[Now, if you please, you may examine the quotations adopted for the Fourteenth Praxis, and may name and define the various figures of grammar which are contained therein.]
LESSON XVIII.—OF VERSIFICATION.
1. What is Versification? 2. What is verse, as distinguished from prose? 3. What is the rhythm of verse? 4. What is the quantity of a syllable? 5. How are poetic quantities denominated? 6. How are they proportioned? 7. What quantity coincides with accent or emphasis? 8. On what but the vowel sound does quantity depend? 9. Does syllabic quantity always follow the quality of the vowels? 10. Where is quantity variable, and where fixed, in English? 11. What is rhyme? 12. What is blank verse? 13. What is remarked concerning the rhyming syllables? 14. What is a stanza? 15. What uniformity have stanzas? 16. What variety have they?
LESSON XIX.—OF VERSIFICATION.
17. Of what does a verse consist? 18. Of what does a poetic foot consist? 19. How many feet do prosodists recognize? 20. What are the principal feet in English? 21. What is an Iambus? 22. What is a Trochee? 23. What is an Anapest? 24. What is a Dactyl? 25. Why are these feet principal? 26. What orders of verse arise from these? 27. Are these kinds to be kept separate? 28. What is said of the secondary feet? 29. How many and what secondary feet are explained in this code? 30. What is a Spondee? 31. What is a Pyrrhic? 32. What is a Moloss? 33. What is a Tribrach? 34. What is an Amphibrach? 35. What is an Amphimac? 36. What is a Bacchy? 37. What is an Antibachy? 38. What is a Cæsura?
LESSON XX.—OF VERSIFICATION.
39. What are the principal kinds, or orders, of verse? 40. What other orders are there? 41. Does the composite order demand any uniformity? 42. Do the simple orders admit any diversity? 43. What is meant by scanning or scansion? 44. What mean the technical words, catalectic, acatalectic, and hypermeter? 45. In scansion, why are the principal feet to be preferred to the secondary? 46. Can a single foot be a line? 47. What are the several combinations that form dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter, heptameter, and octometer? 48. What syllables have stress in a pure iambic line? 49. What are the several measures of iambic verse? 50. What syllables have stress in a pure trochaic line? 51. Can it be right, to regard as hypermeter the long rhyming syllables of a line? 52. Is the number of feet in a line to be generally counted by that of the long syllables? 53. What are the several measures of trochaic verse?
LESSON XXI.—OF VERSIFICATION.
54. What syllables have stress in a pure anapestic line? 55. What variation may occur in the first foot? 56. Is this frequent? 57. Is it ever uniform? 58. What is the result of a uniform mixture? 59. Is the anapest adapted to single rhyme? 60. May a surplus ever make up for a deficiency? 61. Why are the anapestic measures few? 62. How many syllables are found in the longest? 63. What are the several measures of anapestic verse? 64. What syllables have stress in a pure dactylic line? 65. With what does single-rhymed dactylic end? 66. Is dactylic verse very common? 67. What are the several measures of dactylic verse? 68. What is composite verse? 69. Must composites have rhythm? 70. Are the kinds of composite verse numerous? 71. Why have we no exact enumeration of the measures of this order? 72. Does this work contain specimens of different kinds of composite verse?
[It may now be required of the pupil to determine, by reading and scansion, the metrical elements of any good English poetry which may be selected for the purpose—the feet being marked by pauses, and the long syllables by stress of voice. He may also correct orally the few Errors of Metre which are given in the Fifth Section of Chapter IV.]
CHAPTER VI.—FOR WRITING.
EXERCISES IN PROSODY.
[Fist] [When the pupil can readily answer all the questions on Prosody, and apply the rules of punctuation to any composition in which the points are rightly inserted, he should write out the following exercises, supplying what is required, and correcting what is amiss. Or, if any teacher choose to exercise his classes orally, by means of these examples, he can very well do it; because, to read words, is always easier than to write them, and even points or poetic feet may be quite as readily named as written.]
EXERCISE I.—PUNCTUATION.
Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.
EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF SIMPLE SENTENCES.
"The dogmatist's assurance is paramount to argument." "The whole course of his argumentation comes to nothing." "The fieldmouse builds her garner under ground."
EXC.—"The first principles of almost all sciences are few." "What he gave me to publish was but a small part." "To remain insensible to such provocation is apathy." "Minds ashamed of poverty would be proud of affluence." "To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in character."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 38.
UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.
"I was eyes to the blind and feet was I to the lame." "They are gone but the remembrance of them is sweet." "He has passed it is likely through varieties of fortune." "The mind though free has a governor within itself." "They I doubt not oppose the bill on public principles." "Be silent be grateful and adore." "He is an adept in language who always speaks the truth." "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong."
EXC. I.—"He that has far to go should not hurry." "Hobbes believed the eternal truths which he opposed." "Feeble are all pleasures in which the heart has no share." "The love which survives the tomb is one of the noblest attributes of the soul."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 38.
EXC. II.—"A good name is better than precious ointment." "Thinkst thou that duty shall have dread to speak?" "The spleen is seldom felt where Flora reigns."
UNDER RULE III.—OF MORE THAN TWO WORDS.
"The city army court espouse my cause." "Wars pestilences and diseases are terrible instructors." "Walk daily in a pleasant airy and umbrageous garden." "Wit spirits faculties but make it worse." "Men wives and children stare cry out and run." "Industry, honesty, and temperance are essential to happiness."—Wilson's Punctuation, p. 29. "Honor, affluence, and pleasure seduce the heart."—Ib., p. 31.
UNDER RULE IV.—OF TWO TERMS CONNECTED.
"Hope and fear are essentials in religion." "Praise and adoration are perfective of our souls." "We know bodies and their properties most perfectly." "Satisfy yourselves with what is rational and attainable." "Slowly and sadly we laid him down."
EXC. I.—"God will rather look to the inward motions of the mind than to the outward form of the body." "Gentleness is unassuming in opinion and temperate in zeal."
EXC. II.—"He has experienced prosperity and adversity." "All sin essentially is and must be mortal." "Reprove vice but pity the offender."
EXC. III.—"One person is chosen chairman or moderator." "Duration or time is measured by motion." "The governor or viceroy is chosen annually."
EXC. IV.—"Reflection reason still the ties improve." "His neat plain parlour wants our modern style." "We are fearfully wonderfully made."
UNDER RULE V.—OF WORDS IN PAIRS.
"I inquired and rejected consulted and deliberated." "Seed-time and harvest cold and heat summer and winter day and night shall not cease."
EXERCISE II.—PUNCTUATION.
Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.
