Goethes "Wilhelm Meister" was the rich result of ten years labor. (Rule.)

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 that gaze of the multitude. (Rule.)

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. Rem. b.) A drunkard once reeled up to him with the remark, "Mr. Whitefield, I am one of your converts." "I think it very likely," was the reply; "for I am sure you are none of Gods." (Rule.)

I was surprised to see so many young idle sparks listening quietly and attentively to Dr. David Sparkss lecture on Drusius, Grotius, and Michaelis theological works. (Remarks b, a.)

And still the Greek rushed on, beneath the fiery fold,
Till, like a rising sun, shone Xerxes tent of gold.

(Remark a.)

Education does not commence with the alphabet: it begins with a mothers look; with a fathers nod of approbation, or a sign of reproof; with a sisters gentle pressure of the hand, or a brothers noble act of forbearance; with handfuls of flowers in green dells, on hills and daisy meadows; with birds nests admired, but not touched; with humming bees and glass hives; with pleasant walks in shady lanes; with thoughts directed, in sweet and kindly tones and words, to nature, to beauty, to acts of benevolence, to deeds of virtue, to the sense of all good, and to God himself. (Rule.)

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 poets 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?

(Rule.)

208

SECT. II. -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.

REMARKS.

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 words 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;"66 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 words, or portions of words, which are not each separately current in the language; as, pseudo-apostle. See page 23, Def. XII.

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.

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.

a. The words "all-wise" and "incense-breathing," "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,

· book ́seller, noʻbleman; the hyphen, therefore,

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," page 359) by the expression," a sharp-edged instrument," which means an instrument with sharp edges; whereas 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 signification 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 whatever to the civility implied in the use of the compound: yet both terms, if correctly written, will be understood. Forget me not literally 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.

c. All compounds, therefore, should be so written as will best exhibit their true pronunciation, and the ideas intended to be expressed, ― objects which, we have seen, may to some extent be effected either by consolidating the simples, or by uniting them with a hyphen. And here the rule already laid down might naturally be expected to come to our aid, as being founded on the characteristics and tendencies of the English language itself. But, notwithstanding the obvious worth and utility of the rule, the practice of some of our best authors and printers, as to the mode of exhibiting many of the compounds in use, is so conflicting, and the inconsistencies of perhaps all our lexicographers are so numerous, not to speak of their defect in distinguishing the compounds which have only one accent from those which have two, that it would be regarded as pedantry or presumption for a punctuator to attempt subjecting each of the compound words to the operation of the rule; and, on the other hand, it would be impracticable for him, without filling a volume, to give perfect lists of all the compounds, with the fluctuating and

different modes in which they are presented in dictionaries and other books. It will therefore be our aim merely to specify some of the exceptions to the rule, and to throw out a few suggestions applicable to certain classes of compounds; recommending that, in all cases where the general and best usage as to the insertion or the omission of the hyphen cannot readily be learned, recourse be had, when the accentuation is previously known, to the rule itself.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE.

d. According to the first section of the rule, those simples in a compound word which retain their original accent should be united by a hyphen. The exceptions to this principle are not very numerous, and consist chiefly - -1. Of a few compounds in common use, such as everlasting, not withstanding, which are universally written, at the present day, each as one unbroken word: 2. Of such as terminate in monger; as, bor'oughmonger, i'ronmong'er: 3. Of almost all those beginning with the prepositions over, under; as, o'verbalance, un'derstanding.

e. According to the second section of the rule, when only one of the simple words retains its original accent in a compound, they are consolidated, being written without a hyphen. But to this principle there is a considerable number of exceptions, which may, however, be mostly reduced to the following classes:

1. Those compounds in which the first of the primitive words ends, and the second begins, with the same letter; as, book-keeping, ear-ring, glow-worm, night-time, poor-rate, rear-rank, rough'-hewn. The word oft'times, however, is usually written without the hyphen. 2. Those compounds in which the first of two primitives ends, and the second begins, with a vowel; as, fire-arms, pine'-apple, peace-offering.

3. Those whose meaning would be obscured, or whose pronunciation would be less easily known, by the consolidation of the simples; as, ass-head, pot-herb, soap-house, first-rate. The reason for the division of these and sin ilar primitives is, that the s, t, and p are pronounced separately from the h following them, and the st from the r; whereas, when in their usual state of combination, sh, th, ph, and str are each pronounced with one impulse of the voice.

4. All compounds ending with the word tree; as, beech'-tree, date'-tree, pear-tree, apple-tree: also those terminating with book; as, day-book, red-book, shop'-book.