The primitives which enter into the composition of " all'-wise' " and " in'cense-breath'ing " retain the same accents as they had before these compounds were formed ; but, as they could not be readily distinguished if written or printed closely together, the only mode of showing that they are compound is by inserting a hyphen between them. On the other hand, the simple words forming the compounds " bookseller " and " nobleman " do not both retain the accents which are heard in the phrases, " a seller of books" " a man who is noble" but so perfectly coalesce in pronunciation as to form one unbroken, continuous word, with a single accent, — booh' seller, nobleman ; the hyphen, therefore, being unnecessary.* b. In the preceding paragraph, it was said that a compound word represents a compound idea, and not two ideas. This definition, Dr. Latham, from whom we borrowed it, illustrates (in his work on the " English Language," p. 359) by the expression, " a sharp-edged instrument," which means an instrument with sharp edges ; whereas * To the Teacher. — All compounds should be written as best to exhibit their true pronunciation, and the ideas intended to be expressed; and these objects may be effected sometimes by consolidating the simples, and sometimes by uniting them with a hyphen. But there are numerous exceptions to the application of the rule, and the mode of presenting the compounds is often very conflicting. The teacher should therefore recommend to the class, that, wherever in any case the prevailing usage as to the insertion or the omission of the hyphen cannot be easily ascertained, recourse be had at once to the principle in the rule, which is founded on the general tendencies of the English language. 11* 126 THE HYPHEN. a sharp edged instrument denotes an instrument that is sharp and has edges. It may not be practicable to apply the remark in each and all cases; but it is certain that compounds have often a signi- fication very different from that which the same words convey when written apart, and that this difference should be indicated by the mode of exhibiting them. Thus, blackbird is properly written as one word, because it represents a particular species of birds ; whereas a black bird means any bird that is black. A glass-house is a house in which glass is made, while a glass house is a house made of glass. The goodman of a house may, for aught we know, be a very bad man ; and a good man may, for certain reasons, have no claim what- ever to the civility implied in the use of the compound : yet both terms, if correctly written, will be understood. Forget me not lite- rally expresses an earnest desire, on the part of a speaker or a writer, that he should be remembered; but, in a metaphorical sense, the same words, when combined, — forget-me-not, — denote a certain flower, emblematic of friendship or fidelity. RULE II. Prefixes in Derivative Words. § I. If a prefix ends with a vowel, and the word with which it is combined begins with a consonant ; or if the former ends with a consonant, and the latter begins with a vowel or a consonant, — the compound thus formed should appear as one unbroken word. § II. If, however, the prefix ends, and the word to which it is united begins, with a vowel, — both vowels being sepa- rately pronounced, — they should be connected with a hyphen. ^ EXAMPLES. § I. 1. Predetermine, resell, antedate. 2. Counteraction, multangular. 3. Supernatural, contemporaneous § II. 1. Pre-occupy, re-echo, ante-act. 2. Contra-indication, retro-enter. 3. Supra-orbital, co-eternal. REMARKS. a. When the prefix ends with a vowel, and is followed by a word beginning also with a vowel, many writers place a diaeresis over the latter, instead of a hyphen between them ; as, coeval. But, as this mode of exhibiting derivatives does not seem to accord with the genius of the English language, which dispenses with Accentual marks, DERIVATIVE WORDS. 127 it would be better to reserve the use of the diaeresis for words con- taining two vowels separately pronounced, but not capable of being divided, except for the purpose of syllabication and at the end of a line, by the hyphen ; as in Beelzebub, and in borrowed foreign words. b. As an exception to the first section of the rule, it is worthy of remark, that a derivative which might be mistaken for a word with the same letters, but a different meaning, should be distinguished from it by the insertion of a hyphen between its parts. Thus, re-creation, denoting a new creation, is obviously a more appropriate form of this word than recreation, which, besides being differently pronounced, signifies refreshment, or relaxation aft„er toil. Thus, also, a difference exists in meaning and pronunciation between re-collect and recollect ; re-form, re-formation, and reform, reformation ; which it is neces- sary