EAS-.

COMPOSITlv
DES IGNE D FOl t

THE USE OF BEG INN E R S.

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BY JOI-IN FROST , A. l\1.
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PROFESSO R OF ncLL ES LETTI: ES I N THE HI G H SC HOO L
OF l' lll L,\TrnLP fll A.

---- - - S E COND

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- ~- - -EDI T ION - STEREOTYPED .

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PHI L AD E LPHIA:

W.

MARSHA LL
1 8 39 .

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CO.

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PREFACE

"

.TE.

Board of Controllers of Public Schools,
First. School District of Pennsylvay~;_

At a meeting of the Board, held Tuesday, March 26tnh839,
the Committee of Supplies offered the following resolutid1 :

Resolved, that the " EASY EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION,
by JouN FROST,'' be introduced as a Class Book to be used
at the discretion of the T eachers in all the Public Schools,
including the High School and Model School.
The above resolution was agreed to.
Extract from the Minutes.
R. PENN SMITH,
S ecretarv.

TO THE FIRST EDITION.
FEw words of apology are required for the publication of this
little volume. The circumstances under which it was prepared
are ~ imply these:
! Havi ng recently resigned th e .general superintendence of a
.seminary where many different branches of education we re
taught, and entered upon a sphere of duty where my whole attention is directed to the subj ec t of English Belles Lettres, I felt
more sensibly th an I had ever done before, the want of an elementary book of instruction in Composition, suitable for beginners.
I could lay my hand on none exactly suited to my purpose. Those
which presented thPmselves seemed liable to a variety of object.ions. Some were unintelligible to young pupils; others contained
method s of procedure which I considered useless and even pernicious; and others seemed suited to direct the attention of the
1
3- to
r s and hrases to the entire neg!e.c of.

batrattdlrQf'1tio'bglil, and from whicb the
16

Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1839,

BY JOHN FROST.
In the clerk's office of the district court of the eastern district of

Pennsylvania.

If my good fri end s, th e instructors of youth, who have smiled
so graciously on my previous attempts in the preparation of school
text books, should regard this effort with favor, peradventure I
may risk a second edition, "with numerous improvements." In
the mean time, I pray such of them as spy out the faults,-which
I dare say are numerous enough,-to direct my attention to them,
as I shall be most willing to adopt any improvement which may
appear to be suggested by good taste and judgment, and pointed
out in a spirit of candor.

STEREOTYPED BY J , FAGAN ...... PHI LADELPllIA .
PRINTED DY C. SHERMAN AND CO.

Phil.adclphia, Feb. 22, 1839.
(4)

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PREFACE

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TO THE SECOND EDITION.

CONTENTS.

PART I.
INTRODUCTORY COURSE OF EASY EXERCISES.

I.
JI.
III.

PICTURES O~' OBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTION

IV.
V.
VJ.

PICTURES OF SC ENES FOR DESCRIPTION AND REMARK

SECT.

0opies
impression_may:
class with those of the former, without inconvenience.
I would beg leave to suggest to teachers who may use the
book, the propriety of giving to the class, at the time of selecting
the exercises for the day, a short lecture, comprising any informat ion on the subject proposed, which the teacher may deem suitable
for the pupil to receive before writing his exercise. Some of th e
pupils in the High School have occasionally made a copy of th e '
picture at th e head of the exercise; and on one or two occasions,
I have thus received drawings with the lead-pencil or pen, very
cleverly exec uted. This voluntary exercise I have by no means
discouraged ; as it not only increases the learner's interest in bis
subj ect, but may, in some instanc es, lead to the developement of
talents for drawing.
Experience thus far has shown, as I am assured by many teachers who have used them in their classes, that the writing of
composition is greatly facilitated by these Exercises. It would
be well if the prnctice of this useful and elegant accomplishment
were much more general in our schools than it has hitherto been.
There is no good rearnn why it should not go on simultaneously
with grammar. Any child that can converse intelligently, and
write a leg ibl e hand, is qualified to make a beginning; and if he
begi ns the study of grammar at the same time, I believe he will
make greater progress in both st nd ies, pursued at the same time,
than he would in either separately.-Every teacher, however,
will draw his own conclusions upon this point from the resu.lt of
h is own experiments.

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Pliiladelpliia. March 20, 1839.

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x.
XI.
XII.
XIII.

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SUBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING

20
43
58

SUBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND NARRATIVE WRITING
CONTINUED

VIII.
IX.

9
16

PICTURES OF OBJECTS AND SCENES FOR DESCRIPTION
AND REMARK

VII.

Page

PICTURES OF OBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTION CONTINUED •

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DESCRIPTION OF REAL OBJECTS

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64
66
68

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COMPARISON AND DISTINCTION OF OBJECTS
NARRATION OF REAL INCIDENTS, FOUNDED ON PER-

NARRATION OF IMAGINARY INCIDENTS

70
72
75

LETTER WRITING

76

SONAL OBSERVATION

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NARRATION FOUND!m ON TESTIMONY

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DIALOGUE WRITING •

PART II.
STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.
SECT.

XIV.
XV.

GENERA!. REMARKS -

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CoMPONENT PARTS OF A SENTENCE •

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Exercises in distinguishing the Component
Parts of a sentence - - - - - - - Exercises in the Structure of Sentences

XVJ.

ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE

Subject a nd Verb - - Verb and its Object, - Position of Adj ec tives
Position of Pron ouns
Posi tion of the Infinitive

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80
82
84
84
85
85
86
87
87

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CONTENTS.

Position of Adverbs - - - Position of Prepositions - P osition of Conjunctions
Exercises on Arrangement
SECT.

XVII.

PUNCTUATION

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XXL

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88
88

89
89
93
93

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Comma - - - - - - Semicolon Col on
P eri od - Exercises in Punctuati on
XVIII.
XIX.

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QUALITIES ESSEN TIAL TO A P E RFECT SENTENCE
CLEAHNESS AND PRECISION

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Exercises

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Exerc ises Exercises UNITY .

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SnlENGTH

Exercises
XXII.

HARMONY

95
95

EXERCISES IN . COMPOSITION.

96
96
99
100
100
101
102
103
104
l 05
106

PART I.
INTRODUCTORY COURSE OF EASY EXERCISES.
C6MPOSITION

is the art of expressing our ideas in writing.

In commencing an elementary course of exercises in this art,

PART III.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.
SECT .

XXIIJ. GEN E RAL REMARKS ON FIGURATIVE LANGUA GE - 108
XXIV. SOMP~RISON, ANTITHESI S, AND METAPH OR - - 110
E xerc1ses - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 2
xxv. ALLEGORY AND OTHER FIGURES
113
Metonymy - - - - - - - - - - 114
Synecdoche
- - - - - 114
Periphrasis
- - - - 114
Personification
- - - - 114
Apostrophe
- - - 115
Hyperbole - - - 115
Irony
115
Para lei psis - - - - 116
Interrogati on - - - 116
Excl amation - - - - 116
Exercises - - - - - - - 117
XXVI. CONCLU DING REMARKS
118

we propose, to the pupil, subjects which will readily suggest
such ideas as may easily be expressed in a natural and unaffected manner. We leave to a more advanced stage of
instruction that elaborate marshalling of words and sentences
which it is the province of rhetoric to perfect.
sible ob'ects su ests ideas riromptly; and we therer s
e
s essay
should, at first, consist of but one ine, t e pupil must not
be discouraged. It will at least have the merit of being
original ; it will make him feel that he is capable of writing
a thought of his own on a subject which has been presented
for hi s consideration; and that he has thus begun to learn
the art of original composition.

· com~rioq.

SECTION I.
PICTURES OF OBJECTS FOR DESCRIPTION.

Wn commence with this little picture of a greyhound; and
to encourage the pupil, we present him with an easy model,
which may serve to assist his efforts in treating of the sub-1
jects suggested by the pictures which follow. Our example
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I:\''1';;;-~-U-C_'l'_OR ~-C-~-~--R-S-l·;~"'··o.-·

EX E R CI SE S IN CO MP OS ITIO N .

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be a very simple one ; sac h as he may follow without
\l difficulty .

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! "This is a pictu re of a g rey hound. He is s tandin g near
1
1: a rock, an d loo kin g fo n vard as if just ready to sta rt in pu rsuit
Hor a ha re. H e wea rs a colla r on his neck with a littl e pad11 lock.
I suppose th e colla r is marked with his owner's
!I na me. The g rey hound is a bea utiful a nim al, ve ry s lender
1
1 a nd well fo rmed fo r runnin u. Jt is a pity to use such a fin e
'
~
, creature fo r so c ruel a purpose as tha t of h unting a poor
.! tim id hare."

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A Llama.

II
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Take the same course with thi s picture. If you nrc not well acquainted with the history of the animal, find it out by inquiring of j
your parents or tcnchcr, or by reading. But in writing your . account :
I of him, do not copy the lang uage of any book. Make th e m forma . 1,1
tion you r ow n by re membering it for a tim e, and th en write it out in !,
your own language.

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Il crc we begin with describing the pi cture. \.Y c then make a rc.
: mark on t he anim al which th e picture reprcst"nt•, an d conclude with
; a refl ection on the use to which th e grey hound is sometim es a pplied. 1
:1 The pupil can easily follow thi s or a ny similar course with the follow-

1' ;og p;" "'"'• oc w,;., ooy ""'"'

An Opossum.

" " " ' "'" wh; oh <h oy moy ' """ '

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Describe the picture. N oli ce the dove ; nnd you may in fe r from :
seeing it there th at the Opossum, when wild, kills and cats doves.
You ma y set your ingenuity at work to conjecture how he catches i
them.
,

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A DcN.

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A F ox.

Desc ri be th e pi cture.

\Vri tc wh at you know concerning the ani' 1na l, its l1ahits, its n atirc countries, and its usci::.
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a ve ry g ood subjl'ct.

Every one is acquainted with his

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EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

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Ihabits and trickR.

P erhaps you can remember some one of the many
I fabl es in which R ey n ard plays a part; if you can, by all means tell it
\ in your own language.

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INTRODUCT ORY COli ll SE -

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An Alligator.

This is one of the largest of the class of animals called _re ptil~s.
P erha ps in desc ri bing him you may be able to compare him with
some other reptiles. You may also point out the particulars in which
he differs from the fou r-footed animals which you have already de>crihcd.

A itciudccr.

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Th e rcmarka b\cdmrnctcr of th e R eindee r, and hi " g rea t utility to the
poor L aplande r, wi ll form a good them e fo r description and narrative.

A Bat.

The bat is a good subject. Aller describing him, perhaps you m ay
recollect so me adventure which you have had, with one flyin g into the
parlor- window, on a sum mer evening. If so, narrate th e whole affair.

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Describe· tI;c

1 an ~1cco u11l

~ orse

A ll o r. o.

in In s wild and in hi s domestica ted "tote.

\Vritc

, //,,'

ot Ins usefu lness to mank ind, o f his habits and c h:i racter,

. so far a~ t hl'y a1c known to you, and rr.l ate any lilllc ;rn cc<lutc you

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r•yre"""'~
, L~Hcribe go~·-- r_1 ~1abits.
the

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Hi s uses .

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EXJ·: l!C I S E S I X COJTP OS ITIQN.

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lNTHODU OT OHY C OT THSI·:.

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A Pu111a.

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'I 'I 11-s -1:-; a i"'l or t-.
I :•... 111 en-ca n a rnrn
- a,
I o fl c u ex I11·1Ji-let I 1n
- on r 111 C11 ilg'C· !\
1
· rics and 111u~c 111u s.
Pe rhaps you m ay have li car<l nn ;:1:cctl otc of 1
so me 011 u killed in your own state or 11 cig!iUor/J oocJ, wl1i r·i1 yo u ca n J1
relate.
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A

IiI w1lhThthe ere1m.irks
on tli c i;rcy hound lllny se rve as a 111 u<ll'i
u11atrnns whi ch the subj ect rcr1u11 cs.

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1:,r you licrc,

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A Hi sdn.

pcn:on~

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1'0 1111 c 1

f' Olll~

:\f o:-1 )"01111:!°
nrc UCf!lliliUte<l \\' ith
.facts 111 relati on to
1l 1Ji is rl'11-;arlrnlJlc inliahi tn nt of the Weste rn pra1r1 c_s. A picture or
~1 Jii 111 "'"Y bring some of th ese fa cts to your rccollccl10n.

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The Anl.dn pc .

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A Cat tl!:H ha s s tolc 11 a BirJ.

hi1~ t i1~ tl1is pictu~c. for. a s.l1or~ desc1iptio11 \'
_A "n glc look al it will >el your m1 c11tJ011_~:ork. -. :..

Y ou J1ayc a ''.cry gonrl

k''.:d~to1!.~

II

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Thi s graceful auim ;i ] is fo und in A"ia and Arrica .

! inhabit ants hunt it wi th lhc Cli cta h, or hunting lcopurJ.

111 Persi a, the /'

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Ill"TRODUCTORY COl!RS E .

EXERCISES I N CO)ll'OSITION.

