20. Read no farther said Deans the question is what is to be done. 21. O Procrastination exclaimed the hermit thou art a soul murderer Unhappy man farewell not for a while but until we both shall meet no matter where.

DIRECTION.

EXERCISE XIV.

GENERAL EXERCISE ON PUNCTUATION.

Study these sentences till you understand their construction, and then punctuate them in accordance with the rules given in the preceding lessons.

1. Deut xx 21 2 Sam xix 23 AD 1890.

2. Bot 9 mos credit 4 yds 3 qrs at 12 cts a yd.

3. Habemus confitentem reum We have the accused one confessing ie you plead guilty.

4. The revolt however was important.

5. Seeing the fertile plains of Gaul they were dissatisfied with their own land.

6. The hubbub was fearful even the critics took fright.

7. And what conclusion after all can be drawn from mere inferiority?

8. Byron had little dramatic talent he could not go out of himself.

9. The weapons of a Roman soldier were of two kinds (1) offensive weapons (a) the javelin (b) the sword gladius (2) defensive weapons (a) a brazen helmet (6) a cuirass (c) greaves (d) a shield.

10. He designated the greatest man then living as that reptile Mr Burke.

II. That resolution was indeed unjust but till it was rescinded could the minister advise the king to bestow any mark of approbation on the person censured.

12. O thou that bringest good tidings aid me.

13. The French having been dispersed in a gale put back to Toulon.

14. Virtue merit everything that is praiseworthy will be made the subject of ridicule.

15. With all his faults and they were neither few nor small only one cemetery was worthy to contain his remains.

16. So came the autumn and passed and the winter yet Gabriel

came not.

17. This friend of humanity says When I consider their lives I seem to see the golden age beginning again.

18. The double value it will be noticed is obtained in the same way.

19. He was carried to a neighboring house where it appeared that the wound though severe was not mortal.

20. The authors of the Act had established two independent powers the one judicial the other political.

21. Whatever I have tried to do in life I have tried with all my heart to do well Whatever I have devoted myself to I have devoted myself to completely.

22. Oh Rouen she said when she saw the lofty scaffold.

23. Some of his classmates were afterwards men of note es Abbott the historian Pierce the politician and Cheever the preacher and author.

24. Thence in February 1827 he set out for Spain and while in Madrid he made the acquaintance of Washington Irving then engaged on his Life of Christopher Columbus.

25. Let the quotients and remainders be denoted by the letters in the margin then we have the following results that is to say etc. 26. Each Roman citizen had usually three names the praenomen the nomen and the cognomen.

27. In the year 600 B C the Greeks of Phocæa in Asia Minor emigrated and settled at Massilia now Marseilles.

28. In 1843 the year of his second marriage he published a dramatic poem on which he had long been working The Spanish student.

29. How Conrade murdered and by the Grand Master his sponsor and most intimate friend exclaimed Richard.

30. He shortly afterwards took up his residence at H as an inmate of the household of the Rev Dr N.

31. The spirit does but mean the breath Tennyson.

32. Distraction if the earth could swallow me.

33. Tired and hungry sick and sore they continued their march. 34. He fell over the cliff down down down into that awful abyss.

35. Listen Listen methinks I hear that dreadful sound.

36. After his return from Germany he led a desultory life he was in London Malta and Rome.

37. The character of Coleridge was peculiar his mind was active powerful many-sided in politics religion metaphysics poetry and literary criticism he thought deeply and few spoke more wisely but of all he thought and of all he uttered only fragments remain.

38. To this day they always use the word political as synonymous with diplomatic.

39. Pope saw in the Indian only an object of compassion Fennimore Cooper invested him with some dignity and other virtues Longfellow found in him and his surroundings material for poetry.

40. As to the position pursuits and connections of Junius the following are the most important facts First that he was acquainted with the technical forms of the Secretary of States office secondly he was acquainted with the business of the war office thirdly that he during the year 1770 attended debates in the House of Lords fourthly that he bitterly resented the appointment of Mr Charnier fifthly that he was bound by some strong tie to the first Lord Holland.

41. Had he permitted me to remain quiet I should have said Tis his estate thats enough It is his by law what have I to do with it or its history? He would naturally have said on his side Tis this mans fortune He is as good now as my ancestor was two hundred and fifty years ago.

LESSON X.

STYLE.

Style is the manner of expression.

Its mechanical elements are words, sentences, and paragraphs. As these may be dealt with in an infinite variety of ways, style is as diversified as the minds that produce it; indeed, more so, for the same person may vary his style according to the nature of the subject with which he is dealing. Besides, every writer puts his individuality into his composition and thereby gives his style a peculiarity of its own. The excellences of style, so far at least as they may be acquired, depend largely on a judicious and cultured choice of words and on the correct and graceful form of sentences and paragraphs. The first of these will be studied under the head of Diction, and the latter under the heads of Formation of Sentences and Construction of Paragraphs.

Importance. To be able to clothe one's thoughts in appropriate words is an accomplishment that every young person should labor to possess. Language is the dress in which the mind shows itself to the outside world; and, as neat and seemly clothing renders the body more graceful, so choice and refined speech adorns and beautifies the mind. Other things being equal, the person who has the largest stock of words to choose from will be able to select the aptest words and to frame the happiest expressions. To every person, therefore, who wishes to become either a speaker or a writer, the possession of a pure and wide vocabulary and an accurate knowledge of the exact signification of words is of the highest importance.

Means. In the effort to attain such a knowledge and command of language, the following means will be found helpful: — 1. Listening to good speakers.

2. Associating with people of culture.

3. Reading the best authors.

4. Translating with accuracy from other languages. 5. Unwearied reference to a good dictionary.

6. The study of some standard work on synonyms.

7. The study of etymology.

8. Employing in conversation and composition the vocabulary acquired.

LESSON XI.

I. DICTION.

Diction is that part of Style which deals with the choice and use of words.

Its Divisions. - For the purpose of systematic study, Diction may be considered under the following heads: 1. Purity; 2. Propriety; 3. Precision.

PURITY.

Purity consists in the use of such words, forms, and constructions as are justified by the practice of the best writers.

Standard of Purity. — In the choice of language, we must be guided by two principles. First, we must select such words, forms, and constructions as are familiar to the great body of educated people; secondly, we must employ only such as are sanctioned by good usage, that is, by reputable, national, and present usage: reputable, that of the majority of the best writers and speakers, as opposed to that of the uncultivated; national, as opposed to local, professional, or foreign; present, as opposed to obsolete or transient. Errors in Purity may be dealt with under: (1) Violations of Rhetorical Purity, (2) Violations of Grammatical Purity.

Rhetorical Purity forbids the use of such words, constructions, and forms of expression as are foreign, obsolete, new, or low.

Grammatical Purity demands attention to the established rules of Syntax.