ORAL EXERCISES.

Agreeably to Rule XV. (p. 93), state why some of the following sentences are printed with, and others without, the comma:

It is easier to rouse the passions than to direct the mind.
When pride cometh, then cometh shame. She is as good as he.
No one is so much alone in the universe as a denier of God.

As we do to others, so shall it be done unto us.

Man gains wider dominion by his intellect than by his right arm.
Wherever man is, there are the elements of poetry.

Every one has as much vanity as he is deficient in understanding.
If you know that your object is good, then without hesitation seek it.
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

Though truth is fearless and absolute, yet she is meek and modest.
I have returned to refute a libel as false as it is malicious.
The more industrious you are, the sooner will you learn a trade.
Be governed more by a regard to duty than by a prospect of gain.
Such as the tree is, such will be the fruit.

We can discover nothing so sublime as the spirit of self-sacrifice.
The better a proverb is, the more trite it generally becomes.

Show how the preceding Remarks will apply to the punctuation of correlative clauses and phrases in the following sentences:

No errors are so trivial but they deserve to be mended, and no sin so slight but it should be repented of and renounced.

Our sympathy is always awakened more by hearing the speaker, than by reading his works in our closet.

Only such sorrow purifies and blesses, as comes to us in the pursuit of high and noble ends.

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox, and hatred therewith.

So frowned

Virtue is so amiable that even the vicious admire it. the mighty combatants, that hell grew darker at the sight. Such was the rush of the people, that but few could be admitted to the lecture.

Grace of manners is so essential to rulers, that, whenever it is neglected, their virtues lose a great degree of lustre.

Whether my gift be liberal, or whether it be niggardly, is not the question. Whether right or wrong, I am held responsible. We can neither fly from the presence of God, nor escape his sight. Virtue is neither a phantom nor a vain vision.

EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN.

Let these sentences be punctuated or not, agreeably to the fifteenth Rule and the Remarks (pp. 93, 94):

;

We are so afraid of each other's doctrines that we cannot cure each other's sins. (Rule, § II.; and Remark g.)

Does not the glorious sun pour down his golden flood as cheerily on the poor man's cottage as on the rich man's palace? (Rule, § 1.) We must not only avoid what God has forbidden but do what he has commanded. (Rule, § II.)

One angel's history may be a volume of more various truth than all the records of our race. (Rule, § I.)

Although men are accused for not knowing their own weakness yet perhaps as few know their own strength. (Rule, § 11.)

He is a better man who wisely speaks than he who talks at random. (Remark d.)

No sublimity is so real as that which makes itself deeply felt in union with beauty. (Rule, § 1.)

Though he were as rich as Croesus still would man be dissatisfied with his condition. (Rule, §§ I., II.)

Better live an honest poor man than die a selfish and grasping millionnaire. (Rule, § 1.)

What thou forbiddest us that will we shun and abhor: what thou commandest us that will we love and pursue. (Rule, § 11.)

My engagements are of such a character as will deprive me of partaking the festivities of the day. (Rule, § I.)

Such is the course of nature that whoever lives long must outlive those whom he loves. (Rule, § II.; and Remark g.)

The doll-shop is as fit a place for studying character as the fashionable dinner-party, the assembly, or the ball-room. (Remark e.)

The rarer the beauty of the external scene the deeper should be the impression of the unseen God. (Rule, § II.)

Of things invisible, the evidence can never be such as those who rely on purely intellectual assurance will demand. (Rule, § 1.)

The more a man speaks of himself the less he likes to hear another spoken of. (Rule, § II.)

Nothing appears to us so beautiful in human experience as the reciprocal affection of parents and children. (Rule, § 1.)

The gigantic genius of Shakspeare so far surpassed the learning and penetration of his time that his productions were little read and less admired. (Rule, § II.; and Remark g.)

Rather do good than seem to be. So live with men as if God saw you. (Rule, § 1.)

The progress of some men is so rapid that they keep ahead of common sense. (Remark f.)

Neither could he obtain the benefits which he desired nor avert the calamities which he feared. (Rule, § II.; and first of Remark h.) I am as much known to God as if I were the single object of his attention. (Rule, § 1.)

Art is capable of not only imitating nature in her graces but even of adorning her with graces of her own. (Rule, § 11.)

Either the mere will of the magistrate or the conscience of the individual must decide in the case. (Remark h, second portion.)

The more the love of poetry is cultivated and refined the more do men strive to make their outward lives rhythmical and harmonious. (Rule, § II.)

There is no part of social life which affords more real satisfaction than those hours which one passes in rational and unreserved conversation. (Rule, § 1.)