EXAMPLES UNDER RULE VI.—OF WORDS PUT ABSOLUTE.
"The night being dark they did not proceed." "There being no other coach we had no alternative." "Remember my son that human life is the journey of a day." "All circumstances considered it seems right." "He that overcometh to him will I give power." "Your land strangers devour it in your presence." "Ah sinful nation a people laden with iniquity!"
"With heads declin'd ye cedars homage pay;
Be smooth ye rocks ye rapid floods give way!"
UNDER RULE VII.—OF WORDS IN APPOSITION.
"Now Philomel sweet songstress charms the night." "'Tis chanticleer the shepherd's clock announcing day." "The evening star love's harbinger appears." "The queen of night fair Dian smiles serene." "There is yet one man Micaiah the son of Imlah." "Our whole company man by man ventured down." "As a work of wit the Dunciad has few equals."
"In the same temple the resounding wood
All vocal beings hymned their equal God."
EXC. I.—"The last king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus." "Bossuet highly eulogizes Maria Theresa of Austria." "No emperor has been more praised than Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus."
EXC. II.—"For he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith." "Remember the example of the patriarch Joseph." "The poet, Milton, excelled in prose as well as in verse."
EXC. III.—"I wisdom dwell with prudence." "Ye fools be ye of an understanding heart." "I tell you that which you yourselves do know."
EXC. IV.—"I crown thee king of intimate delights" "I count the world a stranger for thy sake." "And this makes friends such miracles below." "God has pronounced it death to taste that tree." "Grace makes the slave a freeman."
UNDER RULE VIII.—OF ADJECTIVES.
"Deaf with the noise I took my hasty flight." "Him piteous of his youth soft disengage." "I played a while obedient to the fair." "Love free as air spreads his light wings and flies." "Physical science separate from morals parts with its chief dignity."
"Then active still and unconfined his mind
Explores the vast extent of ages past."
"But there is yet a liberty unsung
By poets and by senators unpraised."
EXC.—"I will marry a wife beautiful as the Houries." "He was a man able to speak upon doubtful questions." "These are the persons, anxious for the change." "Are they men worthy of confidence and support?" "A man, charitable beyond his means, is scarcely honest."
UNDER RULE IX.—OF FINITE VERBS.
"Poverty wants some things—avarice all things." "Honesty has one face—flattery two." "One king is too soft and easy—an other too fiery."
"Mankind's esteem they court—and he his own:
Theirs the wild chase of false felicities;
His the compos'd possession of the true."
EXERCISE III.—PUNCTUATION.
Copy the following sentences, and insert the COMMA where it is requisite.
EXAMPLES UNDER RULE X.—OF INFINITIVES.
"My desire is to live in peace." "The great difficulty was to compel them to pay their debts." "To strengthen our virtue God bids us trust in him." "I made no bargain with you to live always drudging." "To sum up all her tongue confessed the shrew." "To proceed my own adventure was still more laughable."
"We come not with design of wasteful prey
To drive the country force the swains away."
UNDER RULE XI.—OF PARTICIPLES.
"Having given this answer he departed." "Some sunk to beasts find pleasure end in pain." "Eased of her load subjection grows more light." "Death still draws nearer never seeming near." "He lies full low gored with wounds and weltering in his blood." "Kind is fell Lucifer compared to thee." "Man considered in himself is helpless and wretched." "Like scattered down by howling Eurus blown." "He with wide nostrils snorting skims the wave." "Youth is properly speaking introductory to manhood."
EXC.—"He kept his eye fixed on the country before him." "They have their part assigned them to act." "Years will not repair the injuries done by him."
UNDER RULE XII.—OF ADVERBS.
"Yes we both were philosophers." "However Providence saw fit to cross our design." "Besides I know that the eye of the public is upon me." "The fact certainly is much otherwise." "For nothing surely can be more inconsistent."
UNDER RULE XIII.—OF CONJUNCTIONS.
"For in such retirement the soul is strengthened." "It engages our desires; and in some degree satisfies them also." "But of every Christian virtue piety is an essential part." "The English verb is variable—as love lovest loves."
UNDER RULE XIV.—OF PREPOSITIONS.
"In a word charity is the soul of social life." "By the bowstring I can repress violence and fraud." "Some by being too artful forfeit the reputation of probity." "With regard to morality I was not indifferent." "Of all our senses sight is the most perfect and delightful."
UNDER RULE XV.—OF INTERJECTIONS.
"Behold I am against thee O inhabitant of the valley!" "O it is more like a dream than a reality," "Some wine ho!" "Ha ha ha; some wine eh?"
"When lo the dying breeze begins to fail,
And flutters on the mast the flagging sail."
UNDER RULE XVI.—OF WORDS REPEATED.
"I would never consent never never never." "His teeth did chatter chatter chatter still." "Come come come—to bed to bed to bed."
UNDER RULE XVII.—OF DEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.
"He cried 'Cause every man to go out from me.'" "'Almet' said he 'remember what thou hast seen.'" "I answered 'Mock not thy servant who is but a worm before thee.'"
EXERCISE IV.—PUNCTUATION.
I. THE SEMICOLON.—Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma and the SEMICOLON where they are requisite.
EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF COMPOUND MEMBERS.
"'Man is weak' answered his companion 'knowledge is more than equivalent to force.'" "To judge rightly of the present we must oppose it to the past for all judgement is compartive [sic—KTH] and of the future nothing can be known." "'Contentment is natural wealth' says Socrates to which I shall add 'luxury is artificial poverty.'"
"Converse and love mankind might strongly draw
When love was liberty and nature law."
UNDER RULE II.—OF SIMPLE MEMBERS.
"Be wise to-day 'tis madness to defer." "The present all their care the future his." "Wit makes an enterpriser sense a man." "Ask thought for joy grow rich and hoard within." "Song soothes our pains and age has pains to soothe." "Here an enemy encounters there a rival supplants him." "Our answer to their reasons is; 'No' to their scoffs nothing."
"Here subterranean works and cities see
There towns aerial on the waving tree."
UNDER RULE III.—OF APPOSITION.
"In Latin there are six cases namely the nominative the genitive the dative the accusative the vocative and the ablative." "Most English nouns form the plural by taking s; as boy boys nation nations king kings bay bays." "Bodies are such as are endued with a vegetable soul as plants a sensitive soul as animals or a rational soul as the body of man."
II. THE COLON.—Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the
Semicolon, and the COLON, where they are requisite.
UNDER RULE I.—OF ADDITIONAL REMARKS.
"Indulge not desires at the expense of the slightest article of virtue pass once its limits and you fall headlong into vice." "Death wounds to cure we fall we rise we reign." "Beware of usurpation God is the judge of all."