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SECTION II.
PI CT U ll l':S OF OBJECTS FOR DESC RIPTION CO NTINUED.

'•VE will now proceed to give you pictures of some of the
most inte re~ ting birds, each of which we hope will suggest
some observa tions a nd remarks of your own. L et. us commence \\'i th the one which is commonly denominated the
king of birJs.
A Pl' acrn.; k.
J

Beau ty and prirle belong- to the peacock.
some good rc tkctions on hi s charu.ctcr.

easily origi11ate !J

II
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A Ma caw.

An E::i glc.

T lie eagle' s rapa c it y nnrl holdncs", and the circumstan ce of h is

Thi s bcautif11l South Am eri can bird ll'ill fu rni,lt occasion fo r a

havi ng been so fr cq1a·nt.ly c hose n as the favorite nati onal cmblPm,
rn akrs him an l'a~y s ubjl'c.:L Th e R nmans, the }-.rcn cli, the Au strians,
n11d th e Ame ricans, ha \·c all pl 11ccd the eagle on their standard.

glow ing description.

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A

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~wan .

"J'l1c ce!d•ri ty of tlie sw nn, '" wdl "' hi s beau ty, will Lie found usefiil in suggesl ing re mark~ .

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A Ca rri er Pi geon.

Th e peculiar habits of the ca rri er pigeon and lii s i111porla1. t 11" :" i11
so me countries s li onl<l be noti ced . D escribe the p roce~~ or \\·rit i lH! n
letlN, tying it under the bird's wing. Gi \'c an account of hi s arr ival,
.
_
.
• ancJ_:f~·~s ~ctnrn wi th th~ mmvcr. _

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~::O.:H(;TSES

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I NTRODUCTORY COURSE-

CO MPOSITION .

19

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A Hawk.
Engle rol.Jb in g a Fish-Ila wk of his prey.

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A dcs criptiun of th e pi cture, a11d of the habits of the 11awk, is cn, ily
: wri1t.r: 11. Ile oilcn h;: s l>a ttlcs with th e king-bird.

This piece of injustice on the part of the cnglc, sh"ulJ he very
severely repre hended. You can easily originate some good reflections
I on such a tran saction .

A Parrot carcfi sPd by a Ln(ly.

An accom:t c,f the pa rrot's imitative po\•: crs mny here \Jc ndded to
th e descripti on of the pi ct nre. Th e parrot is an inhal>itant of tropical
countr ies, wh e re he i$ found wild in tlic woods.

Co ndnr wit h hi s prey .

A Bi rll 's N c:iil.

This is the bird's lt.um e. Give your id ens nf the frcl ings with wh ich
a bird regards his home. The great vari ety of bird nests, and the
curious processes of the birds in building them, form good subj ects for '
description.

i
t

This i• the largTst bird th at fli es. Hie h:iui: • of plunder nnd his
Iivin ..g- on t.hc surnm ils of the Andes, arc good pr>ints for illustration by
pert inent remarks.

A Vu lture carryi ng off a Re rpen t.

Describe the picture, and mak e it the subject of a story, nr of r el flections on the hostilitic• of animals.
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20

EXERCISES IN

CO~LPOSI'J'IO :>I.

INTRODUCTORY C OURSE.

21

SECTION III.
PI CT UllES OF OBJE CTS AND SCENES FOR DESCllIPTION
AND RE31ARJL

Boy gni 11;; to Sc hool.
D cs<' ri Uc t.hc piC'turc. Qb,..C' n ·o the bny in the di stance chasing a
butte rfl y. H e \\ ill prolmbly Ill: l;it.c ut school.

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Uoys a t Sc hoo l.

A full descri ption of th e picture will be rnthcr long for one exercise.
Y o11 can write whatever occurs lo you nbout sc hools.

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Girl lea rning hC'r lesso n.

Description of pictu re. Old-fashioned furniture. G irl's aftcnti on
not di verted hv her pets. She seems to have nearly lea rn ed her l c~so n
and to be just ready lo stint for her school.

l

A Jla cno n .
T'lt. _. _

~ibc

The Hummin g Di rd.

the humming bird, and his visits to the flower garden.

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The rncoon is one of ou r North Amcric<in anima l:s, on<l is sometim es lamed.

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ll'iTROD UCTOll Y

J.:XEH C I S ES. IN CO:llPOSlTION.

COU 1( 5 J·: .

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Girl a ss i ~t.cd iri her l e~so u s by li er foth er.

Gir ls ut sc hoo l.

Dc.•cril.e t he pi ct ure full y.

Description and s tory. T111purta nee of u1Hlcrsh11ding lessons well ,
and uf scclung aid from o lde r pe rsons th an yo ur~ cl Y cs.

Say what you please nbo ul >ch unk

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Gi rl tl'll i 11g abo u t ll n

~ tu d i ue

at

~ <: 11 0 1. I.

D esc ribe 1lic pi (.'. turc, an d your own purs ui ts an d c11!nh:l'l af. ~c h ool.

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Desc ripti on. Plc'8 urc of' anti cipating u holid oy .
'tudy ha rd, and Lcha vc well.

Indu cem ent to

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A ~ nl li ng p:ir1y .

Descr iption of the picture, and of a sai ling party.

Boys

c11 g-a ;L·:l

in ~)' O HHHS! i c e x e rc i se~ .

- ~sc ribe the picture, and the uses of gymnastic exer cises.

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INTRODU CTO RY COURSE .

Ex~:HCISES IX coni1•0SI'l'ION .

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A sumrne r holiday.

Pleasure of spending holiday in a garden.
of a pleasa nt summer holiday.

Toy 1Jn1Jth.

Dcscripti un.
them.

Story of ch ildren

w !w

Dd?scription. Advantao-cs and pleasures of reading.
rca mg you prefer. "Vhy?

Describe your own idea.

dcsencd rewards, and ol..taincd

Boy writing cum pos ition.
1

Dcscri
. c .ti Ja t tiJC. f:al IJCr and mother are both assist in ,
their
son plbion .. .·Obscrv
~ Yforgl\hiin.
mg hun m fo rmation. Ilut neither of them ·
. . gI
·
11s
exercise
18 writing I
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:\ mushroom.
Rail shooting.

.L

What kind of

l---~~~Je mushroom, its growth and uses .

Describe the picture, with remark s on the killing of bird•.

3

INTRODUCTO!lY GOURSE .

126

EXERCI8ES IN COMPOSITION.

maDyc~1carviept,1·,?•.ntn. esyscoduro1own recodll~'ction s of skating parties, which
.
, . engage in. D
vou
wluch you have heard, or read of.
aiigcrs attending it. Accident~

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Description. Boy prob,bl.v " ·ishes lo have his
r J~aSUl"CS and adYant:lgCS of lcttc.: r- Wfilin g .

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mistakes corrected . \

Boy rcpro\'cd for a faull.

. .
Storv
.. ·I.j. o f 1.is ten .mg s ubm1ss1vely
andDescription.
t1· ,·
t
d,. N. ecc
. ss1
to
.) mg o amen our faults.

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l ill e ho y null i11 rl11 F:tri <'t1S hoy.

Descr iption. Story oft.h e idle boy who went out to play, while
~ broth er was learn ing his lessons.

!.

~·oor

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Readi ng: in tile fi elds.

D esc ribe th e scene.
n country life.

Pleasure of reading in the fields. Pleasures of

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Skatin g party.

Great utility uf th e

CO\\",

D escrtbc
· the nn imal and her various use:-:.

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28

EXERCISES IN COlll'OSITION.

29

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

StucJying Mi11erulogy .

Desc ription. Advantage of studying min eralogy in the fields and
mountain s. Use of a knowledge of min erals.

Description. Advantages of a knowledge of geography.
tuges of using the globe in studying it.

Advan-

Study ing hot any.

I,

lloy exa mining a tree.

Desc ription. Botany must be studi ed in th e fi elds.
lcdg-c of the vegetable kingdom.*

Use of a know-

r

Description. Iloys should observe trees and plants, inquiring into
their properties and uses. A habit of ca reful observation, important.
It leads lo accurate and practical knowledge.

I,.
An apple.

Describe the difforcnt kind s of apples you have seen , nnd their uses.

,,

Pla y ing w ith

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bi rd, or studying natural hi sto ry .

Description . Much of natural hi story may be learned from books.
It is well lo exami ne the animals themselves when we can.
"" For a s ummar y account of the thre e kingdoms of nature, see the Class
Book of Na ture , publi s hed by Be lknap & I-lamerslcy, Hartford, Connecticut.

,, .

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

EXERCISES IN conIPOSITION.

ii1,

Ii'I

lj

Doy inn library.

j

D"scri bc the picture. Give an account of the lil>rari cs you have
:-t't' IJ.
Tli c plcm;urcs of using a fine li brary.

firesid e, with good store

i

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New clothes.
The tea tahk.

Descri ption of the picture and Qf the pleasures of the tea table. The
pleasures of home.

Dc•cription. The group nrc c:rnm inining the material for some new
clothes. Gratitude due to parents fo r their care in providing for the
wants of their children.

A Fleet.
The solitary gra\'e.

Description of the stranger's grave.

Describe the sailin"' of a fle et.
_l _k_in_d_s_o_f'_ v_e_ss_e_I•_··

Tell what you know of the different

-·-"--~-=-~==~,=-=========~

1

32

J:XERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

Girl in a irn s~ i o n.

Dan gers of sudden and violent anger.
a buuch of key, . R efl ections.

The girl offers to strik e with

Describe pi cture. Offer your own conjectures as to the reason why
the littl e g irl is blind fo l<l cd.

The Mi ser.

Description nnd reflection s.

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

School di smissed.

Describe the scene, and the happiness of liberty in the open uir after
three hours of diligent study in the school.

The happiness of the dismission from school belongs not to the
truant. H e feels guilty and miserable wh en he secs the good sc holars
g01ng home. from school. Describe the scene, and that of the diligent
scholar, wlueh follows.

I

Dr:Hv ing.

lI""" """"",.,,""
,

IN'l'UOD UCT OHY CO U H S E. -

l : XEUCISES IN COMPOSl'l'ION.

34

Description. The
and dear to him.
country boy's home.

1

\Yh at makes it pleasant,

•

Utility of draw ing. Necess ity of draw ing from real objects in order
l~ appl y the a r~ to use ful purposes. Whal trades and profess ions fur-

I

0 00 , , '", . "' •.

I
c·
The crn 111 1ry hoy .

Th e farm er i;ho wi ng hi f-1 hnv

.

D escription. Bab.its,. occupati ons and plca.s ur~s of th e country boy.
The use ful li fe he lc«d s in th e summer. His fondnes s for school in
the winter. Dcsc nbc also the scene below.

The An gler.
The cnragP-d bull.

t:. ..

o·1k ••

. . and
ive what
lies
u ses yrn1
of ths11pposc
e oak. ..o,1 '·1)• be tiIC farm e r's description of the

36

37

I NTRODUCTORY counsE.

EXERCISES I N COMPOSITIO N.

;;;;.;;;/.....

=
A sleigh ride.

I

Describe th e picture, and any simil ar party of pleasure in which you

i may rem ember to have takcri a part; or describe just such a sleig h ride

Ias you would li ke to cn;oy.

D escription of Loth pictures. K ite flying. Fri ghtens horses. Should
be m some out of the way place ; in a field or pasture.

~

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Pr eparing a ta il for a kite.

I

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Snow.ba lli ng.

A very merry sport. Attended with danger to the eyes.
times the mimic fight ends in a real on~. Rcnections.
\');I.~

~.fJ~J
, ~WJ

Some.

Feedi ng rabbits.

Description.

Remarks on keeping tame rabbits an d other pets.

The famish ed horse.

R eflection s on the cruelty of sta rving animals.

The ki te in danger.

4

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EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

EXEilCISES IN COMPOSITION.

I
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Description. G ive an account
driving, and ball-pluying.

hoop-

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Blowing soap IJubiJes.