to exhibit in corresponding modes. With the exception of such words, the manner of writing derivatives having the prefix re is governed by the rule. c. Terms or epithets with prefixes of unusual occurrence, parti- cularly if the compounds thus formed have two accents, should be excepted from the operation of the first branch of the rule ; as, astro- theology, concavo-convex, deutero-canonical, electro-magnetism. d. The prefixes of proper names, or words used as such, -substan- tively or adjectively, follow both sections of the rule; as, Pedobaptist, Cisalpine, Transatlantic; Pre-Adamic. But the words Neo-Platonic, Anglo-Saxon, Scoto-TIibernian, and others of a similar kind, accord in their forms with those referred to in Remark c. e. Extra is sometimes used as an adjective, and separated from the noun which it qualifies ; as, extra pay, extra ivork. As a prefix in extraordinary, it is not followed by a hyphen, because its last letter (a), though coming before a vowel, is silent in pronunciation. f. The letter a, when by a colloquialism it represents one of the prepositions on, in, at, should be united, without a hyphen, to the fol- lowing word, if consisting of only one syllable ; as, abed, aboard. g. Bi and tri are usually consolidated with the words, or parts of words, to which they are prefixed ; as, biennial ; triunity, triune. li. Vicegercncy, vicegerent, viceroy al, and viceroyalty are, in ac- cordance with the rule, written each as one word. The other words, of which vice is a prefix, are, by almost universal custom, hyphened ; as, vice-president, vice-chancellor, &c. i. Bi, ante, anti, counter, contra, super, supra, semi, demi, preter, and other common prefixes, are sometimes written with a hyphen after them ; but there seem to be no just grounds for this division, except when two vowels would otherwise come together, or when a dissyllabic prefix ends with the same consonant with which the next portion of a long word begins ; as, anti-evangelical, counter-revohdion. 128 THE HYPHEN. ORAL EXERCISES. Show how the Rules and the Remarks (pp. 124-7) apply to the insertion of hyphens in certain woi*ds, or to their omission in others, which occur in the following sentences : — Better be trampled in the dust than trample on a fellow-creature. I gave distinct orders to the shoemaker to make my shoes. We have no doubt that instinct is a Heaven-ordained law. What the nations look for is a loving and life-giving religion. Keen-eyed revenge is riding round your ranks. When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies. O sailor-boy, sailor-boy ! peace to thy soul ! He spoke no warrior-word, he bade no trumpet blow. And soft-eyed cherub-forms around thee play. My penknife is blunt. — The newspaper is interesting. The most remarkable winds are those denominated the trade-winds. Many are the advantages of co-operation. Like ocean-weeds heaped on the surf-beaten shore. Imagination is the truth-seeing and the beauty-seeing power. Ben Jonson, the great dramatist, was co-eval with Shakspeare. Hazlitt displays more of blunt vigor than of well-balanced taste. The shrieks of agony and clang of arms re-echo to the fierce alarms her trump terrific blows. Philosophy will rise again in the sky of her Franklin, and glory rekindle at the urn of her Washington. There is little of the intellectual or moral in that sort of independ- ence which is the proverbial characteristic of our countrymen. Would that that noble people were re-instated in all their ancient privileges ! The instincts of multitudes feel afar the gathering earthquake, which is to swallow up caste, privileges, and unjust distinctions. Like other great works, " Paradise Lost " is oftenest studied and estimated by piecemeal only. Illiterate and ill-bred persons are apt to be verbose, contradictory, and loud in conversation. There is a mother-heart in all children, as well as a child-heart in all mothers. Nature cries aloud for freedom as our proper guide, our birthright, and our end. If man could ascend to dwell at the fountainhead of truth, he would be re-absorbed in God. Thousands of state-projects, on the vastest scale, have been con- ceived, executed, and forgotten. Deep-hearted practical faithfulness is not separable long from true-thoughted practical faith. Li moments of clear, calm thought, I feel more for the wrong-doer than for him who is wronged. COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 129 EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Let the compound and derivative words be toritten agreeably to the two preceding Bides and the Remarks : — Genius has no chartered license to wander away from the eternal land marks of morality. (Rule I., § n.) Leighton's devoutly meditative eloquence made him the bosom oracle of Coleridge. (Rule L, § I.) One leg is some times a little