"Bliss!—there is none but unprecarious bliss
That is the gem sell all and purchase that."
UNDER RULE II.—OF GREATER PAUSES.
"I have the world here before me I will review it at leisure surely happiness is somewhere to be found." "A melancholy enthusiast courts persecution and when he cannot obtain it afflicts himself with absurd penances but the holiness of St. Paul consisted in the simplicity of a pious life."
"Observe his awful portrait and admire
Nor stop at wonder imitate and live."
UNDER RULE III.—OF INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.
"Such is our Lord's injunction 'Watch and pray.'" "He died praying for his persecutors 'Father forgive them they know not what they do.'" "On the old gentleman's cane was inscribed this motto 'Festina lente.'"
III.—THE PERIOD.—Copy the following sentences, and insert the Comma, the
Semicolon, the Colon, and the PERIOD, where they are requisite.
UNDER RULE I.—OF DISTINCT SENTENCES.
"Then appeared the sea and the dry land the mountains rose and the rivers flowed the sun and moon began their course in the skies herbs and plants clothed the ground the air the earth and the waters were stored with their respective inhabitants at last man was made in the image of God"
"In general those parents have most reverence who most deserve it for he that lives well cannot be despised"
UNDER RULE II.—OF ALLIED SENTENCES.
"Civil accomplishments frequently give rise to fame but a distinction is to be made between fame and true honour the statesman the orator or the poet may be famous while yet the man himself is far from being honoured"
UNDER RULE III.—OF ABBREVIATIONS.
"Glass was invented in England by Benalt a monk A D 664" "The Roman era U C commenced A C 1753 years" "Here is the Literary Life of S T Coleridge Esq" "PLATO a most illustrious philosopher of antiquity died at Athens 348 B C aged 81 his writings are very valuable his language beautiful and correct and his philosophy sublime"—See Univ. Biog. Dict.
EXERCISE V.—PUNCTUATION.
I. THE DASH.—Copy the following sentences, and insert, in their proper places, the DASH, and such other points as are necessary.
EXAMPLES UNDER RULE I.—OF ABRUPT PAUSES.
"You say famous very often and I don't know exactly what it means a famous uniform famous doings What does famous mean"
"O why famous means Now don't you know what famous means It means It is a word that people say It is the fashion to say it It means it means famous."
UNDER RULE II.—OF EMPHATIC PAUSES.
"But this life is not all there is there is full surely another state abiding us And if there is what is thy prospect O remorseless obdurate Thou shalt hear it would be thy wisdom to think thou now nearest the sound of that trumpet which shall awake the dead Return O yet return to the Father of mercies and live"
"The future pleases Why The present pains
But that's a secret yes which all men know"
II. THE EROTEME.—Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the EROTEME, or NOTE OF INTERROGATION, and such other points as are necessary.
UNDER RULE I.—OF QUESTIONS DIRECT.
"Does Nature bear a tyrant's breast
Is she the friend of stern control
Wears she the despot's purple vest
Or fetters she the freeborn soul"
"Why should a man whose blood is warm within
Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster"
"Who art thou courteous stranger and from whence
Why roam thy steps to this abandon'd dale"
UNDER RULE II.—OF QUESTIONS UNITED.
"Who bid the stork Columbus-like explore
Heav'ns not his own and worlds unknown before
Who calls the council states the certain day
Who forms the phalanx and who points the way"
UNDER RULE III.—OF QUESTIONS INDIRECT.
"They asked me who I was and whither I was going." "St. Paul asked king
Agrippa if he believed the prophets? But he did not wait for an answer."
"Ask of thy mother Earth why oaks are made
Taller and stronger than the weeds they shade"
III. THE ECPHONEME.—Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the ECPHONEME, or NOTE OF EXCLAMATION, and such other points as are necessary.
UNDER RULE I.—OF INTERJECTIONS.
"Oh talk of hypocrisy after this Most consummate of all hypocrites After instructing your chosen official advocate to stand forward with such a defence such an exposition of your motives to dare utter the word hypocrisy and complain of those who charged you with it" Brougham
"Alas how is that rugged heart forlorn"
"Behold the victor vanquish'd by the worm"
"Bliss sublunary Bliss proud words and vain"
UNDER RULE II.—OF INVOCATIONS.
"O Popular Applause what heart of man
Is proof against thy sweet seducing charms"
"More than thy balm O Gilead heals the wound"
UNDER RULE III.—OF EXCLAMATORY QUESTIONS.
With what transports of joy shall I be received In what honour in what delightful repose shall I pass the remainder of my life What immortal glory shall I have acquired" Hooke's Roman History.
"How often have I loiter'd o'er thy green
Where humble happiness endear'd each scene"
IV.—THE CURVES.—Copy the following sentences, and insert rightly the
CURVES, or MARKS OF PARENTHESIS, and such other points as are necessary.
UNDER RULE I.—OF THE PARENTHESIS.
"And all the question wrangle e'er so long
Is only this If God has plac'd him wrong"
"And who what God foretells who speaks in things
Still louder than in words shall dare deny"
UNDER RULE II.—OF INCLUDED POINTS.
"Say was it virtue more though Heav'n ne'er gave
Lamented Digby sunk thee to the grave"
"Where is that thrift that avarice of time
O glorious avarice thought of death inspires"
"And oh the last last what can words express
Thought reach the last last silence of a friend"
EXERCISE VI.—PUNCTUATION.
Copy the following MIXED EXAMPLES, and insert the points which they require.
