ORAL EXERCISES. After describing the nature and uses of the comma, as mentioned in page 27, state the first Rule, and assign the reason why the connected words in the following sentences are unpointed : Liberty and eloquence have been united in all ages. We often see rank or riches preferred to merit or talent. An unjust merchant is neither loved nor respected. Be vitally and practically interested in the well-being of all. Let neither indolence nor vice canker the promise of the heart. According to Remarks in pages 28-30, state the reasons for the omission or the insertion of commas between conjoined words in the following sentences: The youth wrote letters both to and concerning the lady. A convenient spot, and surprise, effected his purpose. The prophet went, and addressed the people. He, and he only, is worthy of our supreme affections. Piety and unsullied virtue are venerated even by the wicked. Have both soundness of faith and activity of benevolence. It may, and must, exist under the circumstances of the case. Would you escape, and live; remain, or die? Speak, or perish. The laverock, or lark, is distinguished for its singing. Parenthetical or intermediate words are often used. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Write the following sentences, and punctuate those only which, agreeably to the Remarks, should have commas : An ellipsis or omission of words is found in all kinds of composition. (Remarks d and i.) How many a knot of mystery and misunderstanding would be untied by one word spoken in simple and confiding truth of heart! A distinction ought to be made between fame and true honor, (Remark e.) The balmy influences of neither sea nor sky could revive or restore him. Refinement of mind and clearness of thinking usually result from grammatical studies. (Remark f.) The greatest genius is never so great as when it is chastised and subdued by the highest reason. In composition there is a transposed or inverted order of words, as well as a conventional or common arrangement. (Remark j.) The first end to which all wisdom or knowledge ought to be employed is to illustrate the wisdom and goodness of God. Morality and religion itself is degraded by the use of unmeaning terms. (Remark d.) Is it sickness or selfishness that spreads most misery through our homes? A quickness of observation and an ingenuousness of character are often found in very young children. (Rule, and Remarks c, g.) The Greek and Roman writers were once understood and relished in a remarkable degree. Some have neither the resolution nor the power of carrying their projects to a completion. (Rule, and Remarks c, g.) Pope examined lines and words with minute and punctilious observation. The nineteenth century has been and is a time of extraordinary mental activity. (Remark h.) I would calmly and humbly submit myself to the good and blessed will of God. Let us greet and take by the hand those who were our youthful companions. (Remark d.) The human heart beats quick at the sight or hearing of courageous and disinterested deeds. The senses or sensibility of one body may be radically more acute than those of another. (Remark i.) The most ferocious conflicts have been brightened by examples of magnanimous and patriotic virtue. It was the greatest act ever done either by or for human beings. (Rule, and Remark b.) Whenever, therefore, we divide Christianity into doctrines of faith and doctrines of practice, we must remember that the division is one of our own fabrication. (Rule, and last portion of Remark g.) RULE II. Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a Conjunction. Two words, of the same part of speech and in the same construction, if used without a conjunction between them, are separated from each other by a comma. EXAMPLES. 1. Lend, lend your wings. 2. The dignity of a man consists in thought, intelligence 3. Can flattery soothe the dull, cold ear of death? 4. The discipline of suffering nourishes, invigorates virtue. 5. We are fearfully, wonderfully made. 6. Their search extends along, around the path. 7 Never was beheld a child fairer, more beautiful. REMARK S. a. The adverbs more and most, the former of which occurs in the seventh example, are considered here as united with the adjectives or the adverbs which they qualify. Thus, more beautiful" is equivalent to the single but antiquated word beautifuller. b. Besides the comma inserted between two nouns, or between two words equivalent to nouns, the same point is put after the last, when it does not end a sentence or a clause; as, "Thought, thought, is the fundamental distinction of mind.” "Reason, virtue, answer one great aim." "The earth is filled with the labors, the works, of the dead." In these and similar instances, the comma is required to show that both nouns are equally related to what follows. c. But the comma should be omitted after