longer than the other. — The candle stick stands on the table. (Rule I., § II.) The selfish use rules as means of self indulgence, and the narrow minded over look the end in the means. (Rule I., both sections.) Genius, in its highest function, cannot co exist with a corrupted moral sentiment. (Rule II., § n.) Every rail road, connecting distant regions, may be regarded as accomplishing a ministry of peace. (Rule L, § II.) What is religious instruction to the vain, the frivolous, the in differ- ent, the pre occupied and fore closed mind ? (Rule II., both sections.) As I stole nearer, invited by the melody, I saw the fair faced youth. (Rule I., § I.) The church yard bears an added stone ; the fire side shows a vacant chair. (Rule I., § II.) Perhaps the sermons which have cost the clergy man the least effort have some times the most effect on his hearers. (Rule I., § n.) In ship wrecks we are furnished with some of the most remarkable examples of trust in God, of unconquerable energy, and of tender, self sacrificing love. (Rule I., both sections.) Edward the Sixth was a boy king and a puppet prince, invested with supreme power, but acting without any volition of his own. (Rule L, § I.) The faith of the first Christians expressed itself in vehement re action against the prevailing tendencies of an exceedingly corrupted civiliza- tion. (Rule II., § ii.) Education can hardly be too intellectual, unless by intellectual you mean parrot knowledge, and other modes of mind slaughter. (Rule L, § i.) A man of no feeling must necessarily be unhappy, since the texture of his heart affords him no super abundant sensibility for the suffer- ings of his fellow creatures. (Rule II. § I. ; and Rule I., § i.) The ordinary processes of direct instruction are of immense import- ance ; but they pre suppose in the mind to which they are applied an active co operation. (Rule II., both sections.) You talk of the prosperity of your city. Do not point me to your thronged streets. Is it a low minded, self seeking, gold wor- shipping, man despising crowd which I see rushing through them ? (Rule L, § I.) 130 THE HYPHEN. rule ni. The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Pronunciation. The hyphen is used between the syllables of a word, to exhibit, as accurately as possible, its true pronunciation ; no regard being paid to the mode in which it has been formed or derived. EXAMPLES. hab-it ap-a-tliy pref-ace pref-er-ence trib-ute trin-i-ty proph-et po-lyg-a-my as-tron-o-my an-tip-o-des bi-og-ra-pher rev-e-la-tion KEMAEK. A syllable is a combination of letters uttered by one impulse of the voice ; as hob or ha in the word habit, according to the specific principle of syllabication which may be adopted. A single letter of a word, pronounced by itself, is also termed a syllable ; as i or o in the exclamation io I RULE IV. The Division of Words into Syllables, according to their Form, Derivation, or Meaning. The hyphen is employed in words in such a manner as is best calculated to show their origin, composition, or import, and to exhibit the syllables in their neatest form. ha-bit pre-face tri-bute pro-pbet EXAMPLES. a-pa-thy pre-fer-ence tri-ni-ty po-ly-ga-my REMARKS. as-tro-no-my an-ti-po-des bi-o-gra-pher re-ve-la-tion a. Agreeably to this rule, and partially in accordance with that which precedes it, — SYLLABICATION. 131 1. Compound and derivative words are resolved into their primi- tives ; as. school-master, hand-ioriting, pen-hiife, snuff-box, looking- glass ; arch-angel, geo-logy, theo-cracy, ortho-graphy. 2. Prefixes, affixes, and grammatical terminations, are separated ; as, dis-continue, en-able, trans-port; sliear-er, load-ed, print-ing ; Jcing-dom, false-hood, differ-ence, command-ment 3. Two vowels, not being a diphthong, are divided; as, la-ity, a-eri-al, re-al, stere-otype, vi-al, pi-ety, li-on, tri-umph, co-alesce, po-et, medi-um, zo-ology, vow-el, cru-elty, vacu-um. 4. One consonant between two vowels is to be joined to the latter syllable ; as, ta-lent, fa-tal ; me-lon, le-ver ; spi-rit, si-lence ; cy-nic, ty-ro ; le-ga-cy, mo-no-po-ly. Except x, and single consonants when they belong to the former portion of a derivative or compound word ; as, ex-ile, ex-ist, ex-amine ; up-on ; dis-ease, circum-ambient. 5. Two or more consonants belong to the latter syllable, when they are capable of beginning a word; as, ta-ble, sti-fie, lu-cre, o-gle, mau-gre, stro-p>he, destroy. 