"As one of them opened his sack he espied his money" "They cried out the more exceedingly Crucify him" "The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners" "Great injury these vermin mice and rats do in the field" "It is my son's coat an evil beast hath devoured him" "Peace of all worldly blessings is the most valuable" "By this time the very foundation was removed" "The only words he uttered were I am a Roman citizen" "Some distress either felt or feared gnaws like a worm" "How then must I determine Have I no interest If I have not I am stationed here to no purpose" Harris "In the fire the destruction was so swift sudden vast and miserable as to have no parallel in story" "Dionysius the tyrant of Sicily was far from being happy" "I ask now Verres what thou hast to advance" "Excess began and sloth sustains the trade" "Fame can never reconcile a man to a death bed" "They that sail on the sea tell of the danger" "Be doers of the word and not hearers only" "The storms of wintry time will quickly pass" "Here Hope that smiling angel stands" "Disguise I see thou art a wickedness" "There are no tricks in plain and simple faith" "True love strikes root in reason passion's foe" "Two gods divide them all Pleasure and Gain" "I am satisfied My son has done his duty" "Remember Almet the vision which thou hast seen" "I beheld an enclosure beautiful as the gardens of paradise" "The knowledge which I have received I will communicate" "But I am not yet happy and therefore I despair" "Wretched mortals said I to what purpose are you busy" "Bad as the world is respect is always paid to virtue" "In a word he views men as the clear sunshine of charity" "This being the case I am astonished and amazed" "These men approached him and saluted him king" "Excellent and obliging sages these undoubtedly" "Yet at the same time the man himself undergoes a change" "One constant effect of idleness is to nourish the passions" "You heroes regard nothing but glory" "Take care lest while you strive to reach the top you fall" "Proud and presumptuous they can brook no opposition" "Nay some awe of religion may still subsist" "Then said he Lo I come to do thy will O God" Bible "As for me behold I am in your hand" Ib. "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him saith the Lord" Jer xxiii 24 "Now I Paul myself beseech you" "Now for a recompense in the same I speak as unto my children be ye also enlarged" 2 Cor vi 13 "He who lives always in public cannot live to his own soul whereas he who retires remains calm" "Therefore behold I even I will utterly forget you" "This text speaks only of those to whom it speaks" "Yea he warmeth himself and saith Aha I am warm" "King Agrippa believest thou the prophets"
EXERCISE VII.—PUNCTUATION.
Copy the following MIXED EXAMPLES, and insert the points which they require.
To whom can riches give repute or trust
Content or pleasure but the good and just Pope
To him no high no low no great no small
He fills he bounds connects and equals all Id
Reasons whole pleasure all the joys of sense
Lie in three words health peace and competence Id
Not so for once indulged they sweep the main
Deaf to the call or hearing hear in vain Anon
Say will the falcon stooping from above
Smit with her varying plumage spare the dove Pope
Throw Egypts by and offer in its stead
Offer the crown on Berenices head Id
Falsely luxurious will not man awake
And springing from the bed of sloth enjoy
The cool the fragrant and the silent hour Thomson
Yet thus it is nor otherwise can be
So far from aught romantic what I sing Young
Thyself first know then love a self there is
Of virtue fond that kindles at her charms Id
How far that little candle throws his beams
So shines a good deed in a naughty world Shakspeare
You have too much respect upon the world
They lose it that do buy it with much care Id
How many things by season seasoned are
To their right praise and true perfection Id
Canst thou descend from converse with the skies
And seize thy brothers throat For what a clod Young
In two short precepts all your business lies
Would you be great—be virtuous and be wise Denham
But sometimes virtue starves while vice is fed
What then is the reward of virtue bread Pope
A life all turbulence and noise may seem
To him that leads it wise and to be praised
But wisdom is a pearl with most success
Sought in still waters and beneath clear skies Cowper
All but the swellings of the softened heart
That waken not disturb the tranquil mind Thomson
Inspiring God who boundless spirit all
And unremitting energy pervades
Adjusts sustains and agitates the whole Id
Ye ladies for indifferent in your cause
I should deserve to forfeit all applause
Whatever shocks or gives the least offence
To virtue delicacy truth or sense
Try the criterion tis a faithful guide
Nor has nor can have Scripture on its side. Cowper
EXERCISE VIII.—SCANNING.
Divide the following VERSES into the feet which compose them, and distinguish by marks the long and the short syllables.
Example I.—"Our Daily Paths"—By F. Hemans.
"There's Beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes
Can trace it 'midst familiar things, and through their lowly guise;
We may find it where a hedgerow showers its blossoms o'er our way,
Or a cottage-window sparkles forth in the last red light of day."
Example II.—"Fetching Water"—Anonymous.
"Early on a sunny morning, while the lark was singing sweet,
Came, beyond the ancient farmhouse, sounds of lightly-tripping feet.
'Twas a lowly cottage maiden, going,—why, let young hearts tell,—
With her homely pitcher laden, fetching water from the well."
Example III.—Deity.
Alone thou sitst above the everlasting hills
And all immensity of space thy presence fills:
For thou alone art God;—as God thy saints adore thee;
Jehovah is thy name;—they have no gods before thee.—G. Brown.
Example IV.—Impenitence.
The impenitent sinner whom mercy empowers,
Dishonours that goodness which seeks to restore;
As the sands of the desert are water'd by showers.
Yet barren and fruitless remain as before.—G. Brown.
Example V.—Piety.
Holy and pure are the pleasures of piety,
Drawn from the fountain of mercy and love;
Endless, exhaustless, exempt from satiety,
Rising unearthly, and soaring above.—G. Brown.
Example VI.—A Simile.
The bolt that strikes the tow'ring cedar dead,
Oft passes harmless o'er the hazel's head.—G. Brown.
Example VII.—A Simile.
"Yet to their general's voice they soon obey'd
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,
Wav'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud
Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile."—Milton.
Example VIII.—Elegiac Stanza.
Thy name is dear—'tis virtue balm'd in love;
Yet e'en thy name a pensive sadness brings.
Ah! wo the day, our hearts were doom'd to prove,
That fondest love but points affliction's stings!—G. Brown.
Example IX.—Cupid.
Zephyrs, moving bland, and breathing fragrant
With the sweetest odours of the spring,
O'er the winged boy, a thoughtless vagrant,
Slumb'ring in the grove, their perfumes fling.—G. Brown.
Example X.—Divine Power.
When the winds o'er Gennesaret roar'd,
And the billows tremendously rose,
The Saviour but utter'd the word,
They were hush'd to the calmest repose.—G. Brown.
Example XI.—Invitation.
Come from the mount of the leopard, spouse,
Come from the den of the lion;
Come to the tent of thy shepherd, spouse,
Come to the mountain of Zion.—G. Brown.
Example XII.—Admonition.
In the days of thy youth,
Remember thy God:
O! forsake not his truth,
Incur not his rod.—G. Brown.
Example XIII.—Commendation.
Constant and duteous,
Meek as the dove,
How art thou beauteous,
Daughter of love!—G. Brown.
EXERCISE IX.—SCANNING.
Mark the feet and syllables which compose the following lines—or mark a sample of each metre.
Edwin, an Ode.
I. STROPHE.
Led by the pow'r of song, and nature's love,
Which raise the soul all vulgar themes above,
The mountain grove
Would Edwin rove,
In pensive mood, alone;
And seek the woody dell,
Where noontide shadows fell,
Cheering,
Veering,
Mov'd by the zephyr's swell.
Here nurs'd he thoughts to genius only known,
When nought was heard around
But sooth'd the rest profound
Of rural beauty on her mountain throne.
