Mention why, in accordance with the Remarks on pages 50-54, 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. 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. 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 careless poet of Avon, was he troubled for his fame? And Harry's flesh it fell away. But John he cried in vain. It is our duty to appropriate our time to valuable purposes. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Insert commas only where required by the preceding Remarks :— Reason and true philosophy never attempt, in their conclusions, to separate God from his works. (Rule, and last of Remark g 4.) Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds.* It is not in our power to change the established order of things. (Remark j, and Rule.) Patience with the erring and offending is one of the holiest of all forms of character. He who being master of the fittest moment to crush his enemy magnanimously neglects it is born to be a conqueror. (Rem. c, g 4.) One of the arts that tend most to the improvement of human intellect is the art of language. Philosophy, religion tend to promote just and honorable views of the Creator of the universe. (First of Remark g 2.) The most sublime speculation of the contemplative philosopher can scarcely compensate for the neglect of the smallest active duty. The highest art of the mind of man is to possess itself with tranquillity in the hour of danger. (Rule, and Remark j.) * The sentences, in this exercise, to which no references are attached, may be compared with the Rule and with Remarks a—e, pp. 50, 51. To mourn deeply for the death of another loosens from myself the petty desire for life. (Remark g 5.) 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 that preceding ages did not have seems evident. (Remark g 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 g 1 or 3.) 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 g 1.) To walk beneath the porch is still infinitely less than to kneel before 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 g 6 or 7.) 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 g 2, last sentence.) The impartial distribution of posthumous fame or censure must have some effect on the most callous and unprincipled. He that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved. (First of Remark g 8.) He who follows the pleasures of the world is in constant search of care and remorse. Joy, grief, love, admiration, devotion are all of them passions which are naturally musical. (Remark g 2, first portion.) The highest literature and art of every age embody its highest spiritual ideal of excellence. Silent and severe they sit those men of the old fearless time. (Remark h.) He who has never studied the consequences of human actions perceives, in the great concourse of mankind, only a multitude of beings consulting each his own peculiar interest. (Remark g 4 or 5.) RULE VII. Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses. § I. A comma is put before a relative clause, when it is explanatory of the antecedent, or presents an additional thought. § II. But the point is omitted before a relative which restricts the general notion of the antecedent to a particular sense. EXAMPLES. 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. The father of history was Herodotus, from whom we have an account of the Persian war. § II. 1. Every teacher must love a boy who 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, it will at once be seen 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 clausepresents 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. 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. 64. as, 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; "The man who is faithfully attached to religion may be relied on with confidence." For, were a comma placed after either "man” or "religion," or after words corresponding to these in similar sentences, a separation would be made between parts, which, from their restrictive character, are obviously inseparable. See p. 51, d, e. 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." Were the comma after "theories" omitted, the connection between "which" and the preceding noun would seem to be closer than that existing between the relative pronoun and the other particulars, to which it has an equal relation; and such an omission would, in many instances, tend to hinder a perception of the sense. e. A comma may also be put before the relative pronoun, even when restrictive, if it is immediately followed by a word or an expression 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 Robertson's future eminence." The reasons offered for this mode of punctuating are, that the adjective has some effect to loosen the restraining power of the relative over the antecedent; and that the omission of the comma between the two portions of such a sentence between "friends" and "who" in the present example would draw the pronoun more closely to the clause which precedes it, than to that of which it forms a part. f. By some writers and printers, a comma is always put before the relative, though used restrictively, if separated by several words from its grammatical antecedent; as, "It is power of thought and utterance, which immortalizes the products of genius.". "He preaches sublimely, who lives a righteous and pious life." But we have little hesitation in saying, that the punctuation is in both examples erroneous. In the former, the antecedent "power "' is accompanied with the inseparable modifying phrase, "of thought and utterance;" the sense being, not that power, but that the power of thought and utterance, immortalizes the products of genius. In the latter example, it will be seen that the proper construction is, "He who lives a righteous and pious life preaches sublimely;" and that, in this collocation of the words, the comma would be correctly left out between the antecedent and the relative. If, therefore, a separation be made in the construction between words which are closely united in sense, as in the instances given, that separation, instead of being increased by the introduction of a point, should be made as little as possible by omitting it. g. To the preceding remark the only exception is when the relative 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." h. To prevent ambiguity, a comma is sometimes put before the words, of which, of whom, even when used restrictively, to distinguish 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." It may be remarked too, that, when the relative pronoun does not immediately follow the clause containing the antecedent, the comma omitted before the relative is inserted between the two portions of the sentence, as after the word "rivers" in the last example. as, i. The principles stated in both divisions of the rule are applicable to sentences in which an adverb is put for a relative pronoun; "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 of the universe are conducted." j. Sentences in which the relative pronoun may be supplied are subject to the same rules as those in which it is expressed; as, "Genius 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 |