G

II.

GRAMMATICAL PAUŠES.

RAMMATICAL PAUSES are those which are used to make clear the meaning of a writing or discourse, and are usually indicated by the punctuation. 2. The Punctuation Points usually employed for this purpose are four, namely, the comma, the semicolon, the colon, and the period. The other points used in composition are chiefly of a rhetorical nature.

3. The Time of these pauses is not fixed, but relative. The comma usually indicates the shortest pause; the semicolon, a pause longer than the comma; the colon, a pause longer than the semicolon; the period, a full stop, or a pause longer than the colon.

4. The Notes of Interrogation and Exclamation do not mark the relative pauses of the voice; occupying, as they do, sometimes the place of the comma or the semicolon, and sometimes that of the colon or the period. They are often put at the end of sentences, and are then equivalent to a full point.

5. The Dash does not mark the relative rests of the voice; but it is often used where a significant or long pause is required; as,

He is a person of illustrious birth, of many virtues, but-of no experience.

EXAMPLES.

1. Can flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death?

2. The spirit of the Almighty is within, around, and above us. 3. Men must have recreation; and literature and art furnish that which is most pure, innocent, and refining.

4. Men are often warned against old prejudices: I would rather warn them against new conceits.

5. May the sun, in his course, visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!

6. HERE LIES THE GREAT-False marble! where? Nothing but sordid dust lies here.

R

III.

RHETORICAL PAUSES.

HETORICAL PAUSES are those which are chiefly used to give effect to expression, and are addressed to the ear. They are marked thus, in the following directions, illustrations, and exercises.

2. The Subject of a Sentence, or that of which something is declared, when either emphatic or compound, requires a pause after it; as,

The cause will raise up armies. Sincerity and truth form the basis of every virtue.

3. Two Nouns in the Same Case, without a connecting word, require a pause between them; as,

I admire Webster the orator.

4. Adjectives that follow the words they qualify or limit require pauses immediately before them; as,

He had a mind deep active well stored with knowledge.

5. But, Hence, and other words that mark a sudden transition, when they stand at the beginning of a sentence, require a pause after them; as,

But these joys are his. Hence Solomon calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of wisdom.

6. In cases of Ellipsis, a pause is required where one or more words are omitted; as,

He thanked Mary many times Kate but once. Call this man friend, that brother.

།

7. That, when a Conjunction or Relative, requires a pause before it, as well as the relatives who, which, what; together with when, whence, and other adverbs of time and place which involve the idea of a relative; as, He went to school that he might become wise. This is the man that loves me. We were present when La Fayette embarked at Havre for New York.

8. The Infinitive Mood requires a pause before it,

when it is governed by another verb, or separated by an intervening clause from the word which governs it; as, to convey the news. He smote me with a rod

He has gone to please my enemy.

9. A Slurred Passage requires a pause immediately before and immediately after it; as,

The plumage of the mocking-bird though none of the homeliest has nothing bright or showy in it.

These rules, though important, if properly applied, are by no means complete; nor can any be invented which shall meet all the cases that arise in the complicated relations of thought. A good reader or speaker pauses, on an average, at every fifth or sixth word, and in many cases much more frequently. In doing this, he will often use what may be called suspensive quantity.

SUS

IV.

SUSPENSIVE QUANTITY.

USPENSIVE QUANTITY means prolonging the end of a word, without an actual pause; and thus suspending, without wholly interrupting, the progress of sound.

2. The Prolongation on the last syllable of a word, or suspensive quantity, is indicated thus, in the following examples. It is used chiefly for three purposes: 1st. To prevent too frequent a recurrence of pauses; as, Her lover sinks-she sheds no ill-timed tear;

Her chief is slain-she fills his fatal post;
Her fellows flee-she checks their base career;
The foe retires-she heads the rallying host.

2d. To produce a slighter disjunction than would be made by a pause; and thus at once to separate and unite; as,

Would you kill your friend and benefactor? Would you practice hypocrisy and smile in his face, while your conspiracy is ripening?

3d. To break up the current of sound into small portions, which can be easily managed by the speaker, without the abruptness which would result from pausing wherever this relief was needed; and to give ease in speaking; as,

Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze,

Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent.

GENERAL RULE.-When a Preposition is followed by as many as three or four words which depend upon it, the word preceding the preposition will either have suspensive quantity, or else a pause; as,

He is the pride of the whole country.

Require students to tell which of the preceding rules or principles is illustrated, wherever a mark, representing the pause or suspensive quantity, is introduced in the following

EXERCISES IN PAUSES.

1. It matters very little what immediate spot may have been the birth-place of such a man as Washington. No people can claim no country can appropriate him. The boon of Providence to the human race his fame is eternity and his dwelling-place creation.

ཤ

།

2. Though it was the defeat of our arms and the disgrace of our policy I almost bless the convulsion in which he had his origin. If the heavens thundered and the earth rocked yet when the storm passed how pure was the climate that it cleared how bright in the brow of the firmament was the planet

།

which it revealed to us!

3. In the production of Washington it does really appear as if nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself and that all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory to the patriot of the new. Individual instances no doubt there were splendid exemplifications of some single qualification. Cæsar was merciful Scipio was

།

But

it was reserved for

and

ཤ

like the lovely

in one glow of

continent Hannibal was patient. Washington to blend them all in one masterpiece of the Grecian artist to exhibit associated beauty the pride of every modèl and the perfection of every master.

4. As a general-he marshaled the peasant into a veteran and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman he enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of general advantage. And such was the wisdom of his views and the philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman almost added the character of the sage.

ཤ

།

he

5. A conqueror he was untainted with the crime of blood a revolutionist he was free from any stain of treason for aggression commenced the contest and his country called him to the field. Liberty unsheathed his sword-necessity stained victory returned it.

6. If he had paused here history might have doubted what station to assign him whether at the head of her citizens or her soldiers her heroes or her patriots. But the last glorious act crowns his career and banishes all hesitation. Who like Washington after having emancipated a hemisphere resigned its crown and preferred the retirement of domestic life to the adoration of a land he might almost be said to have created?

7. How shall we rank thee Thou more than soldier

All thou hast been

upon glory's page,

and just less than sage! reflects less praise on thee,

Far less than all thou hast forborne to be.

KEY TO MARKED LETTERS.

åge or age, åt or åt, årt, âll, båre, åsk; wě or wē, ẻnd or end, hår; ice or ice, in or in, fly, hymn; old or ōld, on or on, do; mùte or mute, up or up, füll; Out or out; ċ as k; ġ as j; ǹ as ng; s as z; z in azure; Chin or chin; She or she; The or the; Thin or thin; Why or why; sing; a'ble; illness (not niss); agèd (not ājd); real (not rel). Italics, silent; as, often (ŏfn).