Not more do we discern in the writings of Shakspeare the greatest manifestation of human genius than in the reality of Christ the highest expression of the Divine. (Remark e.)

The more highly we cultivate our minds here the better shall we be prepared for the nobler pursuits of the next stages of our existence. (Rule, § II.)

It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (Remark c or e.)

As no cause

For such exalted confidence could e'er
Exist so none is now for fixed despair.

(Rule, § П.)

The age in which George II. reigned was not by any means marked by such striking features of originality or vigor as some of the preceding eras. (Rule, § 1.)

There is nothing which employs the mind and the heart so attractively as the close study of character in all its smaller peculiarities. (Rule, § I.)

The universe at large would suffer as little in its splendor and variety by the destruction of our planet as the verdure and sublime magnitude of a forest would suffer by the fall of a single leaf. (Remark e.)

RULE XVI.

Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction.

Two or more phrases or clauses, when in the same construction, are separated by a comma from each other, and, when they do not complete a proposition, from the remainder of the sentence.

EXAMPLES.

1. No one ought unnecessarily to wound the feelings of his neighbors, or to insult their religious prepossessions.

2. Regret for the past, grief at the present, and anxiety respecting the future, are plagues which affect the generality of men.

3. Beauty haunts the depths of the earth and sea, and gleams out in the hues of the shell and the precious stone.

4. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them.

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REMARK S.

a. The first and second of these sentences exemplify the use of phrases in the same construction; the third and fourth, that of clauses. Both kinds of expressions are said to be in the same construction, for these reasons, - that, in the first example, the infinitives "to wound," "to insult," are each governed by one and the same verb, ought;" that, in the second, the whole series of phrases forms a compound nominative to the verb "are;" that, in the third, the verbs "haunts" and "gleams," occurring respectively in the two clauses, have the same nominative,beauty;" and that, in the fourth, the clauses are all formed alike, and have a mutual relation. In the second example, the co-ordinate expressions do not conclude the proposition; and therefore a comma is put after the last of these, in order to point out their common dependence on what follows.

b. When two brief phrases are formed alike, and united by either of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma is better omitted between them; as, "A healthy body and a sound mind should be preserved as real blessings." ."-"The pastimes of youth have a tendency to invigorate the body or to expand the mind." The omission of the point is particularly recommended, when two phrases form a compound parenthetical expression, or belong to one; as, "We must file a protest against the practice of destroying the birds of the garden; for, besides depriving us of the beauty of their appearance and the music

of their song, it lets in a flood of insects, whose numbers the birds were commissioned to keep down." — See p. 46, j.

c. If, however, by omitting the comma, two such phrases might be read so as to obscure or pervert the meaning, the point must be inserted; as, "Receive blessings with thankfulness, and afflictions with resignation."- See also p. 29, f.

d. When two connected phrases are different in form or in the number of words, their relation to the context is better seen when they are set off by commas; as, " Undue susceptibility, and the preponderance of mere feeling over thoughtfulness, may mislead us."

e. The same mode of punctuation is adopted for a word and a phrase, or for a series consisting partly of words and partly of phrases; a comma, however, being put after the last particular, when it does not end the clause; as, " Calmness, modesty, candor, forgetfulness of self, and love of others, are all required for the occasion."

f. But, to prevent ambiguity, a little care is sometimes necessary to discriminate phrases from single words, as in the following sentence: "Their depravity, their spiritual ignorance and destitution, are awfully great." Were a comma put after "ignorance," the sentence would be analyzed improperly, and convey a wrong meaning; whereas the sense of the passage requires the Italicized portion to be viewed, not as a phrase and a word, but as a mere phrase, and punctuated as above. By omitting the adjectival words, "their spiritual,” which qualify both of the nouns "ignorance" and "destitution," the punctuation would, according to Rule III., p. 37, be thus exhibited: "Their depravity, ignorance, and destitution are awfully great."

g. When a series consists both of words and phrases, all connected by one of the conjunctions and, or, nor, the comma should be omitted between the single words, but inserted between the phrases; as, "Some men would be distinguished in their occupation or pursuit or profession, or in the style of living, or in the dignity of office, or in the glare and pride and pomp of power.". See p. 38, h.

h. When a series consists of phrases or clauses, united by either of the conjunctions just named, the particulars are separated from one another by a comma; as, "Reach the goal, and gain the prize, and wear the crown." But, if the series is used parenthetically, the commas may be omitted; as, "Through the soul we have direct access to God, and, by a trustful heart and a submissive will and a devoted service, may spiritually unite ourselves with him."-See b.

i. Pairs of words are regarded as phrases, and punctuated in accordance with the rule; as, " Anarchy and confusion, poverty and

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