I

~~~cribe the picture.

an

Bird's nest found.

1

Describe the process of blowing soap bubbles
you can, tell the philosophy of it.
'

, Description. ncauty of lJird's n r,lR. Th e affection of th e lJirds
\I for th eir young. Cruelty of di sturl>ing the quiet of their little hom<'s. \

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Iletlcctions on gum hlin g, and its frr qu c nt couscqucnce, suicide.

1 1=1_=== = = = = = = = = = = == = = = = 1;

11

jl

:]

A

De~cription.

ti ~ h e rm a n

going out.

The fi sherman's occupation.

The ocean.

[t dcrs.
=-..o===-====-=-~=-=---=--=-===~

Its won-

40

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

EXERCISES 1:-1 COMPOSITION.

41

The snow pyramid.
The play-ground.

Desc ribe the picture fully.
in the picture.

Give an account of each sport delineated

The snow image .

Describe tho scene.

Remarks on snow images.

pescril;c the scene_. What made the hays thin k of building a pyramid ? \\hat_ py ranuds had th ey probably rea d of? Give an account
of the pyram id s of Egypt.

Des
of the

The light-hou se.
Dog and fox.

Description.
Describe the battle and its cause.
~- .. --- __., ,- -- ·" -===~~"'-"=7--=====::J

4 ..

Utility of light-houses.

!~
I

EXERCI SES IN COMPOSITION.

INTRODUCTORY COURSE .

SECTION IV.
PICTURES OF SCENES FOR DESCRIPTION AND REMARK.

WE will now proceed to give pictures of other scenes
for desc ription, whi ch may also suggest the inventi on of
short narratives, or furnish occasion for enera l remarks.
To each picture we will add a few tor· s or
which the pupil may adopt or reject at Leasure.
Hurry _ing to school.

Reasons for making haste whenQis on the way to the school
~
house.

•

The hunted Stag.

Description.
CountrieR where the stag is hunted with hounds.
Story of a stag hunt. Reflections.

Home scene.

Description of the scene.
ings at home.

Reasons for delighting to spend the even-

A Ticar Hunt.

Description of the picture. Of the bear. Why he should be hunted.
Dangers attending the hunt. Reflections.
Washington.

~..,.,.,-=""'1"'..,._,,,,-..;;...._.........~~!:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:!!S:!l!l!l!!!ll!!!. .IBl!!!!!!!m!lm!!. .l!I!!............................................__~~

44

F~XEHCISES

INTH ODUCTORY COURSE .

IN COMPOSITION.

Sou th Ameri ca ns hunting th e Puma with lassos or nooses.

Duck -shooti ng.

Description of the picture.
Description of a real chase of this
kind. Particulars respecting the Pumu. The G uac hos of the Pampas

Description.
R egions where wild duck s are found.
killing, und taking them. Their uses.

A Hawking pnrty.

White men buyin g furs of Indians.

Description. Manner of killing birds by hawking.
amusement. Now out of fashion.

'iI
I

An expensive

.

Description. Indians. How they obtain furs. What they exchange
for. Usual consequences of their intercourse with the whites.
Injustice of the whites towards them.

1 them

Sportf'ma n.

Desc ription.
th e po inte r!-:.

Particulars concerning the partridge.
Dange rs of" s hooti ng-parl it·s.

, boy s i11jurcd by accident in sporting.
[! _ _

45

Sni;a~ity

of

Anecdotes of men und

Retkctions.

Persian s hun ting aniel opcs with chctahs or hunting leopards.

Desc ription.

This sport compared with fox-hunting.

46

E XE R CI SES I N COMPO SITION.

Ii

INTRODU CT OI!Y COU H S E,

47

Tiger and boa constrictor.

Description.
mals.

Habits of the boa constrictor.

How he destroys ani.

'fhc Sportsma n i n danger.

Description. Probable cause of the situation of the sportsman .
Probable rcsull of his adventure. Reflections.

Amill .

Description.
mills.

How corn is ground in a mill.

Various kinds of

Travc11crs in Asia pro tected from ti gers by fire rountl their e ncampment.

De•cription. Dangers of travelling in Asia. Fear entertained of
fire by wild beast>. Im agin ary j ourney in Asia.

.

A scene on the ocean .

De>cription. Make. a.story. of. it.
sa ilors ·just .a bout. to. be..relieved.

Suppose. th ese . are .shipwrecked.

JI

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Rural scene.

Descri ption. Probable character and adventures of the old traveller .
His arrival at home.

INTRODUCTORY CO U RSE.

EXER C ltiES IN COMPOSITION.

Sportsman.

49 1

A green-hou se.

I

Description of the picture. Description of the interior of a greenhou se. Its uses. The pleasure to be derived from visiting it; or from
owning it.

I

D escription. Sportsman looking afler more birds while he loads
hi s gun. Use of gun-pow der. When invented. What was used by
sportsmen before its invention.

A gard en.

Dcscri ption. Different kinds of gard ens. Their u•es. Pleasures
of gardening. Its utility in promoting health nnd contentment.

A Bee Hive.

I

Uses of Bees.
Humble bee".

Their habits.

Wild bees.

Domesticated bees.

A Ship und e r sail.

Beautiful object.
of commerce.

5

Proof of the skill and enterprise of man.

Utility
-

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'"""O>WON.

lNTilOD UCTO!!Y COUHSE .

II,1
11

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II

A ~a il - r o ad.

ft

D escription.
Rail-roi!ds a new in vention.
Their great utility.
Dangers of travelling in the cars. Necessity of being careful. Frequency of accidents.

x::

i

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II
II'I
Ill

A summer house.

D cscnption. Uses of a s ummer h ouse. Account of the little girls
spe nd mg- a half lrnl1d .1y 111 the summer house, and how t hey amused
them sch e~ .

II

II

,;;-

-

II
II
11

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H

A useless sco re -cro w .

!i

D escription.

Cun ning and rapaci ty of the crow.

i used for frightening crows.

if

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Different means

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II

A Vincyar<l.

I Desc ripti on of t he scene. Countries where vineyards arc found.
U ses of g r.1pe<. Use and abuse of wine. Describe the d ilfo rent kinds
I1 of irrapcR, fo reign nnd indigenous. The w ild grapes of America,
JI T ell the - ~ tory ot' th e fox and th e grapes.

I
1

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At lie ns

I

1--=-~=--"==-~=:~~cr_i~~:· ~~:~ons._--=--=-"--=--=--~
__

52

l ~ TH O l> UCTORY

1' XERCTSES IN COMPOSITION.

Suppose a story. Boy in si>ted on climbing a tree to rob a bird's
n est. Hi s companion diss uaded. Boy would not be advised. Limb
of th e tree broke. The picture tells the rest. Make a different story
if you choose.
·

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S tory of the falling out of the ch ildren about their play . .Rcflccon quarrellin g . Thc adva ntn gcs of gentleness und la nd ncss
among c hildren.
tion ~

1

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An adven ture.

I

i

Tell another story of a hoy who went sai ling on Sunday without the
consent of his parent•. How his boat upset, and he barely esca ped
with his lifo. H ow the adventure affected him. C haracter of the
Newfound la nd dog. Stories of his intrepidity in saving the lives of
persons who were in danger of being drowned.

The bes t of books.

l_ _

Danger of violating its precepts.

(S

t:OU H SE .

I 54

}:XEHCISr:S IN conil'OS ITION.

I NT IWDU CTORY GOURSE.

~l
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An Indian huntin g.

Fondn ess of th P. Indian s for the chase.
India11 in the woods.

Supposed adventures uf an

The thi ef detected.

T ell a story of u boy who took his sister's playthings, nn<l was detected while hiding them . The baseness and mea nness of thcfl. Jt,
crim inality.

"·~y-:.~-~- ~'t:::~~~.c-.:6,,"•"'"
I

The Gipsies .

j

'i

Describe the scene. The woma11 appears to he buyin g a rnpplv of
fish from the man who is just returned from a fishing excursion. 8 he
wi ll take the m to mark et in her basket to sell. Describe the operations of each of these persons.

Describe the fortune-telling scene, and the character and hauits of
th e gips ies ns far as they may be known to you.

v

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The stocks.

A mode of punishment.

Gipsies ofle~•~cclcd to it fo~_:tc~_J

EXERCIS ES IN

C O~ lP CS ITlON.

INTRODUCTORY COUUSE.

57

11

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The dilige nt studeut.

Describe the picture.

Pleasures of hare! study.

learning.

I
I
or book

I

Great wall of Chinn.

I

Write what you know about this wall, its original purpose and its
extent.

I

Wild elk hunted by wolves.
Th i! stud e nt selcc1 in ;'.!' a b{lo ll: .

Dc, cription. R emark s on the choice of books.
book s yo u pre fe r.

Alli ~ atnr

and Pumu.

Position of the hvo animals meeting on th e river's bank.

they rega rd each other.

T errible situation of the elk.
and their depredations.

\Vl iat kind of

Probable result of' the meeting.

1:
How ,I

r

==============--"~"o''

1

His probable fate.

Stor ies of wolves

Tig er hunt.

iiing.Critical
situation of the hunters described.
Chara cter of the tiger.

Dangers of tiger.hunt.

I

I- --===-==-=-=== = =-=-=-=-==-==========-=======l
1

fj = = = = = = = =-=INTR O VUCT O HY COUI!SE.

EXERCISES IN COMPOSI'l'ION.

59

writing an unp leasa ut a ir or s tiffi1 ess and co nstra int. When
he commences writin g it is bet ter that he should say whatever comes into his head in a natural thou gh inacc urate manner, than that he should puzzle himself Ly hunting alter
words that do not come readily, or by torturing th e com mon place expressions of othe r people into new a nd artificia l
form s. The most common words are the most forcible ;
an d if the idea .to be expi·essed is a good one, it will te ll
better in s hort eve ry-day words tha n in holyday term s and
words of" learned lengt h, and thunde ring sound."
In the hints accompanying the foll owing cuts. we do not
menti on a descri ption of the picture. The pupil may or may

II
i

Ii not comm<n"< hi' ""'"'" with

'

d~e<iption.

The Merry lla ymakr. rs .

Hay making. Its plea•ures. The uses of hay. The _use fulness
of agric ulture. How it supports nil other trades and professions.

I

I

SECTION V.

Ii

SU BJE CTS FOR n ESC JIIPTI VE A N D N AJIJIATIVE WRITIN G .

I

I

t~

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O un next se ries of pictures will be found to relate
sev_e- ,!
rnl of the use ful trad es and p rofess ions. The pupil will ii
obtain in forrnnli on on th e subj ects whic h they suggesJ, by jl
conve rsing wilh th e pe rso1is who exercise [\1 e~e t rnclcs antl
! pro fess ions ; o r, if that ;; hould nqt be fo und conveni ent, by ,I
makin g in<J 11 iries of his parent or teacher. If any pupil '.:
should lccl di s in clined to pursue the subject farther than a
s imple description of the picture, he may find in th a t s pec i es ~·
of writ ing nn a mple field for the exe rc ise of his best powe rs. !1
L et him note each oLject in th e picture carefull y , aud <l e- i1
sc ribe it as full y and at th e same time a s natu rall y and un - ::
affcc tetl ly a$ he ca n. Above all it is necessa r y in th ese iniI ti ato ry ex<' rc ises th at he shou ld write freely and boldly,
us in g suc h expressions as suil his own feelings, and hi s ow11
u ndf'rsta ndin <r of th e sub ject. Hereafler we sha ll end ea vor
to ui,·e him ";;o me in tr~ ction in the nrt or co rrecting: his
O\\';~ co mposition. B ut th e ·first a nd most impo rtant thin g
is to he abl e to ori oinate obse rvations on th e s uhjeds presented and to expr;,~s th em in sucl1 la nguage as his f(;elings
prompt. IC he fee l a constant solic itu de lest he s houltl mak e
a trifling mi sta ke, thi: will chill his fe elin gs a nd g ive his

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Th e plough.

I! ploymcnts, and
11

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The Ren pc rs.

Differen t kinds of g ra in.
'T11icir u ~ cs . Seasons for
1 sowin g und rea ping.
Threshing i:nd grindi11 g. Different kinds of
1 bread.

ii

R eaping.

. - --.. --====-==-== == == =!J

f;cr====c=.-==~===·=
=
-=
·-=
·-~
-=
--=-=·-

60

1;=====================- - ~==========.i

··- -~--=-=-=·-~-C-=
-====·

INTRODUCTORY COUHSE.

J.: XE)( C I SES IN CO)IPOSITJON.

61

I

Operations of the stone mason. Hi s tools. Beautiful edifices reared
by his labor. Permanence of stone buildings, walls, and monuments.

Ship.bu ildin g.

The Shepherd .

Difficulty of building n good ship. Smallness of Columbus's sh ips.
Great improvement in shi p-building. Excellence of Americ.a n ships.
Different kinds of ships. The Pennsylvania. The packet-ships for
London and Liverpool.

A very ancien t employment. Oflcn mentioned in scriptu re. Countri es where th ere are sheph erds at present. Pastoral pleasures. Stories
and anecdotes of shepherds.

11

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works. Wh at is praduccd by his labor.
H is usefulness .

His

I

The Fisherman.

A lonely and laborious employment. Its dangers. The fisher!!!!!.n' s
pleasure on returning to his home with a good supply of fish. Stories.

I

ii

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The Ped lar.

Th e Slo ne Ma son.

A hard li fe . It affords opportunities of seeing the world.
joyments and dangers. Stories.

Its en-

" = = = == = - - - - -------· -- ----0==== == = =-"'1

6

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

63

The Grocer.

The Apotheca ry .