Nor less he lov'd (rude nature's child)
The elemental conflict wild;
When, fold on fold, above was pil'd
The watery swathe, careering on the wind.
Such scenes he saw
With solemn awe,
As in the presence of the Eternal Mind.
Fix'd he gaz'd,
Tranc'd and rais'd,
Sublimely rapt in awful pleasure undefin'd.
II. ANTISTROPHE
Reckless of dainty joys, he finds delight
Where feebler souls but tremble with affright.
Lo! now, within the deep ravine,
A black impending cloud
Infolds him in its shroud,
And dark and darker glooms the scene.
Through the thicket streaming,
Lightnings now are gleaming;
Thunders rolling dread,
Shake the mountain's head;
Nature's war
Echoes far,
O'er ether borne,
That flash
The ash
Has scath'd and torn!
Now it rages;
Oaks of ages,
Writhing in the furious blast,
Wide their leafy honours cast;
Their gnarled arms do force to force oppose
Deep rooted in the crevic'd rock,
The sturdy trunk sustains the shock,
Like dauntless hero firm against assailing foes.
III. EPODE.
'0 Thou who sitst above these vapours dense,
And rul'st the storm by thine omnipotence!
Making the collied cloud thy ear,
Coursing the winds, thou rid'st afar,
Thy blessings to dispense.
The early and the latter rain,
Which fertilize the dusty plain,
Thy bounteous goodness pours.
Dumb be the atheist tongue abhorr'd!
All nature owns thee, sovereign Lord!
And works thy gracious will;
At thy command the tempest roars,
At thy command is still.
Thy mercy o'er this scene sublime presides;
'Tis mercy forms the veil that hides
The ardent solar beam;
While, from the volley'd breast of heaven,
Transient gleams of dazzling light,
Flashing on the balls of sight,
Make darkness darker seem.
Thou mov'st the quick and sulphurous leven—
The tempest-driven
Cloud is riven;
And the thirsty mountain-side
Drinks gladly of the gushing tide.'
So breath'd young Edwin, when the summer shower,
From out that dark o'erchamb'ring cloud,
With lightning flash and thunder loud,
Burst in wild grandeur o'er his solitary bower.—G. Brown.
THE END OF PART FOURTH.
KEY TO THE IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION, CONTAINED IN THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH GRAMMARS, AND DESIGNED FOR ORAL EXERCISES UNDER ALL THE RULES AND NOTES OF THE WORK.
[Fist][The various examples of error which are exhibited for oral correction, in the Grammar of English Grammars, are all here explained, in their order, by full amended readings, sometimes with authorities specified, and generally with references of some sort. They are intended to be corrected orally by the pupil, according to the formules given under corresponding heads in the Grammar. Some portion, at least, under each rule or note, should be used in this way; and the rest, perhaps, may be read and compared more simply.]
THE KEY.—PART I.—ORTHOGRAPHY.
CHAPTER I.—OF LETTERS. CORRECTIONS RESPECTING CAPITALS.
UNDER RULE I.—OF BOOKS.
"Many a reader of the Bible knows not who wrote the Acts of the Apostles"—G. B. "The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of the Chronicles."—ALGER'S BIBLE: Neh., xii, 23. "Are they not written in the book of the Acts of Solomon?"—FRIENDS' BIBLE: I Kings, xi, 41. "Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?"—ALGER CORRECTED: I Kings, xxii, 39. "Are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah."—See ALGER: ib., ver. 45. "Which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms."—ALGER, ET AL.: Luke, xxiv, 44. "The narrative of which maybe seen in Josephus's History of the Jewish War"—Dr. Scott cor. [Obs.—The word in Josephus is "War," not "Wars."—G. Brown.] "This History of the Jewish War was Josephus's first work, and published about A. D. 75."—Whiston cor. "'I have read,' says Photius, 'the Chronology of Justus of Tiberias.'"—Id. "A Philosophical Grammar, written by James Harris, Esquire."—Murray cor. "The reader is referred to Stroud's Sketch of the Slave Laws"—A. S. Mag. cor. "But God has so made the Bible that it interprets itself."—Idem. "In 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the Psalter."—Gardiner cor. "Gardiner says this of Sternhold; of whom the Universal Biographical Dictionary and the American Encyclopedia affirm, that he died in 1549."—G. B. "The title of a book, to wit: 'English Grammar in Familiar Lectures,'" &c.—Kirkham cor. "We had not, at that time, seen Mr. Kirkham's 'Grammar in Familiar Lectures.'"—Id. "When you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you."—Id. right.[516] "Whenever you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you."—Id. cor. "Adelung was the author of a Grammatical and Critical Dictionary of the German Language, and other works." Biog. Dict. cor. "Alley, William, author of 'The Poor Man's Library,' and a translation of the Pentateuch, died in 1570."—Id.
UNDER RULE II.—OF FIRST WORDS.
"Depart instantly;"—"Improve your time;"—"Forgive us our sins."—Murray corrected. EXAMPLES:—"Gold is corrupting;"—"The sea is green;"—"A lion is bold."—Mur. et al. cor. Again: "It may rain;"—"He may go or stay;"—"He would walk;;"—"They should learn."—Iidem. Again: "Oh! I have alienated my friend;"—"Alas! I fear for life."—Iidem. See Alger's Gram., p. 50. Again: "He went from London to York;"—"She is above disguise;" "They are supported by industry."—Iidem. "On the foregoing examples, I have a word to say. They are better than a fair specimen of their kind. Our grammars abound with worse illustrations. Their models of English are generally spurious quotations. Few of their proof-texts have any just parentage. Goose-eyes are abundant, but names scarce. Who fathers the foundlings? Nobody. Then let their merit be nobody's, and their defects his who could write no better."—Author. "Goose-eyes!" says a bright boy; "pray, what are they? Does this Mr. Author make new words when he pleases? Dead-eyes are in a ship. They are blocks, with holes in them. But what are goose-eyes in grammar?" ANSWER: "Goose-eyes are quotation points. Some of the Germans gave them this name, making a jest of their form. The French call them guillemets, from the name of their inventor."—Author. "It is a personal pronoun, of the third person singular."—Comly cor. "Ourselves is a personal pronoun, of the first person plural."—Id. "Thee is a personal pronoun, of the second person singular."—Id. "Contentment is a common noun, of the third person singular."—Id. "Were is a neuter verb, of the indicative mood, imperfect tense."—Id.
UNDER RULE III.—OF DEITY.