6. But, when the consonants cannot begin a word, or when the vowel preceding them is short, the first should be separated; as, ab-bey, ac-cent, vel-lum, ab-ject, gar-den, laun-dry, pam-plilet ; sac- rifice, det-riment, blas-pheme, dis-tress, min-strel. b. It is desirable that compound and derivative words should, at the ends of lines, be divided in such a manner as to indicate their principal parts. Thus, school-master is preferable to schoolmas-ter, dis-approve to disapprove, resent-ment to resentment, ortho-doxy to or-thodoxy ; though, as regards the analysis of words into sylla- bles, the latter mode is unobjectionable. c. The terminations tion, sion, cial, tial, and many others, formerly pronounced as two syllables, but now only as one, must not be divided either in spelling or at the end of a line. d. A syllable consisting of only one letter, as the a in cre-ation, should not commence a line. This word would be better divided, crea-tion ; and so all others of a similar kind. But such a syllable, coming immediately after a primitive, may be brought to the begin- ning ; as, considerable. e. A line must not end with the first syllable of a word, when it consists of a single letter; as, a-bide, e-normous : nor begin with the last syllable, when it is formed of only two letters; as nation-al, teach-er, similar-ly. For regard should be had to the principles of taste and beauty, as well as to the laws of syllabication. To the Teacher. — Tor an exercise on syllabication, any reading-book will supply tbe pupil with words of more than one syllable. Those contained in a specified page the teacher may require him to copy, and to divide according either to their pronunciation or their derivation and meaning. 132 Sect. HI. — MARKS OF QUOTATION. Marks of Quotation [ " " ] are employed to show that the words of an author or a speaker are quoted. These marks consist usually of two inverted commas placed at the beginning, and two apostrophes at the end, of a quotation. RULE I. Words borroioed from a Speaker or mi Author. A word, phrase, or passage, belonging to another, and introduced into one's own composition, is distinguished by marks of quotation. EXAMPLE. To one who said, " I do not believe there is an honest man in the world," another replied, " It is impossible that any one man should know all the world, but quite possible that one may know himself." REMARKS. a. When a writer repeats his own language, and wishes to draw to it particular attention, he properly uses the same marks as he would employ were he transcribing the sentiments of another. b. Marks of quotation may be omitted where the matter taken is not given in the exact words of the author ; as, — Socrates said that he believed in the immortality of the soul. c. Quotation-marks are also omitted when a mere phrase or saying from a foreign language is distinguished by Italics ; as, — Nil mortalibus arduum est is a bold but encouraging assertion. d. In mentioning titles of books, or names of ships and other articles, or in speaking of certain words or phrases, some authors put them in Italics ; but, as Italics give an irregular look to a printed page, Roman characters and quotation-marks are preferable ; as, — We may justly regard "Paradise Lost" as one of the noblest efforts of human genius. The word " pharisaical " is found to be very useful in our modern speech. ONE QUOTATION WITHIN ANOTHER. 133 e. When an example or an extract, particularly if in verse, is begun on a new line, and set in a smaller type, the marks of quota- tion are by some writers dispensed with. In cases, however, of this kind, perhaps the generality of authors and printers use the inverted commas and the apostrophes, agreeably to the rule ; and this usage is recommended, except in works containing numerous quotations, which are well known to be such, as in the present book. RULE II. One Quotation within another. When one quotation is introduced within another, the in- cluded one should be preceded by a single inverted comma, and closed by a single apostrophe. EXAMPLES. 1. When treating of Christian orators, Maury asks the following apposite questions : " What is this you call eloquence ? Is it the wretched trade of imitating that criminal, mentioned by a poet in his satires, who ' balanced his crimes before his judges with antithesis ' ? Is it the puerile secret of forming jejune quibbles; of rounding periods; of tormenting one's self by tedious studies, in order to reduce sacred instruction into a vain amuse- ment?" 2. In describing the vast influence of a perfect orator over the feelings and passions of his audience, Sheridan forcibly says,' " Notwithstanding the diversity of minds in such a multitude, by the lightning of eloquence they are melted into one mass ; the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same way, become, as it were, but one man, and have but one voice. The uni- versal cry is, ' Let us march against Philip ; let us fight for our liberties ; let us conquer or die ! ' " EEMAEKS. a. Double marks should be used before and after a quotation inserted in that which has been introduced into an extract; as, " Channing, the friend of humanity in every condition and under every garb, says, ' When