Groceri es. Enumerate many of them. Name the countries from
whi ch th ey arc respecti vely broug ht. Take tea for an example, and
recount its prog ress from the fi eld where it grows to your own tea

Describe the apothecary's business. Enumerate so me of hi s drugs
and medicines, and recount their progress in the manner recommend ed
above. ·

ta ble. D o th e sa me \Vilh SU,1?a r, coffer, raisin s, c urrants, dates, &c.
You may 1nakc a dozen exe rcises on g roceri es.

Tii t! A s1ro11 0 111e r.

The Whale-fi>her.
Astronomy.
Dan!!crs of the whale fi shery. Its product•. Nature of the whale.
Places whe re he is found. Places in the United Sta tes from which
the whale-ships sa il . Uses of the whale. Oil for lamps. Whalebone.
Spermaceti. Enterprise of American merch an ts and sailors in the
whale fahcric s.

V

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Its uses and pl easures.

Enum erate some of the grea t ,/

astronomers of past tuucs, .ind th eir di scovcn cs. Dcsc riLc th e appear.
ance of the heavens 111 a clear <'Vc riin g. Dc'-cnhc th e telesco pe and its

uses ; the artificwl g-lobrs, a nd the ir rc>pcctive uses.

II astronomy to the na\ ig.ltor.

!
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Th e uses of

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64

EXERCISE S IN COMPOSITION.

I NTRODUCTORY COURSE.

65

Customs of tho Turks indicated by the picture. Other customs of
the Turks. Situation, climate, productions, and history of the Turks,
so for as they may be known to the writer. Comparison of their manners and habits with those of the Americans.
·

The Paint er.

One of the fin e arts. Its use8 and pleasures. Materials for painting. Various branches of th e art. Mention the countries where
paintin g has flourished, and enumerate some of the great painters.
Laplander.

SECTION VI.
SU !lJ ECTS FOR DESC RIPTIVE AND NA URATIVE WRITING

L~pfan d:

Its situation, cHmatc, inhabitants. 1:heir modes of living.
Their li mited means of enjoy ment compared with our own . Their
contentment. Wisdom of Providence in implanting the love of co11ntry
among the people of all nations.

~fft!i~rstt!~t:ftj~tn:!!itl~-these subje ·ts will, of
course, be drawn from books of travels , and geography, and
from conve rsation with in tell igent persons. The lea rner, us
in ot her ca ses , wi ll be cn reful to make the info rm ation
co rnpl..tr:I.v hi s own by study and re flection; and will express
himself in his ow n language and sty le.

'
Siberia. Its extent, clima te, nnd customs. Under the Russian ,;
government. Pineo of exile for Russian criminals. Other particulars I

' '"'""' w " '

l========Turk=s·======~

~"""Y·

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r:l 66

EXJlJICISES IN COMI'OSITION.

INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

China. Its dense population. Customs of the people. Unchanging
c haracter of the Chinese. Productions, manufactures. Internal commerce. Commerce with Europe and America. Enumeration of the
articles of comfort and luxury which we receive from China.

bing real objects, it is invaiuable; and in the latter part of
the volume are some excellent modes of desc riptive writing.
We will now propose some objects for desc ription, beginning with several of those which are presented in the
"Lessons on Objects."
Let the pupil first take in his hands a piece of glass. On
examination he will find it to be distinguished by the following properties. It is bright, cold, smooth, hard, transparent, and brittle. Its various uses, and the manner in which
it is manufactured, may be described by the pupil, so far as
they are known to him.

67

INDIAN RUBBER.

This substance possesses the qualities of opacity, elasticity, inflammability, toughness and smoothness. Its uses arc various, and may
form a s uitable exercise for the student's ingenuity in discovering or
recollecting and describing them.

Africa11 s .

P ec uli ar iti es of the African". Their n ative c haracter. Their dif.
fu sion over all parts of the world. Their situation among the whites.

LEA1'1IEU.

Leather is flexible, od0rous, toug h, smooth, durable, opaque, &c.
The origin and uses of leather will afford a fertile theme for disquisition.

It " ·01.ild be easy to extend this class of subjects much
But this is rendered unnecessary by the ci rcuma g reat abundance of picture~ of this kind is

I

SECTION VII.
DF.SCRIPTION OF UEAL OUJECTS.

Fno)1 the desc ription of pictures and the expression of
the idens which th ey suggest, the pupil may now proceed
to the descri ption of real objec ts. In this stage of inst ruction in composition, we would suggest to teachers th e pro.
·
·
'tt le volume
i gives the
a 't of examining objects, discovering the ir qualities , distin guishing
their several parts, and describing them by means of the
appropriate terms. As a book of refe rence for th e pupil
.. while engaged in th e useful nnd agreeable task (}f descri- 11

!I

SPONGE.

The pupil may perform a number of experiments with this substance, as we ll as with others which may fall under hi s notice, and
he may desc ribe these experim ents and. the properties which they
developc. Aller observing that sponJ.re is soil and porous, he can put
it in water, and on raising it, he will find I.hat it takes up a. quantity
of the water with it. Thi s propt·rty is described by the term absorb.
ent. Ily pl ac ing the sponge in a pl.1tc with a little water in it, he will
discover that th e sponge sucks up the water, raising it above the
i height of the surround ing s urface in the plate. This property is called capillary attmction.
Th e other properti es and u<es of' this sub111 stance may be discovered by ~ imil a r cxpc ri11~ c nt:-:. Processes of the
1 same kind may be applied to otl1cr substances, or if known to the
pupil their results may be described without the labor of the actual
expe rim ent.
For example, if a substance on the application of fire,
i should burn wi lh a blaze, it m ay be called inflammable ; if it should
· melt, it 1nay be described ''"fusible, &.c.
This. method of 111aldng di_scovc ri.cs for J1inrnclf, and describing the
1j
i result, ts a most useful cxerc 1sc, as it not only s hows the stu dent the
1 practical application and the utility of composi ti on, but it leads him
to form exact ideas of tl1ings as well as to use precise terms in describing them.

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INTRODUCTORY COURSE.

1

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

/I will enable. him to find out other points of

th~se ob)ects. He. may no w try_ ~1.1s ~owers
the followrn g o b.1 ects, adoptrng the same <11 iant,ement
which is used in the model. .
..
.
. .
/2. Qf

j/ difference _in

OTHER OBJECTS TO DE EXAMINED .tND DESCRIBED.

11 upon

I

II

I

:I

'Vatc r, bread, sealing-wax, paper, rice, ivory, chalk, a qui11, a peri,
a tahlc, a nail, a chai r, a penknife, a pin, a leaf, a hat, a book, a house, a
room, a lamp, a candlestick, a lhermomcter, a teaspoon, an inkstand,
ink, a wafor, a bell, a cart, a sleigh, sugar, salt, a bollle, a cork, a corkscrew, a lock, a key, corn, wheat, a basket, a pitcher, an apple, an
oraugc, a flower, a tree.

I

I

Compare a newspaper with a book. Wntmg with prmtmg.
In what respects do a hat and a bonnet rcscml>lc, and m what do
, they diffe r from each other.
.
A chair und a sofo.
A lute and a balloon.
A bird a nd a 9uadruped.
A wine-glass and a lea.c up.
A pair of spectacles a nd a s pyA fi s h a.nd a h. zard.
glass.
A butte rfly a nd a worm.
An acorn and an a pple.
A sqmrrc l and a bear:
A pin und a needle.
.
A ra ttl es na ke and a llgcr .
A steam bout and a locomohve
A c_amcl and a lla ma.
with curs.
A hon and an e<1gtc.
.
A canal and a railroad.
An elephant and a tortoise.
A whecll>arrow and a coach.
A la111b und a dove.
A barometer tmd a thcrmomeA rat a nd a fox.
ter.
A rabbit and a racoon.
A lead.pencil and a pen.
An apple tree and a rose-bush.
An oak and a pine.
Cotton and wool.
Flax and silk.
G old and iron.
W atcr and air.
Oil and waler.

I
I

I

SECTION VIII.

I

----

AND DISTINCTION

AFTER lea rnin g how to desc ribe a si ng le object in appropriate lan g uage, the pupil should exercise himse lf occas ion;dl y i11 co mpar in g two o bjects together, and considering the
i1oi nts in whi e h th ey resemble, as well as th ose in whi ch
they differ from each ot her. \\ ' hen this exe rcise has become in so me deg ree fitrniliar by practi ce, he should endea vor to express its res ults in writing. Ile will thus have
m ade a bpninuing in that SJ1ecies of composition which is
calle<I argu111entati _ ince a ll rcaso11ing o r a rgument is
found
on th e di scernment or th ose relations of things
whi ch arc di scovered by co mpari son.
·
L et t he pupil co mm ence with small objects , suc h as he can
co nwni ently lay befo re him :rnd examine. Fo r exampl e, a
P1iN K1'll'E and a PAPER-For.ui-:n.
First, let us endeavor to
find 011 t th e points of" rese mblan ce.
These ol,j ec ts a rc Loth a ppenda ges of th e writin g desk,
and arc used fo r c uttin g. They may both be called tools
or impl eme nts . They arc both manufa ctured articles. E ach
ha s a hand le and an elastic blade.
The points of difle rcncc are more numerous.
One is
composed entire ly of an anima l s ubstan ce (ivory), the other
partly of an animal s ubsta nce (bone) anci partly of metal.
TJ1e knife has mnn y pa rts , a nd the folder is a ll in one piece .
The kni fo has a s prin g whi c h enabl es us to s hut it a nd
p11t it i11 th e pocket; the fo lde r ha s 110 s uch contrivance.
Th u knife is used for cut. tin g a th ousand clillercnt substan ces
of" cl if JCrcnt cJ<';J;rCCS of" hardness, whil e tJie Operat io ns of th e
fo ld e r a rc co nfined to papP. r a lone, unless one s ho uld per . vc rt it fro m its o ri ginal purpose by making it perform th e
duty of a fruit-knife.
1 A little in ge nuity and obse rvation on th e part of the pupil
,/
I_

~~
r esembbnce and I
.

~

~r

I.

From obse rvin g the points of resembl a nce nnd_ di stinction in o bjec ts, t he pu pil mi g ht pro ·ecd to tra ce th eir analogies. Analo;y * is so methin g m_o rc th nn th e mere resem blance of thin"s th emselves. It 1s a rese mbl a nce o r rather
coin cidence in th e re latio ns of thin gs. Thus we say t hat there
exists a n a nalogy between a ship and a camel ; bccm1sc they
bot h bear the sa me relat ion to th ose who res pec tive ly use
them- that of ca rrier; and it is upo n this an a logy that the
beautili.d figure is fou nded, in wh ic h th e ca me l is te rmed
"the ship ~f th e dese rt." I t is usc fi.d to poin t out th e vanous relati ons on which ana log ies arc found ed .
MOO EL.

L et us examine the analogy
oars of a boat.

bet w~c n

th e wings of a bird and the

Th e wings o l' a hird arc use d for th e purp~:-:c of r_n o-

ving in the a ir. They arc m oved by the 1nt1'c ul ar powe r of th e b~rd,
and produce their ctl<:<:t hy pu "hing th e a ir l>cick, and Ua1~ ca.rrymg
the bird forward. The oa rs of a bo;1t arc u ~c<l fo r ur_g1u g 1l forward
upon the water. Th ey arc 11.10,·cd by tl1 e :-- tr~· 11 gtl 1 of til e row.e r, und
accompli sh the ohj cct for wl11 e h they arc d <'>'l g- 11cd, liy_ propcllmg th e
water in a direction oppo~ itc to that 111 win c h tlu ~ boa t. 1s driven.. The
relation in res pect to which t hese o!Jjects rcsc111lilc each oth ~ r JS that
of an in strument of motwn; each of the111 uear mg tl11 s rclutwn to the
obj ect which is 111oved.

*

Althou ~ h a nalo~y has bee n cldincd

i1.1

t hi ~ limi tc.cl ser;sc, it is often used

to imply the s imilarity o r agree m e nt o f th111:; ..; 111

Ct · rta111

respe cts.

,

e

'fL
70

EXERCJSES IN COMPOSI'.l'ION.

Describe the analogy between the following objects.\
The wings of a bird and the padrllcs of a steamboat.
The main s pring of a watch and the weights of a clock.
Tl1c >ails of a wind-111ill and the wheels of a water-mill.
A shepherd and a miuister of the gospel. A conqueror and a robber.
!',a i11ti11g an~ se ulpt.urc. Painting and eng raving.
I he she ll of a tortoi se and the armor of a knight.
Th e ea rth and the plan et Mars. The sun and the moon.
A hi re of bees and an inhabited town. An apple und an orange.
A11 1:-ola11d and an ons1 s. A ro~c and a tulip.
A school and n. s hip's crew.

Eloquence and mus ic.

A " " ' p and a picture. J, eather and cloth.
A la111p and the s un. A coach and a wheelbarrow.
The ]iii' of a man an d a day's journey. History and Biography.
Autu11111 and old age. Morning and youth.

Th i~ 0x(,,·c ise will probably be diffi cult for be<Tinners; but
the task of pe rforming it accurately will be of e~ce llent servi ce in trainin g the reasonin(T powe rs. Should it be found
impracti cabl e in particular i;stances, it may be omitted m
1
gomg throug h the volume, and taken up at the end.

SECTION IX.
NARRATION OF HF.AL IN(;IDF:NTS FOUNDED ON PERSONAL
OllSE!lVATIOl'\,

Succr.:ss in narration depends upon a ccurate observation
and di sti nct recollec ti on. It is believed tha t th e prccedinrr
exerc ises arc we ll suited to bring these powe rs or the mind
in to vi goro us ac tion ; and consc']ucntly to imp rove them.
The ca refu l c :x nrn inat ion and desc ripti on of rea l objects , .
ta ke n s ing ly, forms a good preparation for obse rving and I
ckscribin g objects and inc idents in s uccession or in conn cc- 11