"O thou Dispenser of life! thy mercies are boundless."—Allen cor. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"—ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: Gen., xviii, 25. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."—SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: Gen., i, 2. "It is the gift of Him, who is the great Author of good, and the Father of mercies."—Murray cor. "This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt."—FRIENDS' BIBLE: Neh., ix, 18. "For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our King."—Psal.. lxxxix, 18. "By making him the responsible steward of Heaven's bounties."—A. S. Mag. cor. "Which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day."—ALGER: 2 Tim., iv, 8. "The cries of them … entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth."—ALGER, FRIENDS: James, v, 4. "In Horeb, the Deity revealed himself to Moses, as the Eternal 'I AM,' the Self-existent One; and, after the first discouraging interview of his messengers with Pharaoh, he renewed his promise to them, by the awful name, JEHOVAH—a name till then unknown, and one which the Jews always held it a fearful profanation to pronounce."—G. Brown. "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty; but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."—SCOTT, ALGER, FRIENDS: Exod., vi, 2. "Thus saith the LORD[517] the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the First, and I am the Last; and besides me there is no God."—See Isa., xliv, 6.
"His impious race their blasphemy renew'd,
And nature's King, through nature's optics view'd."—Dryden cor.
UNDER RULE IV.—OF PROPER NAMES.
"Islamism prescribes fasting during the month Ramadan."—Balbi cor. "Near Mecca, in Arabia, is Jebel Nor, or the Mountain of Light, on the top of which the Mussulmans erected a mosque, that they might perform their devotions where, according to their belief, Mohammed received from the angel Gabriel the first chapter of the Koran."—G. Brown. "In the Kaaba at Mecca there is a celebrated block of volcanic basalt, which the Mohammedans venerate as the gift of Gabriel to Abraham, but their ancestors once held it to be an image of Remphan, or Saturn; so 'the image which fell down from Jupiter,' to share with Diana the homage of the Ephesians, was probably nothing more than a meteoric stone."—Id. "When the Lycaonians at Lystra took Paul and Barnabas to be gods, they called the former Mercury, on account of his eloquence, and the latter Jupiter, for the greater dignity of his appearance."—Id. "Of the writings of the apostolic fathers of the first century, but few have come down to us; yet we have in those of Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Hermas, Ignatius, and Polycarp, very certain evidence of the authenticity of the New Testament, and the New Testament is a voucher for the Old."—Id. "It is said by Tatian, that Theagenes of Rhegium, in the time of Cambyses, Stesimbrotus the Thracian, Antimachus the Colophonian, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Dionysius the Olynthian, Ephorus of Cumæ, Philochorus the Athenian, Metaclides and Chamæleon the Peripatetics, and Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, and Apollodorus, the grammarians, all wrote concerning the poetry, the birth, and the age of Homer."—See Coleridge's Introd., p. 57. "Yet, for aught that now appears, the life of Homer is as fabulous as that of Hercules; and some have even suspected, that, as the son of Jupiter and Alcmena has fathered the deeds of forty other Herculeses, so this unfathered son of Critheis, Themisto, or whatever dame—this Melesigenes, Mæonides, Homer—the blind schoolmaster, and poet, of Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodes, Argos, Athens, or whatever place—has, by the help of Lycurgus, Solon, Pisistratus, and other learned ancients, been made up of many poets or Homers, and set so far aloft and aloof on old Parnassus, as to become a god in the eyes of all Greece, a wonder in those of all Christendom."—G. Brown.
"Why so sagacious in your guesses?
Your Effs, and Tees, and Ars, and Esses?"—Swift corrected.
UNDER RULE V.—OF TITLES.
"The king has conferred on him the title of Duke."—Murray cor. "At the court of Queen Elizabeth."—Priestley's E. Gram., p. 99; see Bullions's, p. 24. "The laws of nature are, truly, what Lord Bacon styles his aphorisms, laws of laws."—Murray cor. "Sixtus the Fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books."—Id. "Who at that time made up the court of King Charles the Second"—Id. "In case of his Majesty's dying without issue."—Kirkham cor. "King Charles the First was beheaded in 1649."—W. Allen cor. "He can no more impart, or (to use Lord Bacon's word) transmit convictions."—Kirkham cor. "I reside at Lord Stormont's, my old patron and benefactor." Better: "I reside with Lord Stormont, my old patron and benefactor."—Murray cor. "We staid a month at Lord Lyttelton's, the ornament of his country." Much better: "We stayed a month at the seat of Lord Lyttelton, who is the ornament of his country."—Id. "Whose prerogative is it? It is the King-of-Great- Britain's;" [518]—"That is the Duke-of-Bridgewater's canal;"—"The Bishop-of-Landaff's excellent book;"—"The Lord Mayor-of-London's authority."—Id. (See Murray's Note 4th on his Rule 10th.) "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"—Luke, vi, 46. "And of them he chose twelve, whom also he named Apostles."—ALGER, FRIENDS, ET AL.: Luke, vi, 13. "And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, Master; and kissed him."—Matt., xxvi, 49. "And he said, Nay, Father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they would repent."—Bible cor.
UNDER RULE VI.—OF ONE CAPITAL.
"Fallriver, a village in Massachusetts, population (in 1830) 3,431."—Williams cor. "Dr. Anderson died at Westham, in Essex, in 1808."—Biog. Dict. cor. "Madriver, the name of two towns in Clark and Champaign counties, Ohio."—Williams cor. "Whitecreek, a town of Washington county, New York."—Id. "Saltcreek, the name of four towns in different parts of Ohio."—Id. "Saltlick, a town of Fayette county, Pennsylvania."—Id. "Yellowcreek, a town of Columbiana county, Ohio."—Id. "Whiteclay, a hundred of Newcastle county, Delaware."— Id. "Newcastle, a town and half-shire of Newcastle county, Delaware."—Id. "Singsing, a village of Westchester county, New York, situated in the town of Mountpleasant."—Id. "Westchester, a county of New York: East Chester and West Chester are towns in Westchester county."—Id. "Westtown, a village of Orange county, New York."—Id. "Whitewater, a town of Hamilton county, Ohio."—Worcester's Gaz. "Whitewater River, a considerable stream that rises in Indiana, and flowing southeasterly unites with the Miami in Ohio."—See ib. "Blackwater, a village of Hampshire, in England, and a town in Ireland."—See ib. "Blackwater, the name of seven different rivers, in England, Ireland, and the United States."—See ib. "Redhook, a town of Dutchess county, New York, on the Hudson."—Williams cor. "Kinderhook, a town of Columbia county, New York, on the Hudson."—Williams right. "Newfane, a town of Niagara county, New York."—Williams cor. "Lakeport, a town of Chicot county, Arkansas."—Id. "Moosehead Lake, the chief source of the Kennebeck, in Maine."—Id. (See Worcester's Gaz.) "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, population (in 1830) 2,959."—Williams's Univ. Gaz., p 408. "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, with a court-house at Macomb."—Williams cor. "Halfmoon, the name of two towns in New York and Pennsylvania; also of two bays in the West Indies."—S. Williams's Univ. Gaz. "Leboeuf, a town of Erie county, Pennsylvania, near a small lake of the same name."—See ib. "Charlescity, Jamescity, Eiizabethcity, names of counties in Virginia, not cities, nor towns."—See Univ. Gaz., p. 404.[519] "The superior qualities of the waters of the Frome, here called Stroudwater."—Balbi cor.