I consider the greater simplicity of their lives, and their greater openness to the spirit of Christianity, I am not sure but that the " golden age " of manners is to begin among those who are now despaired of for their want of refinement.' " b. The marks under consideration may with propriety be omitted in some instances, where several quotations are so much involved one 12 134 MARKS OF QUOTATION. within another, that the insertion of all the inverted commas and the apostrophes would tend to obscure the meaning of the entire passage ; as, — In the New Testament Ave have the following words : " Jesus answered the Jews, ' Is it not written in your law, — I said, Ye are gods? ' " But, in quoting from such texts of Scripture as contain citations from other books of the sacred canon, it is usual to present them as they appear in the Common Version, — without any quotation-marks in the body of the passage. RULE in. Extracts composed of Successive Paragraphs. When an extract is composed of successive paragraphs, each is commenced with inverted commas; but the apostro- phes are not used till the quotation finally terminates. EXAMPLE. To exemplify this rule, a passage, consisting of more than one para- graph, may be taken from an essay by Godwin : — " No subject is of more importance in the morality of private life, than that of domestic or family life. " Every man has his ill humors, his fits of peevishness and exacerbation. Is it better that he should spend these upon his fellow-beings, or suffer them to subside of themselves '? " It seems to be one of the most important of the arts of life, that men should not come too near each other, or touch in too many points. Exces- sive familiarity is the bane of social happiness." EEHAEIS, a. When phrases, clauses, or sentences, in an extract, consist of portions not connected in the discourse or book from which they have been taken, each portion should begin and end "with quotation- marks, unless several points (....) are inserted to indicate the omission ; in which case it will be sufficient to put the marks of quo- tation at the beginning and the end of the whole extract, if it is contained in one paragraph. 6. In the leading articles of newspapers, and sometimes in books, when particular attention would be drawn to an extract embodied in the text, the inverted commas are placed at the beginning of each line of the quotation ; but, except in the more transient class of pub- lications, this mode of exhibiting extracts is now seldom used. QUOTATIONS. 135 ORAL EXERCISES. Shoio how the Rules and the Re?narls (pp. 132-4) apply to the use or omission of quotation-marks in the following sentences : — The psalmist says again, "lama stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." When Fenelon's library was on fire, " God be praised," said he, " that it is not the dwelling of a poor man ! " I repeat what I said on a former occasion, that " no man can be happy who is destitute of good feelings and generous principles." " There is but one object," says St. Augustine, " greater than the soul ; and that one is its Creator." Plato, hearing that some asserted he was a very bad man, said, " I shall take care so to live that nobody will believe them." " Let me make the ballads of a nation," said Fletcher of Saltoun, " and I care not who makes its laws." A minister of some experience remarks, " I have heard more than one sufferer say, ' I am thankful ; God is good to me ; ' and, when I heard that, I said, ' It is good to be afflicted.' " " Any man," it has been well said, " who has a proneness to see a beauty and fitness in all God's works, may find daily food for his mind even in an infant." The celebrated and ingenious Bishop of Cloyne, in his " Principles of Human Knowledge," denies, without any ceremony, the existence of every kind of matter whatever. After Cicero, the literary history of the Homans is written in one line of Tacitus, Gliscente adulatione, magna ingenia deterrebantur ; " As adulation increased, great minds were deterred." " Stop a moment here," said Corinne to Lord Nelvil, as he stood under the portico of the church; "pause before drawing aside the curtain which covers the entrance of the temple." " To him who lives well," answered the hermit, " every form of life is good ; nor can I give any other rule for choice than to remove from all apparent evil." A being crowned with all the blessings which men covet and admire, — with youth, health, beauty, rank, genius, and fame, — writes four cantos of melodious verse to prove that he is the most miserable of mortals. Trench Avell says, " What a lesson the word ' diligence ' contains ! How profitable is it for every one of us to be reminded, — as we are reminded when we make ourselves aware of its derivation from diligo, 1 to love,' — that the only secret of true industry in our work is love of that work ! " To the man who walks among the flowers which he has tended, — " Each odoriferous leaf, Each opening blossom, freely breathes abroad Its gratitude, and thanks him with its sweets." 