t1 011 , whi c h co nsti tutes the cssc ntral part of narrnt1on.
{cal incide nts obse rved b th e u Ji!, and na rrated in his
own \Ya v, ;;ec·1n to o rm tie mos t su 1 able initiatory exercise' in .thi s branch o f' composit ion, inasm uch a s tl; ey are
tl11~ rno~t ,c r1sy and natural , and se rve to kee p the attention
! more closely directed to the matter th an to the sty le.

I

i\IODEL.

The Pig eon.
"A laboring" m rm, set to watch
preyed upon hy Pigeon,, shot a
upon the far111. The mate of the
to and fed from hi s own crop, and

a fiel d of peas that had hccn much
male Pigeon which had long Ji ved
poor bird, whom he had long ·cooed
assisted in rearing num erous young

·

71

INTROD UCTORY (;0Ul! S E.

I.ones, settled by his side as soon as he was shot, and

,; "
Ii

showed her grief

in the most expressive rnanncr.

;
1

But the man had not yet <lon e with the bird which he had killed.
, !Ie took it up, and ti ed it to th e top of a s hort stake, intend ing that the
: sigh t of it should frighten away the other robbers of the farmer's
peas.

II1

"Even in this situation, howeve r, the Hen Pigeon did not forsake
the body, w hi ch was now entirely without li fo. Oay after day s he

1

!. was seen wa lki ng slo w ly round the bottom of the stick!

II "At leng th the kind-hearted wifo of the overseer of the form, hear) ing of the melancholy circ umstuncc, w e nt to the s pot whe re it was
[ lak ing place, in order to afford to the affecti onate H en Pigeon what
1
" reli ef s he cou ld.
" S he fouud th at the poor H en, by her continu ed wa lkin g round the
, s t" kc, had actually 111ade a circular beate n tra ck ! She found it also
! :-:till w al k in g , but muc h exhaustl.'d, and y et no w and th e n m ak ing a
• li ttle spring to wa rd the dead Pigeon, as it still hu11g upon the stake!
1
ii u All tl1c overseer's wife could du1 was to tak e away the dead Pigeon,
th e presence of which thus perpetuated th e so rrow or his late mate, and

ll
I
I

w o r1..· hl'r out with useless efforts and atlc n<lancc i and wh e n this \Vas

II done, the bird , havin g nothing

I

now to stay by , return ed, alone, as she

was, to the old dove-cote.

JESSE-"

The points of excellence in this little story, apart from
th e interesting cha racter of the incidents , are its s implic ity , clearness and na tur;:dn css. These arc s uitable objects
of imitation fo r a yo un g pupil in hi s ea rli e r a tte mpts at written narrative. \Ve will now sugges t so me s ubj ects from
among whi ch we presu me it wi ll not be difli cult fo r the learner
lo select one whi ch he can handle wit hou t di fl ic ulty.
N arrati vc of a journey from home to the school house, including a
desc ription of m;ittc rs and thin gs observed in the way.
Narrati,•c of the journey home from school. E ven ts at school.
Th e eve nts of a holiday . Acco unt of holiday presents.
A C hri s tma~ eve.

A cconnt o f' C hristm as present ~ .

A New-Y ca r's day, 11nd the utility und propriety of Ncw-Y car's gills.
A visit to the Mu seum, and events whic h happened there.
A nuttin g party in th e wood s.

A party to g ather be rri es .

A vacalion i11 th e conntrs. A ramble o n tli c sea s hore.
A vacation in to wn. A vi sit to the city.
A sl1 :ig-li rid e. A s now-ba1ling n.fl:1ir.
Th e li"lc, deat h, and buri al of tame rabbit. Life of a canary bird.

I

a

A skat in g party.

Appearance of the s kater s .

A sailing party on tlw rive r, and the scenery on its bank s.
A fishin g party, and th e diffe rent kinds of fish caught.
A Maying party, and the flowers which were gathe red.
A morning in the flow er garden. A visit to the orc hard.
A visit to the printing otlicc. A vi sit to a book store.
A visit to the blacksmith's shop, with a description of the operations of the workmen.
Visits to the shops of various artisans. Purchase of their goods.
A.n account of the book• composing the pupil's library, and of the

___

.I

I

ri====================-=-==~-=~
-~=-~~
======

72

EXEHCI5F.S I N COMPOSITION .

particular way in which he became possessed of each of those prese nted lo hi m by his fri ends.
Exhibitio':1 day al school. Account of your own experience.
---...C:::::tt=Jiic~c~la~m~ai'itf.10~n}5 ay at sch~ol.. You~ fir~l declamati on ou that day.
An ace nt of the pupils d1ffic ultws m beginn ing composition and
how th ey were ovt~ rcome.
'
An account of the way in wh ich the pupil learns hi s lesson in Geog raphy, Grammar, History, and Natural Philosophy.
An ac.count of what was seen at the last lectu re on Na tural Philosophy, which th e pupil attended.
l'l'.a rra~ivcs of whatever the pu pil may have obse rved respecting the
lw.b1ts of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles or insects
Narratives of the pupil's experience in th~ cultivation of plants or
trees.
A vi 3it to a fa rm house, with description of s ubjects seen.
A v1s1l t? a hbrary , and an account ol' som e of th e books.
A walk In the woods, and the adventures vou met with.
A v1 s1t to _t he sea shore, and an acco unt oi· th e scenery.
A party vrn1tmg .a ship, and descri ption of its pa rts.
Pu rs uit of a sq uirrel and how li e escaped.

. \Ve have offered a cons ide rable vari ety of subjects, relating both to town a nd country, in ord e r that the pupil may
mak e hi s ow n. c hoice of those whi ch he may fe.e l most
~onfid e nt_ of be111g able to .trca.t .. These will und oubtedly sugo?s t to hi s mind o thers of a similar cha ra cter, the results of
his o wn expencncc.

SECTJO

X.

NAHRATION FOUNDED ON TESTIMONY.

Tim titl e. of this sect io n may seem ra ther forma l. The
?b.J?C t of 1t is to make a distinction between narrat io n of real
rn c 1dc nts founded on per ona l observation, and that whi ch
is foun.d ed. on th e tcst i~1 on y of others . T es tim ony or evide nce is d1v1d c<l by logica l writers into two kinds, oral a nd
wntten. The forme r bein g g iven, if we ma y use a homely
phrase ," by wo rd of mout h," and the la tter in wri tin"
Now th e info rm at ion, whi ch a pupil may receive in conve~:
sat1 on rcspcc.ti11 g a ny s ubject on whi c h· he wish es to write ,
may be conside red ora l tes timony; th a t whic h he receives
'.rom .books, l~t.t crs or ot her written or printed documents
IS writt en testimony .
The pupil will perceive that by commencin g th e writing
of narra t10ns founded on testimony, he at once acqu ires a
large supply of m aterial s fo~ con_iposi tion . His occupation
now resembles tha t of the h1 stonan who undertakes to fur-

Inish an account of some great event or pe ri od in the ann als73
INTRODU C TORY COV HSE .

of the wo rld. H e c hooses hi s subject and sets him self' busil y at wo rk to collect all the mate rial s for the sto ry by co nve rs in g with hi s fr ie nds and consu ltin g hi s books , pa pers,
1 a nd lette rs , until he has accumu lated a sufli c ie nt amount of
a r and connected
I information to write his narrati ve in a rc.,11'
o
fo rm.
H e mu st not be a larmed at t his formidabl e co mparison;
1
I but reco llect that th e process o f co mposi tion is th e same
l for the hi sto ry o r th e blowing up of a s teamboat, as for that
1 of' th e ove rturnin g of a
govc rnnlf'nt. The tru th of the
·1·

I

story is firs t to lie fo und out, a nd th
O n ce ~
·
·
· · · .·.

I

jijjii~ik::~

not copy t 1c- a11 g ua gc o o 1e r wn e r ..
in forma ti o n co mpl ete ly his o wn by re<id in g or co nv e rsation;
and then wr:t c it ou t in hi s u wn lan guage .
With o ut g ivin g a model o f t hi s spec ies of com position,
since a lmos t eve ry boo k in th e pupil's possession fL1rni shcs
ma ny, we proccP.d to reco mm e nd , for a fi rnt a tte mpt, a subject
fami liar to most or o ur yo ung co untr ym en- the discovery
of Ameri ca by Colurnbus. Find o ut and impress upon
yo ur memory , a ll th e facts within you r reach, rl' lat ing to
Columl.iu s, a nd th •n write y o ur ow n li tt le sto ry o f' the disco ve ry . If yo ur fa ets s hou ld be fo ll', your story ll'ill of
co urse be s ho rt. But it will be no ne the less tru e; a nd, so
far as the co mpos ition is conce rned, none th e less o ri gi na l.
L et us instru ct yo u a li tt le in the process of' inves ti gat io n.
Find out from co nve rsatio n or u0<Jks wh en and .whe re CofU'n1bus was bo rn; ho w he passed hi s earl y li fe; what led him
to suppose that th e re was la nd in th e great wes te rn ocean;
what cou rt s he app lied to fo r assis tan ce ; how lw fared at
eac h; ho w and w he n· he succeeded; how hi · cxpc<lition was
fitted 0 11!; wh ence a nd wh ere it sail ed; what ha ppened on
t he vova"c ; and htnv th e ne w wo rld was di scove red.
YoLi r;';ay th en co nclud e wit!J yom o wn TCflect ions on r
the impo rtant res ults of thi s g 1\a nd 1di sco vc ry, o r y ou ma y
fo llow Co lumbus through th e remaind e r of hi s career ; and
close with you r ow n vi"(; w o r' hi s c hara cte r am! servi ces to
mankind .
D esc ription, in whi c h the pupil ha s already ha<I co nsiderab le practice in th e precedin g section · o f this boo k, may be
founded on the same kind of investigation; and we s hall
accordingly propose subjects in w hic h this kind of writing
7

74

EXERCISES IN COMI'OSITION .

I

=

I

is mingled with narration.- We now offer some subjects to
be inves tigated anJ di scussed by the pupil.
The conquest of Mexico.
The conquest of P eru.
The first settlement of New
England.
The founding of Pennsylvania.
The story of Dani el Boon.
The invention of the Steamboat.
The invention of printing.
The invention of the mariner's
compass.
The foun dation of Rome.
The g unpowder plot.
The origin of th e celebration
of the 4th of July.
Penn's trea ty with the Indians.
Chnrn cter of' Lafayette.
Lafaye tte's las! visit to America.
A cco unt of Cromwell's Usurpation.
Account of Napoleon's Usurp.
ati on.
Accou nt of th e destruction of
Moscow.

Loss of the Steam.packet Home.
Ab<lication of Charles V.
Account of the battle of Lexing- 1
ton.
j
Account of the battle of Dunker's
Hill.
'
Battle of J, ake Erie.
Discovery of New York by Hud- ,
son .
War of J~in g Philip.
Taking of J,ouisbu rg.
Taking of Quebec.
Siege of Boston.
Destruction of tea in Doston
1I
Harbor.
Founding of Rhode Island.
Death or Julius Cresar.
Character of \Villi arn P enn.
Character of Lord Baltimore.
Discovery of Madeira.
Discovery of Brazil.
Herc ulan eum and Pompeii.
Account of the Gipsies.

I

II

Some of the preceding subjects may be found difTicult
on account of the pupil's want of mate rial s . A c hoice I
should be allowed b):' the teac he r with rc ft:rcn.ce to thi s c ir- /1
curnstancc. The re 1s one wh ole class of :;; ubJ ccts howev er 11
to whi c h this objec ti on cannot apply; viz. those drawn from 1/
th e Sacred Sc riptures. The rending, re<]uired fo r the di s - /1
c ussion of these ca nn ot fail to be use ful; and th e exercise of J/
writing on them may give a directi o n to the th ought s which :1
will prove of lasting utility in every point of vie w. The
lan guage of the S c riptures is gene rall y so e levated and peculiar, that in g iving :rn account of any of th e sacred c haracters,
or events, the pupi l will naturally ad opt a different phraseology. The kind of s ubj ects to be drawn from the Scrip- ,1
tures will be sufficientl y indicated hy the following short
list, whic h will suggest man y similar ones to the pupil.

I

I

1

r

:I

Accounts of the principal events in the lives of J oseph, Moses,
Joshua, David, Solom on, J osiah, Hezekiah, Ahab, P eter, Paul, Esther,
and Ruth. C haracters of the above named personages as indicated by
th eir action' nnd by the declarations of th e sac red writers . Account
of the bui ldin g of Babel, the plagues of Egypt, the departure of the
Isru elitcs from Egypt, the building of Solomon's temple, the dedication of the temple, the destruction of the citi es of the plain, the

• ,T

''

--~,1

1.'.'iTHODUCTOHY COUHSE.

75 '

death of Goliah, the cml\'c rsion of St. Paul, the shipwreck of St. Paul,
the death of SL J<>hn the llapt1 st, and the death of Herod.
.

Most of th e in1pils who attempt the writing of compost1i·1story o f t he U 111 tc J States
.
'·
:I1 and it \\'ill IJC usc li.d for them to treat subjects_ be l.o ngmg. t~
i our nat io na l annals, e ven if the~ s hOL~ld be lurn1s hc~ wit
! 11 0 othe r 111a tc ri a ls than arc lo lie found 111 the te xt book us.e<l
clisti111ruished
men
may be
'l'l1 .,h c· l1·11·~
1· al. sc I 100 I •
' " c tc r s
· . '-'
.
·
cl 111I
i' li: rrcd to a ce rtain c:xte nt from th eir lcad1n):( acti ons, ~.n _t 1e
11 pupil may easi ly forn1 m1 op111~on rcspcctm g ;he, p1mc1p.al
j, trait> o!' s uc h 1111•11 as Caplan~ l-;1rntli, l{ o~cr \\ dliams, V~1.l­
' liarn Pe un and \\' a shi11 glon, lrorn the no11ces of lhe111 whi ch
i occ·ii r in a history inte nd ed for the use of sc hoo ls. The
! wri1i 1w "f" re111ark s on the ir chara: ters, o r .on particular pas: ·agt:s
their li ve;;, 11·ill lie a usef ul exercise.
1 ti on, arc in posscssio11' of some

or

in

IT76
features, aHd fill s the scene with manners and actions. For
IIsuccess
in suc h an attempt, not hing is so necessa ry as a n
EXERCISES IN COMPOS ITIO N.

imaginat ion capable of receiv ing and retaining strong impressions." "vVhe re this exists," ad ds another writer, "and
th e subject to be desc ribed is a n interesting one, no artifice
of language is wanted to produce a comp lete effect. The