UNDER RULE VII.—OF TWO CAPITALS.
"The Forth rises on the north side of Ben Lomond, and runs easterly."—Glasgow Geog., 8vo, corrected. "The red granite of Ben Nevis is said to be the finest in the world."—Id. "Ben More, in Perthshire, is 3,915 feet above the level of the sea."—Id. "The height of Ben Cleagh is 2,420 feet."—Id. "In Sutherland and Caithness, are Ben Ormod, Ben Clibeg, Ben Grin, Ben Hope, and Ben Lugal."—Glas. Geog. right. "Ben Vracky is 2,756 feet high; Ben Ledi, 3,009; and Ben Voirloich, 3,300."—Glas. Geog. cor. "The river Dochart gives the name of Glen Dochart to the vale through which it runs."—Id. "About ten miles from its source, it [the Tay] diffuses itself into Loch Dochart."—Glasgow Geog., Vol. ii, p. 314. LAKES:—"Loch Ard, Loch Achray, Loch Con, Loch Doine, Loch Katrine, Loch Lomond, Loch Voil."—Scott corrected. GLENS:—"Glen Finlas, Glen Fruin, Glen Luss, Ross Dhu, Leven Glen, Strath Endrick, Strath Gartney. Strath Ire."—Id. MOUNTAINS:—"Ben An, Ben Harrow, Ben Ledi, Ben Lomond, Ben Voirlich, Ben Venue, or, (as some spell it,) Ben Ivenew."—Id.[520] "Fenelon died in 1715, deeply lamented by all the inhabitants of the Low Countries."—Murray cor. "And Pharaoh Necho[521] made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king."—See ALGER: 2 Kings, xiii, 34. "Those who seem so merry and well pleased, call her Good Fortune; but the others, who weep and wring their hands, Bad Fortune."—Collier cor.
UNDER RULE VIII.—OF COMPOUNDS.
"When Joab returned, and smote Edom in the Valley of Salt"—FRIENDS' BIBLE: Ps. lx, title. "Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, and said," &c.—Scott cor. "And at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the Mount of Olives."—Bible cor. "Abgillus, son of the king of the Frisii, surnamed Prester John, was in the Holy Land with Charlemagne."—U. Biog. Dict. cor. "Cape Palmas, in Africa, divides the Grain Coast from the Ivory Coast."—Dict. of Geog. cor. "The North Esk, flowing from Loch Lee, falls into the sea three miles north of Montrose."—Id. "At Queen's Ferry, the channel of the Forth is contracted by promontories on both coasts."—Id. "The Chestnut Ridge is about twenty-five miles west of the Alleghanies, and Laurel Ridge, ten miles further west."—Balbi cor. "Washington City, the metropolis of the United States of America."—Williams, U. Caz., p. 380. "Washington City, in the District of Columbia, population (in 1830) 18,826."—Williams cor. "The loftiest peak of the White Mountains, in New Hampshire, is called Mount Washington."—G. Brown. "Mount's Bay, in the west of England, lies between the Land's End and Lizard Point."—Id. "Salamis, an island of the Egean Sea, off the southern coast of the ancient Attica."—Dict. of Geog. "Rhodes, an island of the Egean Sea, the largest and most easterly of the Cyclades."—Id. cor. "But he overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea."—SCOTT: Ps. cxxxvi, 15. "But they provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea."—ALGER, FRIENDS: Ps. cvi, 7.
UNDER RULE IX.—OF APPOSITION.
"At that time, Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus."—SCOTT, FRIENDS, ET AL.: Matt., xiv, 1. "Who has been more detested than Judas the traitor?"—G. Brown. "St. Luke the evangelist was a physician of Antioch, and one of the converts of St. Paul."—Id. "Luther, the reformer, began his bold career by preaching against papal indulgences."—Id. "The poet Lydgate was a disciple and admirer of Chaucer: he died in 1440."—Id. "The grammarian Varro, 'the most learned of the Romans,'[522] wrote three books when he was eighty years old."—Id. "John Despauter, the great grammarian of Flanders, whose works are still valued, died in 1520."—Id. "Nero, the emperor and tyrant of Rome, slew himself to avoid a worse death."—Id. "Cicero the orator, 'the Father of his Country,' was assassinated at the age of 64."—Id. "Euripides, the Greek tragedian, was born in the island of Salamis, B. C. 476."—Id. "I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me?"—ALGER, ET AL.: Ps. xlii, 9. "Staten Island, an island of New York, nine miles below New York city."—Williams cor. "When the son of Atreus, king of men, and the noble Achilles first separated."—Coleridge cor.
"Hermes, his patron-god, those gifts bestow'd,
Whose shrine with weanling lambs he wont to load."—Pope cor.
UNDER RULE X.—OF PERSONIFICATIONS.
"But Wisdom is justified of all her children."—FRIENDS' BIBLE: Luke, vii, 35. "Fortune and the Church are generally put in the feminine gender: that is, when personified." "Go to your Natural Religion; lay before her Mahomet and his disciples."—Bp. Sherlock. "O Death! where is thy sting? O Grave! where is thy victory."—Pope: 1 Cor., xv, 55; Merchant's Gram., p. 172. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon."—Matt., vi, 24. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon"—See Luke, xvi, 13. "This house was built as if Suspicion herself had dictated the plan."—Rasselas. "Poetry distinguishes herself from Prose, by yielding to a musical law."—Music of Nature, p. 501. "My beauteous deliverer thus uttered her divine instructions: 'My name is Religion. I am the offspring of Truth and Love, and the parent of Benevolence, Hope, and Joy. That monster, from whose power I have freed you, is called Superstition: she is called the child of Discontent, and her followers are Fear and Sorrow.'"—E. Carter. "Neither Hope nor Fear could enter the retreats; and Habit had so absolute a power, that even Conscience, if Religion had employed her in their favour, would not have been able to force an entrance."—Dr. Johnson.
"In colleges and halls in ancient days,
There dwelt a sage called Discipline."—Cowper.
