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(16) But among the females, the crown descends by right of primogeniture to the eldest daughter only and her issue; and not, as in common inheritances, to all the daughters at once; the evident necessity of a sole succession to the throne having occasioned the royal law of descents to depart from the common law in this respect; and therefore Queen Mary, on the death of her brother, succeeded to the crown alone, and not in partnership with her sister Elizabeth.-Warren's Extracts from Blackstone.

(17) Daughter of heaven, relentless power,
Thou tamer of the human breast,

Whose iron scourge, and tort'ring hour,
The bad affright, afflict the best!

Then gen'rous spark, extinct, revive;
Teach me to love and to forgive;

Exact my own defects to scan;

What others are to feel, and know myself a man.'—Gray.

(18) What matter where, if I be still the same,

And what I should be. all but less than he

Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition though in hell;
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
The associates and copartners of our loss,
Lie thus astonish'd on the oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part

In this unhappy mansion; or once more,

With rallied arms, to try what may be yet

Regain'd in heaven, or what more lost in hell?-Milton.

(19) 'Tis the first virtue, vice to abhor,

And the first wisdom to be fool no more:
But to the world no bugbear is so great
As want of figure, and a small estate.
Scar'd at the spectre of pale poverty!
To either India see the merchant fly-
See him with pains of body, pangs of soul,

Burn through the tropic, freeze beneath the pole !

Wilt thou do nothing for a nobler end,

Nothing to make philosophy thy friend?

To stop thy foolish views, thy long desires,
And ease thy heart of all that it admires?
Here wisdom calls, Seek virtue first, be bold!
As gold to silver, virtue is to gold.'

6

There, London's voice, 'Get money, money still!
And then let virtue follow, if she will.'-Pope.

END OF PARSING.

PUNCTUATION.

Punctuation is the art of dividing a written composition into sentences, or parts of sentences, by means of points or stops, for the purpose of showing more clearly the precise meaning of the sentences, and the time required in reading them.

Punctuation is of great importance; it determines much of the author's meaning, and sometimes the sense may be totally perverted by the misapplication of the points or stops, as in the following lines:

Every lady in the land

Has twenty nails upon each hand;
Five and twenty on hands and feet:
And this is true without deceit.

REMARK.

It will be readily seen that the foregoing lines, as they are there printed, contain an untruth, and cannot be what the author meant; but if the stops be placed in the following manner the sense will be correct:

Every lady in the land

Has twenty nails; upon each hand
Five; and twenty on hands and feet;
And this is true without deceit.

The following is another example of the effect of erroneous punctuation:

'NOTICE.

'Left his home on Monday last, a young man aged twenty-one years, has dark hair, blue eyes, thin visage, with a short nose turned up about six feet high, &c.'

REMARK.

In the foregoing example the sense evidently requires a comma after the word up.' Numerous examples might be selected in which the sense is completely changed by inserting the stops in improper places, or by omitting to place them anywhere; but the preceding examples will be sufficient to illustrate this point, and to show the necessity of attention to this subject.

Pauses are also useful in reading; they relieve the breath, and afford much scope to the speaker's elocutionary powers. Therefore

Mind your pauses, all other graces

Will follow in their proper places.

The points and marks most generally used in writing are the following:

The comma, marked

The semicolon,

The colon,

The period,

thus

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At a comma it is usual to pause while we can count one, at a semicolon while we can count two, at a colon while we can count three, and at a period while we can count four. The points of interrogation and exclamation are about the same length as the period. The other marks are used for purposes which will be explained in the following pages.

ON THE USE OF THE COMMA.

RULE 1.

When words of the same parts of speech follow one another without a conjunction, a comma is placed between them.

Examples.

He is a plain, honest, industrious man.

Riches, honours, pleasures, steal away the heart from religion.

RULE 2.

When a verb that is expressed in one part of a sentence, is understood in other parts, its place is supplied by a comma.

Example.

Reading makes a full man; conversation, a ready man; and writing,

an exact man.

RULE 3.

When the subject is a part of a sentence, or otherwise consists of many words, it is separated from the verb by a comma.

Example.

To take pleasure in doing good to others, is a sure mark of a superior mind.

RULE 4.

A noun in the case of address, should be separated from the other parts of a sentence by commas.

Examples.

I am, sir, your obedient servant.

Mary, please to hand me that book.

RULE 5.

Nouns in apposition, when accompanied by adjuncts, are separated from each other, and also from the other parts of the sentence by commas; but if there be no adjuncts, the comma is not required.

Examples.

Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, was a zealous man.
The poet Milton is said to have been blind.

RULE 6.

Words of the same parts of speech following each other in pairs, require a comma after each pair.

Example.

Anarchy and confusion, poverty and distress, desolation and ruin, are the consequences of civil war.

RULE 7.

Another person's expression, or observation, introduced rather indirectly, is separated from the other part by a comma.

Examples.

Plutarch calls lying, the vice of slaves.

The late scholar says, that he was sent on an errand.

RULE 8.

A direct quotation from another, is marked by inverted commas; and words thrown in between are separated from the quotation by a comma placed before and after.

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Examples.

His parting words were, 'Remember me to mother.'

Come,' said he, let us take a walk.'

RULE 9.

Words which express opposition or contrast, are separated by a

comma.

Examples.

He was learned, but not pedantic.
Though deep, yet clear.

RULE 10.

Words or phrases emphatically repeated, are separated by a comma.

Examples.

Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?

Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.

RULE 11.

Explanatory words and phrases are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Example.

The king, in the mean time, learns the result.
His work is, in many respects, superior to mine.

RULE 12.

A participial phrase is separated from the rest of the sentence by

commas.

Examples.

Alfred, having conquered the Danes, reigned in peace.
The man, being caught, related the whole story.

RULE 13.

A nominative case absolute, with such words as belong to it, is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Examples.

The wind being favourable, we set sail.
Shame being lost, all virtue is lost.

RULE 14.

The several clauses or members of a complex sentence are generally separated from each other by commas.

Example.

The decay, the waste, and the dissolution of a plant, may affect our spirits, and suggest a train of serious reflections.

NOTES.

Though most sentences contain one or more commas, yet there are numerous sentences that require no manner of stop, unless a period at the end. Beginners should remember this, and be careful not to place a comma where it is not required.

1. In general, a short simple sentence requires no comma; as,

Every part of matter swarms with living creatures.

The best goods are often made up in small parcels.

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