history of Joseph a nd his brethren, in the book of Genesis,
is written without the least art or effort, yet a more affecting
one i:s not to be met with, a nd eve ry a ttempt to embe llish it
by a rt a nd orna ment has fa iled to produce an equal degree
of in te rest. All that seems requisite in this kind of writing
is, that the narrator shou ld a bstain from affected ph raseo logy,
unreusonabi e dig ressions, and imperti nent rema rk s and· observations."
The following subjects
proposed.
A shipwrec k-An escape fro m captivity among th e Indians-An
adventure among th e wandering Arabs-A hunting excursion-A day
in London-A d.1y i11 Pari s-A sleigh ride- A Tiger hunt-Advc n.
lures of a yo uth goi ng to "eek hi s fortune-Adventures of a sailor
cast upon an uninhabited island-Ad ventures of a boy lost in a forest.

n \

INTR OD UCTO R Y COU R SE.

~ .1.rnnty
. o f 1ang U'l"C
natu ral to depart from ianu
'"' upon occasions not

w hic h we m ay not convey ou r

wug

lct;,cit becomes a distinct s pec ie• of com posi.ti on,

whci~ it is of the eas~

and fa111iliar kind i when it is a convcrsut w n carnc

on upon papc

betwee n frie nds at a di stan ce.
. . ·
I and sim le · for
P t"
" 'I'lic first -rnd fundam ental requi site is lo be nal_ur~ :
·
•
.
d
·
.
I
·tl r . s 1t 1s 111 con versa 1011.
1
a stiff and Jabo rc cl ma1111'.:r .1s as ~a I? a ~ . c cl a.,.t These a re gracc1

0

/~\ii~;ihf:~~~~~~· j~:is ~'s \~~~·~, ;:~'.;g~~ui~i~:s,a;'i~n ,'~~ l;en th ey ~o~ ea~i~~

and without l.ocing studied ; \\'hen crnploycd "o as to season an

no

cl~f A])C rson

lsdhin~

who eith er in co nversa tion or in letters affe cts! to
lOU
no
an d s par ldc a'lw ays, wi.11 no l I' 1case long .· the s.ty. le
d of
. il'tters
. ·ct sAll
ni cety
lie too hi "h ly polis hed. It oug ht to be neat "n con e .
. 1out wo~ds betrays study , w hi ch s hould be a rnid cd.
.
'ti ti
a' .. Th e Ut'st li:tters arc ge ucrally s uch as. have. been w ritt:'n wi J .
\Vh ·1t t he heart or the rnrng111allon dictates, al\\ ay s_
g reates t I.ae ·1·1
i i Y·
'
.
1.
'·e ed tint the
It oug ht at the same tun e to uc rememu r ' '
I .. •· d'l

'.e

~~;~:sa :~t s~1;,~licity rccon.11~cndc<l in e pi s to lary correspondence
to be und t·rstood as pcrn11tt111g c<irc lcs!-' 11css.

.

f

.

" In wri1 in" lo the most intimate fri end, a cc rtarn deg_rec o

SECTION XII.
Turs is gene r::dl y cons ide red an easy form of composition,
and it is !hat in whi c h most pe rso1 s rr~ Hi · ' r
empt
at expressin g th eir th oug hts nnd foelings in wr iti ng . The
~ c hi ef so urce of diOiculty in this, as in every oth er branch
--2--.,
of the ar t, is too much solicitude about the la nguage and
'/
sty le, and too little attention to the subjec t. When a pe rson
has some particular bus iness lo be don e- so me real object
to be effected by th e writing of a letter, it is gene rally ex pre::;sed in perspic11ous lang uage, an d in an easy, na tura l
sty le. Dut if th e writer intends merely to compose wh a t is
, called a "benutilid lett e r, " he is apt to run into some of the
' worst fau lts of stv le.
I The fo llowing ;.ernarks of an English au thor on the epis1tola ry sty le in gene ral, deserve U1e r.upil's attent ion ..

~\

I

A;

p

"As letters are written on all subj ects, m all sta tes of mmd, they
cann ot properly be reduced to any settled rules. The qualities of
epi stolary writing most frequ ently req uired arc cusc a nd simplicity.
"Letters should be written with str ict conformity to na ture, because
/i_~~o~e . can make any composition beautiful or just. But it is

I

I

famili ar.
. .
k' d f middle place between the
"Epistolary wnllng possesses " •n.t. o
I t apJ>Cars at fi rst view
>
d
.· . 8·pccics of compos 1 1011.
.
•
serious an amusrng
1 , c is no s ubject whatever on
to ex tend into a \'cry wid e fic l~j fo r l:t~e~o the public in the form of a

are

not
ttention

I~.

I t

botli lo the :::.su bj ec t and s ty le, is n ccc~sa ry an d becomm ~;1d nct!ti'~~~t
.
. , b ti 1 lo ourscl\'es and to our fri end. A slovenly .
<> o
.
\\C O\\ C
o
k ~
t f
-· e e l An imprud en t cxm a nn cr o f writi 11 l! is a 111ar ot ,~·a11 o r c~p I . c;;.
way. but w e
>rC's~ i o n in co 11n~ r ~ali on may be forgo ttc ~, an c pa. s ~
' is writr..:nwrnl.h..: r, w hen we ta ke the pe n 111 hand, that what

~lio· 1;/d

l1J

'
t"
ten remains.

sunn:CTS F OH LETTERS.

l. A letter lo a relali. on describing the writer's occupations and
studi es at sc liool.
· • J t ] I' d
2. A letter lo an acqua intance desc ribing the writer s as io i ay
amus crn c 11ts.
. ·
tl
'l
3 ·\11 uth c r gi\' in g
4:
~\11 otl1c r g ivi ng

a 11

acco unt of a

v1!-l 1t

lo

ic c 1

Y· 'd

in the coun-

a11 ac count of a n atlc rnoon's n e

lry5 . A lette r to a farm er in the co untry, requesting him to bring to
t
. •upply .,f frnit, huller, poultry, ,\:. c.
.
0\~'.1 ~ l t.: Ue r to a fri e nd in Pa ris, req uesting hi s corres pon clcnce w 1u 1c
tr'lVclling in Europe.
·
·
I
f(
the
' 1. A letter to a friend in London, rcquestmg !urn to pure rnse or
wr ite r ce rtain book s and prmls:

t

I

tn a

8. ,\. billet of invitatiou to <l111ncr, to spend the evenrng , o JO
riding pa rty, &c ., &c.
.
f b k
!J. A Jetter to a fri end, requcst111g the lo~ n o n oo •
udin
I 0. A letter of advice, rcs pectmg associates and modes of spe
g
le isur e time.

-==-~--=.=-=
~-=---=·-=--=--========'

I

78

·1
I,

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

I

11. A letter excusing the writer from accepting an invitation to join
a shooting party.
.
12. A letter to a fri end, recommending early rising.
13. A letter from a young lady to her schoolmate, descanting on her
favorite hooks and authors.
14. Another respecting favorite pursuits and amusements.
15. Another describing a garden.
1 G. Another respecting house plants and the care of them.
17. Another respecting rumbles in the fields, botanizing, &c.
18. A letter asking a favor.
19. The answer.
20. A lette r soliciting a situation as clerk in a store.
21. The answer.
22. A letter relating the events of a journey.

PART II.
STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

SECTION XIV.

SECTION XIII.
DIALOGUE WRITING.

GENERAL REMARKS.

I_N addition to th e forms of co mposition already prescn bcd, we would propose that of th e dialogu e or conversa t10_n. L et the pupil select for himself a su~ject for disc ussion; and then suppose two or more interlocutors
!~nte rtai ning _ opp~sitc views of the _su bject; or one asking
1 for rnformat10n of the other, res pectrng it.
He may let these ,!
mtcrlocutors be boys or b"irls of his own arre or a boy a nd !
I11.s jlarent o r teacher, or two great historical
0
'
c haracte rs, /'I
mcet mi? and co mparin g th eir respectiv e c laims to distinction. Ji
Th is will be found a ve ry easy and attractive kind of com- ,/
po~ition. It adm its of g reat variety in the selection of su b- //
JCCts and th e sty le of treating them, and allows an unlimited 1/
c hoice o f c hara cters. The pupil will, of co urse, exercise 1i
his own judg ment in adapting th e Jnnguagc, used in a ny //
case, to th e c haracters who speak; and he ca u thu s pass :I
"from grave to gay, from lively to severe," at his pica- !!
sure. We propose a few subjects which will sugge:;t many i/
others.
/

I

.
I

1. An idle boy and nn industrious boy comparing the pleasures of
play nnd the calmer pleasures of study.
2. The same boys discussing the ·probable consequences of the respective cou rses th ey pursue.
3. Two young lad ies, one fond of cultivating flowers, and the other
averse to the lal>Our of such a pursuit, discussing the s ubject.
. 4. Nnpolco!' pcrsuad mg Lafayette lo aid him in his despotic de- 1
signs, prom1s rn,z re wards, "-\:,c,
5. ~iUinm Pe1~n ~nd Lord Baltimore, comparing their services to
mankind Jn cstablishrng their respective colonies.
,

h may be thought that the. title Str!1cture ef Sent~nces
should hav e been given to the hrst part m the volu_me; masmuc h as the pupil has already been directed to wnte a gr~at
numbe r of sentences. Our reasons for purposely deferrmg
any systemntic instru cti_on in the structur~ of . ~ent~nce~,
until th e pupil hns l!Xc rc1scd l11mself freely m wnt1~g m Ins
own wa y, arc suc h, howeve r, as we deem quite satisfactory
to a 11 v one who will co nside r attentively, th e usual difficulti es
a beginne r in composi tion, and the natural mode of
ovc rcomi1w them .
Written"' express ion is so cnt!rely sii:ni la: t.o oral_ ex pression, that the natural mode of in st ructi on m each is .essen·
tially th e sa me. In teac hin g a c hild to express lu~nself
frcciy a11d natura ll y in co nv c rsnt1 on, we do not begm by
systemati cally i11c ul cating the rules _of grammar;_ but by
prese nting to him subjects s uited to his comp r~ h c ns1~n, and
enco1 1raging h11n to sn y whatever occurs to h11n :espectmg
the m. Gramn1ar follows afte rwards ; and he has ma great
meas m e acq11i red his own lunguagc, before h_e corr_im~ nccs
the procr,ss of an:il)'.sing it accordin9 to scientific principles.
The mPlhod win ch we pursue , m tcach1nl? the art of
writr r. n ex ,rcssin11, is founded on the same principle. We
h
~ncMJr.a:
, p11p1l to write free! and ~ldl o .a
,'B.
of sabjeets; whic
-c erm~ider. ell smtcd to his
compl'e cns1on, 1s habits nnrl assoc-1al1ons. _We trust that
he hns now be,,un to feel somewhat ut home m th e use of
hi s pen; and \~C believe that, in co nseq uence of this p~eparutory course, he will be mu ch less em barrassed and d1sl'======================:-===========-c~~9)

of'

Irso
i

!

= ======
= ======---11
EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

Iii
SECTION XV.
COMPONENT PARTS OF A SENTENCE.

A SENTENCE is a number of words so arranged as to form
a complete proposition.
Thus, the words "A boy so diligent and moral as George" do not
form a sentence, because they do not contain a simple proposition or
statement. But, " A boy so diligent and moral as George is sure to
prosper," is a sentence.

Sentences a re either Simple or Complex.
A Simple sentence expreEses only a simple proposition,
or contains but one verb ; as,
"Age increases our des ire of living."
"The vincity of Mary's spirit, and the warmth of her heart, had
betrayed her both into errors and into crimes."

A Comple.?: sentence consists of two or more simple sentences, so combined as to make but one complete proposition; as,
I

·l

·,1
"•

!

.I

,.
!/·
I

·1;

if

j
fj

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

hea rtened than he otherwise would on en tering upon a systematic course of exercises in the analysis and composition
of sentences.

"Age, thouglt it lessens lite enjoyment of life, increases our desire of

livinJ!."

"The vivacity of Mary's sp irit, which was not suJficiently tempered
by sound j udgment, and the warmth of her heart, which was not at
all times under the restraiut of discretion, had betrayed her both into
errors and into cr imes ."

The c lauses, members, or component parts of a complex
sentence, a re either Principal or Parentlt etical.
The Principal clause is that which contains the leading
proposition ; and it must express a complete idea , even when
separated from the rest of the sentence.
A Parenthetica l clause is a simple sentence, or part of a
sentence, modifying the principal clause.
Thus in the preceding sen tences, and in those that follow,
the clauses in italics arc parent!tetical.
"He will not he yardoncd, unless lte repent."
" While the bridegroom tarriPd they all slumbered and slept."
Parenthetical or secondary clauses may be conveuien tly subdivided
into &c.
Adjective, Relative, Participial, Connective, lnterjective, Absolute,
An Adjective clause is a clause introduced by an adjective, and forming a complex adjective; as,

"A boy attentive to his studies ·is sure t o bexceI"
. I ti\•e pronoun; as,

A R elative clause is a clause mtrod.uce_d y a re a xcel "
" A boy who is attentive to his stud1.rs I~ sur~ ~ ea p~ticiple which
A Participial clause is a clause mtro uce
Y

describes some other word i? the sentence. ;,,as,
"Abo devoted to study is s ure .to excel.
b.l'. a
A Con;;ective clause is a clause

mtrod~ced

codn~

' unction; as,
"
I h be attentive to Ins stu ies.
"A boy is sure to exec ~ .e I
..
.I use which is not dependAn Absolute or indepmdent c ause, IS a c a
..
ent u on any other word or words in t.hc sen te~ce ',,as,
doors beintr shut, J esus stood 111 the midst.
h.

·r

"tJie

In ever sent~nce there must be a Subject, or t mg .spo-

k

en

of· a1;d a P1·edicate, o r what is affirmed of the su bject.
b. t
d
'

I t must have both a su !Jee an a
Every sentence, ho"'.cvc r s ior ~ntencc i; resolvable into the sa!"rle
predicate, and even the Jongcs~o~lowin r sentence, thoug h it contains
two parts. For exam ple, th e! . . t .. ·~lion is resolvable mto a clause
all the parts of speec h cxc.cp: t w ,11~ :rJ~i11 the p redicate:-" The man
0
denoting the subject, and.". ).a usr ' ~~~f tl~c hig h approbation both of
of piety and v1rti~ell 0seem cs .~r ;~~re the subj'°t of discourse is "the
God and. of lus e . w ~:~n. I· . which could it be expressed by 11
man of piety and v11 t.uc, a c "uf° rlw i~ ·mncr the predicate, or what
single word, would be a ~oun.t
n, l . tuc• is "'secures fior himself tlte
d f ti . man of pie y a nu vir ' '
h. h

1

is assertc

o . us

d

d

if his

fellow men;" a. clause w tc ,