UNDER RULE XI.—OF DERIVATIVES.
"In English, I would have Gallicisms avoided."—Felton. "Sallust was born in Italy, 85 years before the Christian era."—Murray cor.; "Dr. Doddridge was not only a great man, but one of the most excellent and useful Christians, and Christian ministers."—Id. "They corrupt their style with untutored Anglicisms"—Milton. "Albert of Stade, author of a chronicle from the creation to 1286, a Benedictine of the 13th century."—Biog. Dict. cor. "Graffio, a Jesuit of Capua in the 16th century, author of two volumes on moral subjects."—Id. "They Frenchify and Italianize words whenever they can."—Bucke's Gram., p. 86. "He who sells a Christian, sells the grace of God."—Mag. cor. "The first persecution against the Christians, under Nero, began A. D. 64."—Gregory cor. "P. Rapin, the Jesuit, uniformly decides in favour of the Roman writers."—Blair's Rhet., p. 248. "The Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher Lucretius has said," &c.—Cohen cor. Spell "Calvinistic, Atticism, Gothicism, Epicurism, Jesuitism, Sabianism, Socinianism, Anglican, Anglicism, Anglicize, Vandalism, Gallicism, and Romanize."—Webster cor. "The large Ternate bat."—Id. and Bolles cor.
"Church-ladders are not always mounted best
By learned clerks, and Latinists profess'd"—Cowper cor.
UNDER RULE XII.—OF I AND O.
"Fall back, fall back; I have not room:—O! methinks I see a couple whom I should know."—Lucian. "Nay, I live as I did, I think as I did, I love you as I did; but all these are to no purpose; the world will not live, think, or love, as I do."—Swift to Pope. "Whither, O! whither shall I fly? O wretched prince! O cruel reverse of fortune! O father Micipsa! is this the consequence of thy generosity?"—Tr. of Sallust. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."—1 Cor., xiii, 11. "And I heard, but I understood not; then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?"—Dan., xii, 8. "Here am I; I think I am very good, and I am quite sure I am very happy, yet I never wrote a treatise in my life."—Few Days in Athens, p. 127. "Singular, Vocative, O master! Plural, Vocative, O masters!"—Bicknell cor.
"I, I am he; O father! rise, behold
Thy son, with twenty winters now grown old!"
—Pope's Odyssey, B. 24, l. 375.
UNDER RULE XIII.—OF POETRY.
"Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, Lie in three words—health, peace, and competence; But health consists with temperance alone, And peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own."—Pope.
"Observe the language well in all you write, And swerve not from it in your loftiest flight. The smoothest verse and the exactest sense Displease us, if ill English give offence: A barbarous phrase no reader can approve; Nor bombast, noise, or affectation love. In short, without pure language, what you write Can never yield us profit or delight. Take time for thinking; never work in haste; And value not yourself for writing fast."—Dryden.
UNDER RULE XIV.—OF EXAMPLES.
"The word rather is very properly used to express a small degree or excess of a quality; as, 'She is rather profuse in her expenses.'"—Murray cor. "Neither imports not either; that is, not one nor the other: as, 'Neither of my friends was there.'"—Id. "When we say, 'He is a tall man,'—'This is a fair day,' we make some reference to the ordinary size of men, and to different weather."—Id. "We more readily say, 'A million of men,' than, 'A thousand of men.'"—Id. "So in the instances, 'Two and two are four;'—'The fifth and sixth volumes will complete the set of books.'"—Id. "The adjective may frequently either precede or follow the verb: as, 'The man is happy;' or, 'Happy is the man;'—'The interview was delightful;' or, 'Delightful was the interview.'"—Id. "If we say, 'He writes a pen;'—'They ran the river;'—'The tower fell the Greeks;'—'Lambeth is Westminster Abbey;'—[we speak absurdly;] and, it is evident, there is a vacancy which must be filled up by some connecting word: as thus, 'He writes with a pen;'—'They ran towards the river;'—'The tower fell upon the Greeks;'—'Lambeth is over against Westminster Abbey.'"—Id. "Let me repeat it;—He only is great, who has the habits of greatness."—Id. "I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven."—Matt., xviii, 22.
"The Panther smil'd at this; and, 'When,' said she,
'Were those first councils disallow'd by me?'"—Dryd. cor.
UNDER RULE XV.—OF CHIEF WORDS.
"The supreme council of the nation is called the Divan."—Balbi cor. "The British Parliament is composed of King, Lords, and Commons."—Comly's Gram., p. 129; and Jaudon's, 127. "A popular orator in the House of Commons has a sort of patent for coining as many new terms as he pleases."—See Campbell's Rhet., p. 169; Murray's Gram., 364. "They may all be taken together, as one name; as, 'The House of Commons.'"—Merchant cor. "Intrusted to persons in whom the Parliament could confide."—Murray cor. "For 'The Lords' House,' it were certainly better to say, 'The House of Lords;' and, in stead of 'The Commons' vote,' to say. 'The vote of the Commons.'"—Id. and Priestley cor. "The House of Lords were so much influenced by these reasons."—Iidem. "Rhetoricians commonly divide them into two great classes; Figures of Words, and Figures of Thought. The former, Figures of Words, are commonly called Tropes."—Murray's Gram., p. 337. "Perhaps, Figures of Imagination, and Figures of Passion, might be a more useful distribution."—Ib. "Hitherto we have considered sentences, under the heads of Perspicuity, Unity, and Strength."—See Murray's Gram., p. 356.
"The word is then depos'd; and, in this view,
You rule the Scripture, not the Scripture you."—Dryd. cor.
UNDER RULE XVI.—OF NEEDLESS CAPITALS.
"Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."—FRIENDS' BIBLE, AND SCOTT'S: Matt., xiv, 27. "Between passion and lying, there is not a finger's breadth."—Mur. cor. "Can our solicitude alter the course, or unravel the intricacy, of human events?" "The last edition was carefully compared with the original manuscript."—Id. "And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews?"—SCOTT: Matt., xxvii, 11. "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame, that say, Aha, aha!"—SCOTT ET AL.: Ps., lxx, 3. "Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!"—IIDEM: Ps., xl, 15. "What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord?"—ALGER: Matt., xxii, 42, 43. "Among all things in the universe, direct your worship to the greatest. And which is that? It is that Being who manages and governs all the rest."—Collier's Antoninus cor. "As for modesty and good faith, truth and justice, they have left this wicked world and retired to heaven; and now what is it that can keep you here?"—Idem.
"If pulse of verse a nation's temper shows,
In keen iambics English metre flows."—Brightland cor.