136 MARKS OP QUOTATION. EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN. Insert (he marks of quotation agreeably to some of the directions given in pages 132-5. If, says Sir James Mackintosh, you display the delights of liberality to a miser, he may always shut your mouth by answering, The spend- thrift may prefer such pleasures : I love money more. (Rules I., II.) Johnson's Lives of the English Poets may justly be considered as the noblest specimen of elegant and solid criticism which any age has produced. (Rule I. and Remark d.) Terrific examples of license and anarchy in Greece and Rome are quoted to prove that man requires to be protected from himself; for- getting the profound wisdom wrapped up in the familiar inquiry, Qais custodiet ipsos custodes ? Who shall guard the keepers ? (Rule I. and Remark c.) An eloquent preacher asks, Who would not far prefer our wintry storm, and the hoarse sighings of the east wind, as it sweeps around us, if they will brace the mind to nobler attainments, and the heart to better duties ? [The author of this passage quotes the phrase, " the hoarse sighings of the east wind."] (Rules I. and II.) I ventured to congratulate him on his coming back to his home. Ah, sir ! he answered, but to a home how altered ! — my family broken up, my kindred gone, my mother vanished unseen ! — These feelings about home are deep, I murmured forth, as he came to an embarrass- ing pause. — Very deep, sir, he rejoined, and walked away. (Rule I.) What is the soul ? was a question once put to Marivaux. — I know nothing of it, he answered, but that it is spiritual and immortal. — Well, said his friend, let us ask Fontenelle, and he will tell us what it is. — No, cried Marivaux : ask anybody but Fontenelle ; for he has too much good sense to know any more about it than we do. (Rule I.) D'Alembert congratulated a young man very coldly, who brought him the solution of a problem. I have done this to have a seat in the Academy, said the young man. — Sir, answered D'Alembert, with such motives you will never earn one. Science must be loved for its own sake, and not for the advantage to be derived. No other prin- ciple will enable a man to make true progress. (Rule I.) The following sarcastic rules for behavior are said by Goldsmith to have been drawn up by an indigent philosopher : — 1. If you be a rich man, you may enter the room with three loud hems, march deliberately up to the chimney, and turn your back to the fire. 2. If you be a poor man, I would advise you to shrink into the room as fast as you can, and place yourself, as usual, upon a corner of a chair, in a remote corner. 3. If you be young, and live with an old man, I would advise you not to like gravy. I was disinherited myself for liking gravy. (Rule III.) . 137 CHAPTER V. MISCELLANEOUS MARKS AND CHARACTERS. In addition to the sentential points and marks treated of in the preceding pages, there are other characters, sometimes oc- curring in English composition, which will now be explained. I. Beackets, or Crotchets [ ], are employed for the same purpose nearly as the marks of parenthesis; but they are usually confined to words, phrases, or sentences, inserted in or appended to a quotation, and not belonging to it; as, " The captain had several men died [who died] in the ship." Brackets are chiefly intended to give an explanation, to rectify a mistake, or to supply an omission. But they are also sometimes used in dictionaries and in poetry to separate such words as are put, for the saving of room, into lines to which they do not belong ; and in psalms and hymns to include verses that may be omitted by a con- gregation. They are used, besides, in a single form, in printed dramas, to note the entrance or the departure of certain characters ; as, " [Exeunt Portia and Nerissa." The grammatical punctuation of the words or sentences enclosed by brackets, and of the context, when they require such pointing, should be the same as that adopted in respect to the parenthesis, and to the clauses between which it is inserted. (See pp. 99, 100.) II. A Comma Inverted [ ' ] is sometimes used instead of a small c, in many proper names beginning with Mac; as, MDonald, the abbreviation of Macdonald. This mark seems to be getting out of use ; authors and printers now generally preferring the c, either on or above the line, as in McKenzie, M c Farlane. The same mark is sometimes annexed to the letter in proper names ; as, O'JSTeil : but an apostrophe is more frequently used, and is more correct ; as, O'Neil. 12* 138 MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. HI. Two