~~~~/ft~:;~~a~:::;~~s1ed~~y ,~ :in~lc word, would be a verb.
1

The Subject is alwa ys ci·t 1ie r a noun , or a word ' or form
of words, equ iva lent 111 c tlcct to a noun. I
including a
The Predicate is always a verb, or a cause
~
verb and equa l in amount to a verb.
· quest1n,
·
Who?. or What?. to
The' su bject is known by putting tins
I
d
Who rc·tds "! Answer, .
l
theT vcr
l;
as,
rca
.b
.
.
.'
d
·n
any
of
the
following
ways:he sulijcct may e ex p1 cssc 1
1. By a si.ngl~, noun ; as,

"Jolin
writes.
2.
By two
or more noun•. joi~~cl toge ti ier, either by connecting
words, ur by s imp le .111xtapo:-:1l1on.' '!~ '
u J oh n, Jam es, anrl Rohr rt, write .
. .. "
"Kin<r, Lord.~, f:0111mons , arc all agamst it.
3.
prn1101111 or pn>11oun"'; ~~;, u 1-i . I I run."
" lie run !-!;,, Tlw hoy_ who runs'
. e ,1:c!';lrict their meaning; as,
4. By uouns joi11 cd with .o th e r word:-;, l? r_ ·
,,
u Bra ve nnd UiJ.!ilont .sol1brr.1t are ~ urc ~! victory.
u .ilfen of Sl'n.s1• would not l1a\'C done so.
d is
- to be feared
"A mdn• or
"enlle tompor
when onca rouse
more
'J t:'
!l

n/'a

H

than
a eP"'.s1
.
" Th
citi011atc
es w lumun
clt once
a d ornc d titc Euphrates and the Tigris , are
in ruin !'! ."
5. By th ~ infinitiv~ ,i as,
" To err is human .
6. By sen tences and clauses o~ sentence~; ,~s,
" Tl.at you are disappointed gives me pa111.

82

1·

Ii

I

EXERCISES IN COMPOSI'.I'ION.

" W710 steals rny purse steals trash."
" Whosoever expects to fi n d unmixed happiness on earth, looks for
what he will not find."
In a ll these in stances t.hc words or clauses printed in italics, are
complex n a mes of the subj ect spoken of in their respective sentences.
!hey ~r~, therefore, eqmval".nt to n01.~n s ; and were there single words
m the language capable of exprcssrng them, these words would be

nouns.

The predica~e of a sentence must a lways contain at least
one verb ; but 1t may contain more than one, besides other
parts of speech.
The foll owing are instances of verbs and restrictive clauses used as
predica tes:"The people nwurn ."
"The people mourn a.nd wrep ."
:: 1:hc people mourn and weep for t11eir departed ruler."
1 h e people mourn and weep for their d ep arted ru ler, w'itli a poignancy of g. ief wlnc!t proves !tow lnghly tliey appreciated !tis character
and gove rnm.ent.''

. W?cn th e verb of a sentence !s transitive, it has joined
with it a word, or wore.ls descnbrng the object of the verb;
as,
"John strikes tlic ta/de."
"Joshua c<mdu ctcd the I sraelites into the prom ised land."
llerc "tahJ c" and " Israelites" arc th e.: objt:cls of the verbs "strikes"
and " conducted."
The object is know n by addinir the in tcrro.,ativc \Vh at ? or Whom ?
to the verb; as, I read a book. R ea d what ? " Ans. A book.

I

If a parent is a literary man, his very g irls will tnlk learnedly.
: l\lan is a creature of extremes. Though the middle path is generally
I' tlic s ure path, there are few wise enough to find it. Thou shalt love
i; the L ord th y God with all thy heart and with all thy strength, and
thy neig hbor as thyself. The history of his own. coui~try ought to
be studi ed by every c itizen. When I look at the mmd of Lord Dacon,
it see ms vast, original, penetrating , beyond nll competlt10n; but when
f i I look at his c haracter, and see a man ~!1uffiing, wavering , mea.n, I
Ii am constrained to say, u Cease from man .
[I

!.

j: Gi ve tlteir appropriate names to tlt e secondary clauses, both
in th e preceding examples, and in tlte following.

I
I

He that has never been injured, has never had it in his power to
' e xercise th e noblest privilege of heroic virtue. A man destitute of a
sense of duty can 11cvcr be a man of honor. Thou sands, whom indo1 lcn cc has sunk into conte mptible obscurity, might have attained the
I hig!1 cst di s tin c!~ons, if idl e 1~ ess had not fru st:atcd tlw effect of all
1 the tr powe r!-!.
1 ru? cha~1ty 1s not a . m eteor wluc h _ocetI;s tona11y glares,
I hut 11 lumin a ry win ch di s penses a steady and bc111g n mflucnce. 'Ve
cannot be g uilty of a greater act of uncharitableness than to rnte_rpret
I the alHi c tions, wh ich bcfal our ne ig hbor, as punishm ents and JUdgi m ents.
S uch i" the emptin ess of human enj oyment, that we are
always im patient of the present. Our prospects being all blighted,
wh at rcrnai11s but t hat we should depart ?

I

llcn catl1 these rug-!!Cd elms, that yew tree's shade,
\Vhcrc hca\"Cs th e turf in many a mould ering h eap,
Each in hi s na rrow cell fo r ever laid.
The rude for efathers of the hamlet sleep.
Rut, if for me thou dost forsak e
Som e oth er maid, a nd rudely break
Her wors hipp'd image from its base,
T o give to m e th e ruined placeTh c n fare thee well . I'd rathe r make
My bowe r upon som e icy lak e,
\Vhcn thawin g suns beg-in f.o s hine,
Th an tru st to love so fal se us thine.

"He loves lo stud!J."
"I-l e .sho uld cons ide r !tow near li e is ta his end."
H erc th e o lijccts oftJ1 c \'crbs "l oves'' a nd " consider" are "to study"
and "11ow near he is to his end."
EX E RCISES IN DIS'.I'I N GU I STII NG '.I'IIE COM PONEN'.I' PARTS OF
A

83

Distinguislt simple fi·om complex sentences; and, in the
latter, principal from secondary clauses.

1

I

The object is often expressed "by an infinitive, and also
by a sentence or part of a sentence ; as,

SEN TE NC E.

Disting uis!t between complete and impeifect sentences.

S'.I'RUCTUUE OF SE N '.I'ENt;ES.

To confes3 the truth, the re arc few wh o arc fully qualified for the

I high oOi cc of g~ v c rnin g their fe llows.

.H e who_ does .no g ood:
H e who docs no good will certa inly do
evil. A city_ built of brick. The city is built of bri c k. 'Vhen the
poor compla in. \Vhen the poor complain with r eason. When the
poor compl~m, th e rich s hould . lis ten to their cry. When the poor
compla in \~ 1th rcas~n, ~he nch should g ive heed to th eir voi ce. His
talents excited '.tdmirat1 on. His talen ts, which were of' a hig h order,
excited a dm1rat1 on. Generosity would lose hal f her di .,nity. G ene.
ros1ty_ would lose half her dignity, if m alice did not contribute to her
elevation. The ship being cast a way. The ship was Jost. Expecting
[i to r eceive your r eply.

s u~jc cl and pred-i<'ate ·in t!t e following
tence.~ ; also tl1c object where it 09c u 1·.~.

Distinguislt tlt c

I

sen-

The city of the C'resa rs stands on se,vcn hills. That you are disappointed gives me pain . J\!cn of we alth nrc useful to a country. M en
of wealth who employ their riches for the promotion of good objects,
dcscrrn th e a pplause of their country men. Men of weal th who employ
the ir ri ches for the promotion of g ood ohj ec ts, without looking for any
reward from man, merit, and shall receive, the approbation of a higher
th an man. The opinions, the spirit, the convcr:.: ation, the manners of

r================================================;i

I s4

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

the parent, influence the child. Cresar caine, saw, and conquered.
He and I are cla•s-fellows. No man is kind enough, gentle enough,
forbearing and forgiving enough. The hero, whom the world deems
dese1·ving of the name, is the man who makes a bustle, who makes
the road smoke under his chaise and four, who manages or devastates
empires. A strong sense of duty, without any direct reference to consequences, ought to be our prevailing principle of action. The recollection of parental instruction cleaves to a man, harasses him, and
throws itself continually in his way.

I

111 i

SUBJECT AND VERB.

RuLE I. In sentences conventionally. arranged, the subject or nominative precedes the verb m all cases except
four; as,
"The clouds gather."
.
"To obey is better than sacrifice.
b
the followThe cases in which the nominative follows the ver ' are

EXERCISES IN THE STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

Write a simple sentence on each

ef the following

subjects.

Riches - Poverty -Cournge - The mind-War - A wise man-A
young man-Our conntry-Washington-Napoleon-William PennGeography - Grammar-Poetry - Declamation- Winter -SpringTime-A summer day-A winter evening.

Write a complex sentence on each ef the following subjects,
exemplifying tlie dYferent kinds of parenthetical clauses.
An ungrateful servant- An undutiful child-An old soldier- A true
patriot-A hard creditor- A cannon-A castle- An oak-A lion-An
eagle- An entertaining book-An eloquent orator-A river-A sword
-A dove-A fox-Hope- Despair-An arm-chair-A desk-Temperance-Prudence-Frugality-A forest- The bible-Music.

