PART IV. Def. 1. That part of the Science of Language which treats of utterance, is called Prosody. OBS.-Utterance is modified by Pauses, Accent, and the lawe of Versification. PAUSES. Def. 2. Pauses are cessations of the voice in Leading or speaking. OBS. 1.-Pauses are. S Rhetorical and OBS. 2.-Rhetorical Pauses are useful chiefly in arresting attention. They are generally made after, or immediately before emphatic words. They are not indicated by marks. EXAMPLES-There is a calm for those who weep. A rest for weary pilgrims found. OBS. 3.-Grammatical Pauses are useful-in addition to their Rhetorical effect-in determining the sense. They are indicated by OBS. 4.-In its Rhetorical office, The Comma requires a short pause in reading. The Semicolon, a pause longer than the Comma. The Dash, the marks of Exclamation and Interrogation, require pauses corresponding with either of the other marks. Rem.—In the use of Marks of Punctuation, good writers differ; and it is exceedingly difficult for the Teacher to give Rules for their use, that can be of general application. The following Rules are the most important. COMMA. RULE-Words similar in construction, having a connective understood, are separated by a Comma. EXAMPLES. David was a brave, martial, enterprising prince. "There is such an exactness in definition, such a pertinence in proof. such a perspicuity in his detection of sophisms, as have been rarely employed in the Christian cause."—B. B. Edwards. OBS.-When more than two words of the same construction occur consecutively, the Comma should be repeated after each. EXAMPLES" Fame, wisdom, love, and power, were mine." "Unnumbered systems, suns, and worlds, unite to worship thee." Veracity, justice, and charity, are essential virtues. RULE The parts of a Complex Sentence should be separated by a Comma, when the Auxiliary precedes the Principal Sen tence. EXAMPLES " Where wealth and freedom reign, contentment fails." "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." RULE-An Adjunct Phrase or Sentence, used to express an incidental fact, and placed between the parts of the Principal. Sentence, is separated by Commas. EXAMPLES "The grave, that never spoke before, Hath found, at length, a tongue to chide." "But now a wave, high rising o'er the deep, OBS. 2.-But when an Adjunct Phrase or Sentence which is indispensable in perfecting the sense immediately follows the word which it qualifies, the Comma should not intervene. EXAMPI E- Every one that findeth me. shall slay me." RULE-Words, Phrases, and Sentences, thrown in between the parts of a Sentence, should be separated by a Comma 1. As denoting an inference from a foregoing fact. 2. To modify the whole proposition. EXAMPLES. "Go, then, where, wrapt in fear and gloom, Fond hearts and true are sighing.' 'Now, therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide." "It might seem, indeed, in a superficial view, that the preaching of the Gospel requires only ordinary powers of understanding."—B. B. Edwards. "These questions, too, were carefully studied." "It is a clear lake, the very picture, ordinarily, of repose." RULE-A Phrase or Sentence used as the Subject of a Verb, requires a Comma between it and the Verb. EXAMPLES. To do good to others, constitutes an important object of existence. That we are rivals, does not necessarily make us enemies. RULE-Words used in direct addresses, and independent Phrases, should be separated by a Comma. EXAMPLES. "Thou, whose spell can raise the dead, Bid the prophet's form appear; Samuel, raise thy buried head! King, behold the phantom seer?" "Child, amidst the flowers that play, Father, by the breeze of eve, Prayere yet the dark hours be, Lift the heart and bend the knee!" RULE-Adjunct Sentences, Phrases, and sometimes Words, not in their natural position, should be separated by a Comma. EXAMPLE. "Into this illustrious society, he whose character I have endeavored feebly to portray, has, without doubt, entered." Rem. The style of composition often determines the pauses, and consequently, the marks of punctuation. Thus a mathematical Propositionor an argumentative and logical discourse requires "close pointing." Whereas, a narrative, a description, and generally, all compositions in which the style is loose, require fewer pauses, and, by consequence, fewer marks. SEMICOLON. RULE-The Semicolon is used at the close of a sentence, which, by its terms, promises an additional sentence. EXAMPLES. "The Essayists occupy a conspicuous place in the last century; but, somehow, I do not feel disposed to set inuch store by them." "The fruitless showers of worldly wo, Fall dark to earth and never rise; While tears that from repentance flow, In bright exhalement reach the skies."--Moore. OBS.-By many writers, the Semicolon is used to separate short sentences, which have not a close dependence on each other. EXAMPLES. "He was a plain man, without any pretension to pulpit eloquence, or any other accomplishment; he had no gift of imagination; his language was hard and dry; and his illustrations, homely." "We are watchers of a beacon, We are guardians of an altar For the strength of the hills we bless thee, Our God, our fathers' God."-Mrs. Hemans. I had a seeming friend;-I gave him gifts and he was gone; COLON. RULE-The Colon is used at the close of a sentence, when another sentence is added as a direct illustration or inference. EXAMPLES. "Let me give you a piece of good counsel, my cousin: follow my laudable example: write when you can: take Time's forelock in one hand, and a pen in the other, and so make sure of your opportunity."-Cowper. "Among relations, certainly there is always an incitement: we always feel an anxiety for their welfare."-H. K. White. "From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome, I beheld thee, O Sion! when rendered to Rome: 'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fal. Hebrew Melodies. Rem. The Colon is not much used by late writers-its place being supplied by the Semicolon, the Dash, or the Period. PERIOD. RULE-The Period is used at the close of a complete or indepenaent proposition. OBS.-The Period is also used after initial letters and abbreviations. EXAMPLE J. Q. Adams, LL.D., M. C. DASH. RULE-The Dash is used to indicate, 1 An abrupt transition. 2 An unfinished sentence. 3. A succession of particulars. EXAMPLES. "All this dread order break-for whom? for thee? "They met to expatiate and confer on state affairs-to read the newspapers to talk a little scandal-and so forth-and the result was-as we have been told-considerable dissipation."-Wilson's Burns. "And is thy soul immortal?-What remains? All, all, Lorenzo!-Make immortal blessed Unblest immortals!-What can shock us. more?" "To me the Night Thoughts is a poem, on the whole, most animating and delightful-amazingly energetic-full of the richest instructionimproving to the mind-much of it worthy of being committed to memory—some faults—obscure—extravagant-tinged occasionally with flattery." OBS. 1.-The Dash is often used instead of the Parenthesis. EXAMPLE. "As they disperse they look very sad-and, no doubt they are so-but had they been, they would not have taken to digging." OBS. 2.-Many modern writers use the Dash in place of the Semicolon and the Colon-and sometimes with them. EXAMPLES. "Ye have no need of prayer;— Ye have no sins to be forgiven."-Sprague. "What is there saddening in the Autumn leaves? Brainerd. |