Commas [ „ ] are occasionally employed to indicate that something is understood which was expressed in the line and word immediately above ; as, — John Jones, Esq Plymouth. John Smith, Esq „ Names of different persons, though spelled in the same way, — as the word " John " in the preceding lines, — are commonly repeated. IV. The Index, or Hand, points out a passage to which special attention is directed ; as, " glf 3 All orders will be promptly and carefully attended to." V. Three Stars, placed in this form [ * # * ], or N.B., the initials of nota bene, " mark well," are sometimes used for the same purpose as the index. VI. The Caret [ a ] is used, only in manuscript, to show where a letter or a word was accidentally omitted, but which has afterwards been placed over the line ; as, — p are Disapointments and trials often blessings in disguise. VII. The Brace [ ^y^ ] is used to connect a number of words with one common term ; as, — 3 barleycorns ) (1 inch \ 12 inches . . . . > are equal to I 1 foot > long measure. 3 feet ) Uyard) The brace was formerly used to bind together a triplet, or three lines of poetry having the same rhyme; but this practice is now obsolete. VIII. Leaders are dots or periods, used in contents and indexes of books, and in similar matter, to lead the eye to the end of a line, for the completion of the sense ; as, — Page. Comma 9 Semicolon 68 Colon 79 Period 86 MARKS OF ELLIPSIS, ACCENTS, ETC. 139 IX. Marks of Ellipsis are formed by means of a long dash, or of a succession of points or stars [ , , * * * * ], of various lengths ; and are used to indicate the omission of letters in a word, of words in a sentence, or of sentences in a paragraph ; as, — ■ 1. C s is not uniformly distinguished for dignity, wisdom, patriotism, or philanthropy. 2. If the great have no other glory than that of their ancestors ; if their titles are their only virtues, . . . . their birth dishonors them, even in the estimation of the world. 3. Some persons believe that there are no longer any duties to be fulfilled beyond the tomb ; and there are but few who know how to be friends to the dead. ******* The name of our friends, their glory, their family, have still claims on our affection, which it would be guilt not to feel. In the first example, " C s " is substituted for Congress ; in the second, a single clause is omitted ; and, in the third, several sentences are left out by the transcriber. Periods are considered much less offensive to the eye than asterisks. To avoid repetitions in catalogues, a dash is sometimes used instead of the word or words immediately above ; as, — Pope's Works, with Notes and Illustrations, 6 vols., calf. Eape of the Lock, and other Poems. X. Accents. — There are three marks, termed "Accents," placed over the vowels ; namely, the Acute [ ' ], as in fancy; the Grave [ N ], as in favor ; and the Circumflex [ A ], as in fall. The acute accent commonly represents a sharp, the grave a depressed, and the circumflex a broad sound. The grave accent is sometimes placed in verse over the vowel e, to show that it must be fully pronounced; as, cankered, Dirce. These characters are also used to denote the inflections of the voice, according to the system invented by Walker ; and for various purposes in the Latin, French, and other languages. XL Marks of Quantity. — There are other three marks, indicating the pronunciation, which are sometimes classed among the accents; namely, the Long [ " ], as in rosy ; the Breve, "or Short [ " ], as in folly ; and the Diasresis [ "' ], as in aerial. The diaeresis is usually placed over the latter of two vowels, and denotes that they are to be pronounced separately. 140 MISCELLANEOUS MARKS. XII. The Cedilla is a mark resembling a comma, placed under the letter c, when it has the sound of s before a or o, in words taken from the French; as, fagade. XIII. The Tilde [ ~ ] is an accentual mark, placed over n in Spanish to give that letter a liquid sound ; as, senor, sir. If great accuracy is required, all such words should be thus writ- ten when occurring in English composition. XIV. Marks of Reference. — The Asterisk, or Star [ * ], the Obelisk, or Dagger [ f ], the Double Dagger [ J ], the Section [ § ], the Parallel Lines [ |j ], and the Paragraph [ % ], are used, in the order here presented, when references are made to observations or notes in the margin of a page. When references are numerous, the above marks, when they have been all used in one and the same page, and others are required, should be doubled or trebled ; as, **, ttt« But, for purposes of reference, many authors prefer lowercase Italic letters or Arabic figures, enclosed by marks of parenthesis (sium Oxide 3 % %. PreservationTechnologies V^ \ A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Oct. 2006 (724)779-2111 Vl