the second of the nouns, if it alone is connected in sense with the last portion of the clause; as, "The miseries of war bear the impress of cruelty, of hardness of heart.” d. Strict accuracy seems to require the insertion of a comma after the last of the governing and qualifying words in the examples under the rule; namely, after "lend," "cold," "invigorates," "wonderfully,” “around." But this mode of punctuating is opposed to the most reputable usage, and is seldom needed to bring out the sense; not to mention the uncouth appearance which modifying or governing words have when standing alone, or in disruption from the context; as, "All great works of genius come from deep, lonely, thought." Contrast the sentence, thus pointed, with " All great works of genius come from deep, lonely thought," and the superiority of the latter form will be obvious. e. When, however, the adjectives or adverbs are used to qualify a word that precedes them, a comma should be placed after the second, if the clause is unfinished; as, "The world that is outward, material, is the shadow of that which is spiritual." A comma should also be placed after the second of two governing words, when they precede, not a single word, but a phrase or clause; as, "To deny ourselves is to deny, to renounce, whatever interferes with our convictions of right." f. The comma should be omitted between two adjectives, when the first qualifies the second adjective and a noun; as, "The emperor possessed a beautiful white horse;" that is, the emperor had a white horse that was beautiful. Were a comma placed between the adjectives, the sense would be that he possessed a horse that was beautiful and white. g. When two adjectives that are not synonymous precede a noun, and convey only one idea, they are treated as a compound epithet, and united by a hyphen; as, "The maidens danced amid the festalsounding shades." h. If two nouns are used as a compound, whether so written or not, or if the former partakes of the nature of an adjective, they are not separated by a comma; as, "Walter Scott ranks high as a fiction-writer." --"Ward Room, Franklin Schoolhouse, Washington Street." Words similar to those mentioned in this and the preceding remark will be explained under the "Hyphen." i. When a word iterated is the resumption of a sentiment broken off, a dash is used before the repetition, instead of a comma; as, "But I fear-I fear Richard hardly thought the terms proposed were worthy of his acceptance." The punctuation of broken sentences will be more fully treated of under the Dash." (3 j. A comma may be put after two adverbs, or after an adverb repeated, as well as between them, when they qualify a clause; as, Verily, verily, I say unto you." But when one adverb is followed by another, the former qualifying the latter, no comma is admissıble; as, "The part was remarkably well performed." k. The last of two verbs, participles, or prepositions, if used without governing the words that follow them, is set off with a comma; as, “ On, on, when honor calls.” 7. It not unfrequently happens, that two prepositions or conjunctions come together, without requiring any separation by a marked pause; as, “He walks up towards the hill.” "The pupil of a docile disposition not only loves, but also venerates, his preceptor." In respect, however, to the former example, it may be observed that the first preposition is not in construction with the secord, but forms part of the verb "walk," which is compound, and would in some languages be expressed by a single word; and, as to the latter, that the conjunctions "but " and " also " are so closely connected in sense as to be inseparable in construction. ORAL EXERCISES. Explain how Rule II. requires the insertion of commas between words of the same part of speech in the following sentences : -- Nothing is so intelligible as sincere, disinterested love. Sound, sound the tambourine! Strike, strike the mandaline! The outward, material world is the shadow of the spiritual. Genius is not a quality of idle, lazy men. Rash, fruitless war is only splendid murder. Fairly, rightly regarded, religion is the great sentiment of life Storms purge the air without, within the breast. State how the reasons given in the Remarks for the insertion or the omission of commas (pp. 33, 34) will apply to the following sentences : — It is a matter of the finest, the most deliberate calculation. Woe, woe, to the rider that tramples them down! A steady, durable good cannot be derived from an external cause. Work that is easy, pleasant, does not make robust minds. Remove, expel the blustering, blundering blockhead! The history of the humblest human life is a tale of marvels. Behold that crowd of keen, anxious-looking men. Some village Hampden here may rest. Mirthfully, wildly, the bright waves flash along. A benevolent man is very much esteemed, respected. |