SECTION XVI.
ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE.

Tim words of a sentence may be arranged either in Conventional or Rhetorical order.
The Conventional order is that arrangement of words
which is most usual in the language.
The Rhetorica l order is that arrangement which results
from the peculiar frame of mind in which the sentiment is
spoken or written.
The conventional order seems chiefly accommodated to simple explanation, narrative, and deduction; the rhetorical to what admits the
exertion of fancy or of pa ssion.
The rhetorical order is in every language more or less cramped by the
laws of conventional arran;;emcnt. But it is most fettered in languages which, like the English, admit of few inflections.
The chief object of the rhetorical order seems. to be to place the
emphatical word or words in that position in lhe sentence, which will
give them the greatest advantage for fixing the attention of the hearer
or reader.

The chief laws of arrangement, both conventional and
rhetorical, are thfl following : 1

s5 i

' '

ing :. . t
t' e . as,
1. When the sentence is m erro?~~ iv '
" Do I riches make men happy ·
"Stands I Scotland where it did?_"
2. When the sentence is irr:perjlllve; as
"Go I thou." "Read I.ye. . .
. ,
3. When a supposition is elhptlc~lly exr,ressed' u.,
"Had I I known it." "\Vere I it true.
t
4. When the verb is preceded .by there., here, h~nce, then, t 1ms, ye '
60 , nor, neither, suclt, herein, ther ein, wh1~rein, &c. , as,
" There~· was \ a man sent from God .
.
.
,,
u Here are I five loaves."
. h are deviations
" Hence arise I strifes and d1s!'ens1ons.
A few phrases, such as, said he, replied_ they, wh1c
from the general rule, scarcely deserve notice.
.

RuLE II. In sentences rhetorically arrang~d, t.he predicate is often, for the sake of emphasis and v1vac1ty, made
to precede the subject.
"Shines forth \ the cheerful sun.!" ,,,
"Great I is Diana of the Eph~sians ·
,,
1
" Blessed is \ he that com eth 111 the name 0~ 1 ~he Lord ·
"Fallen fallen is \ Babylon that great city·
I
In sucl; insta~ccs the conventional arrangem~nt woul~ gEa~ Y
weaken the vivacity 'or the statement.. !hus, "Diana .oft e p e.
·
t" would be a frigid and spmtless exclamat10n, compared
f 1
d
I
ntences rhetorically
sians is grea '
with the above transposition o t 1e wor s.
n se.
.
d
arran ed, the subject, when peculiarly impor.tant, is "?metimes ma e
to sta~d at the beginning of the sentence w~thou~ its mtended v;.rb-;the predicate taking the form of an exclamat10n with a pronoun or its
nominative ; as,
.
. . ,,,
"The rainbow-how beautiful it 1s.
VERB AND ITS OBJECT.

RuLE III. In sentences conventionally arran&ed, ~ tr~nsi­
tive verb precedes its object, except when the object LS ~1t~er
expressed by a relative pronoun or preceded by a re ative
pronoun as its adjective; as,
h
~ no wed by a verb when the
,,. A sentence is generally introduced _by t ere, o f
to the sen'timent ex·
speaker or writer wishes to call particular atten IOD
, pressed.
1

8

IT°-

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

:: God created I the heavens and the earth."
"If ye love I me, keep I my commandments."
,
No account has yet reached I us of th
i' patched."
e m en whom
Whatsoever blessings I he bestows."

i "

R UL~ IV.

:I

I you

Jn rlt etorical sentences the ob ·ect wh

des.

h

•I em phati c word, precedes its verb. as
~ '
en t e
i/ " .
'
'
I
Stiver and gold I have I
b
;; th ee."
none, ut such as I have I give I to
.
'II I"\VI
10m ye ignorantly worship, him I declare I unto
,.
11 verse, cons ideraule latitude f t
··
.
you.
'1' in most other respects, even wher~
ra~sp~s1~on is allow~d i? this, as
'
"She with extended arms his aidemlfnia sl1s ~~s not require it; ns,
N
t t
1 p ores.
j " o por en s now onr foes / amaze."
•/
Our harps I by Babel's streams we left."

I

"

POSITION OF ADJECTIVES.

'/ Ilu~,E V. The adjective is generally 1 d ·
.
·' before th e noun which it qualifies. a
pace immedmtely

'I

' (. s,

"A 1..caut.ir~il tree. "A mighty river."
rh~~~ ure four cases in. which thi s order is inverted .
' as, .
ien the adJccllvc is used us a title, it is placed. after its noun;
·

"Alexander J th e /!real."
"Lorenzo

I th e

ma gn ifi ce nt."

2. \Vlwn th ere are more adj ectives than

. .
.
noun, they are generally placed aft "t · ' . one Jomed with the same
,, A
J
.
·
er l , as,
nian w1sc , _vul~ant_, and good."
.
'
3. \Vhcn tlic adjecti ve itself is
]"fi db
with which it forms u complex aJ ua i'- e . Y. so~e other word or words
I as,
.
JCC i ve, it is p aced after the noun;

'I

" A scholar

Jre.spectful to his teacher."

spf~~fu~.~)~~o~~e~~;~h'~l~i~~

fualifies

I

1

"An army_J fi!lecn th ousand strong."
Th e adj ective is sepa rated Ii
·t
.
dof th e verb, and so forms al;.~gm ~fthnotuhn when it qualifies the action ,
;: noun · us
e verb the predicate of the
·f " rfc d;·inks deep. "
It looks strange."

I

'"
I

;

Rur,E VI. Jn rhetorical sentences, the adjective, when
* Pc rlrnps thi s nll c oug ht to be c .

j th at imm edi ate ly preceding ; but a~'!~1dlcret1 . as only a sp~cifi r. app li ca tion of

!I o_f extent, as well as that of th e . c1 ·
:

1

t1 0 11 ed.

·=--

Iemphatic,
begins the sentence, and is often separated from
its noun by considerable distance ; as,
" Great I is the Lord."
"Auspicious to our country I will be the change."
The urticles a and the, though generally prefixed to ndjectives, are
in certain cases subjoined to them.
A or an is always put after the adjective such; it is also put after all
adjectives when they are preceded by the words, as, so, too, how; ns,
" Such I a king as ours,t'
"As great I as he was."
"So va8t I a multitude."
The is put after the adjective all only ; ns,
"All I the city assembled."
When this and that describe. n succession of objects, this is applied
to the latter or nearer, and that to the former or more remote ; us,
" Bashfulness and impudence ought both to be avoided ; this render.
ing us obj ects of disgust, that of pity."
POSITION OF PRONOUNS.

RuLE VII. When the personal pronouns come together,
the pronoun of the second person is placed before that of the
third; and the pronoun of the first person is placed after
those of the second and third; as,
" If you nn d Tullia nre well, Cicero and I nre well."*

RuLE VIII. The relative pronouns, with their clauses,
are, to prevent ambiguity, placed as close as possible to
their correlatives.
Thus, in the following sentence, in which the justness of the master's
character, not the servant's, is meant to be exp ressed, the order should
he, not "The master dismissed his servant, whom none believed to be
capable of an unjust act," but "The master, whom none believed to be
capable of an unjust act, dism issed his servant."

the noun "scholar" is not ,, re . 1

4 An ·tdJ"ectivc I
t . p ex adJc.ct1ve "respectful to liis teacher" /
·
'
· 'cno mg extent 1s put after th
1
I· h ·
, presses tlie measure of extent ·*
e c ausc w 11e ex1/ "A wa 11 j ten fee t high." ' as,
'

I

~ esc~1bes th e pos1t1on of the measure

a Jer..tive, 1t dese r ves to be separuttiJy m en -

87 Ii

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

POSITION OF THE INFINITIVE.

Rur.F. IX. In conventional sentences, tho infinitive is
placed allor tho verb on which it depends, though often separated from it by other words; as,
" fi e was commanded

"He was commanded

I to release th e prisone rs ."
I by the king I tn release the

prisoners."

RuLE X. In rhcto1·ical sentences, tho infinitive without
its sign is sometimes, for tho sake of emphasis, made to
occu py the first place in tho sen tence ; as,
" Go

II

"Avoid

must, whatever may ensue."

I it he

could not by any means."

,.. In Latin, th e oppo,itc arrangement of th e pr onoun o f the first person is
adopted. In that lan guage, the in stance here g iv en is, "Si tu ct 7'ullia, v nle tis,
ego ct Ci c1:ro vn lcm us."

88
11 ~=~==~~====·
EXERCISES IN COllPOSITION.
STRUCTURE OF SENTJ>NCES .
POSITION OF ADVERBS.

RuLE XI. Adverbs are usual!
I
which th ey are intended t
I' y p aced close to the words
I precede or fo llow them se~,~~at tf~; but whether th ey should
except in the case of ad"ectio e reg~lated by the sound,
precede.
J
ves, which they generally

I

/ . Thus we suy "truly I wise " "
.
.
either "he was graciously recei~ed,, em i2~ntly I p10us ;" but we say
Enouglt is alway s placed afte .t 'd.or . ie was received graciously."
r I s a Ject1ve; as," The hou se is large I
enough."
Never commonly precedes
. l
l o,~s; as,
.
a smg e verb, except be, which it fol-

I

" H e never sings."
We are never absent."
Not only, not m erely, and other ad

.
arc placed so as clearly to i d" t v~rbs wluch affect wl1ole clauses
thus,
.
n ica e tie clauses which they qualify;
"He was received not onl I . l
.
ncss."
Y unt' courtesy, but treated with k" d
" H e was not onl I
·
.
m ness."
y received w1tlt courtesy, but treated with kind.
The following collocution would b .
"He was not 1
e mcorrcct : .
"H
o_n y received with court
b
.
.
esy, ut with kmdness."
e was received not 0 1 .
n y wit 1I courtesy, but treated with kind.
ness."

RuLE

XII. Adverbs, when emph f . I

~entence and be separated

mtended to qualir.y
.
1
, as,

.

f>

RuLF. XIII. The preposition is
.
ately before its object; but it is al• generall y placed immediaffrr it, and even at a co .d bl, o ~ ot unfrequr.ntly placed
.
ns1 era e distance from it . h
We nrny either sa "r. /
' t us,

or " .Suclt. con duct I y .1_or

such conduct I am at I
nm at a loss to nccount for ."¥ a oss to account,"
I

SOtn P. criti ci;, hut o l;~· : '
rng _t rn rrcpos ition from if ~ h.
.
m ore nccon/a11t tJ1<.11 iou sJy 0 11 .rn s u~ficic n t groun ds. No o ~ <'c t ' ~ co n~e mned by

appea rs

frn 111 il f.:

pr~,~;'g .orros 1te '~'Jth til e orig inal i di n ~n o~1;y is thi s practice
TWem ore ii:i .coll o<p1i a l tli scour..;"o;: b11 ? 1~~ .l ai~g uage , as

:,

I ~;~~~;;, ~o~~.~~c7~,; I::·::·1 i·.~.~1 }o':r:~~~r:~;: nl:~~,:~; ;:t;;~~:,~~..~~.! 1:~s ~1:rIE~ g:~
-

1

a u.

POSITION OF CON J UNCTIO J\" S.

RuLE XIV, The position of conj unctions varies accord- ,
ing as they connect sentences , or merely parts of sentences. [I
Such conjunctions as than, if, though, althoug h, tlta.t, when, lest, un- ,
I!
less, &c., which connect clauses to which they refer; as,
" The Tweed is larger titan I t !t e T eviot."
" 71wuglt I he sla y me, yet / will I trnst in h-im."
" L et him that standcth lak e heed lest I he fall."
The position of conjunctions whi ch conn ect sentences, is different, jl
according as they consist of one sy Babic, or of more th an one sy 1- I

I

!able.
Monosyllabic conjunctions with the exception of tli en, ure placed at 11
the begi11ning of the second sentence; us,
" The orator was receiv ed on his entran ce with great applause, great
expectations having been form ed of him, But when he began to speak
there was a general feeling of disappointment."
"The company of protligatc young men is perilous to your well- 1
being. Sec, then, that you carefully avoid it."
't
Conjunctions of more th an one sy llable, with the exception of
whereas, which is never tran s1>osed, mny be transferred to one or more
placc.s from the beginning of the sen tence, according to the preference .

I

I
I

"The castle is strongly fo rtified , and full of brave and veteran
troops, lt• governor, moreover, is the hero of many a well-fought
fi eld . A stout and strenuous resistance is tli erefore to be anticipa ted.
It were abject cowardice, and pure folly, however, for Britons to doubt
of ultim ate Bucccss."
EXER CI SES ON

A RR ANGF.~l EN T.

D isting uish which ef the f ollo wing sentences is arranged
conventionally, and which rhetorically:-

POSITION OF PREPOSITIO NS .

on gc nern l pr in cipl cP::

which admit of the grcatc't lutitudc, in this respect, are
which an d u:hom; as,
a poet in I whom I much delight;" or,
a poet tvh.om I much delight I i.n!'

of sound ; as,

I a ica ' may introduce a
· iom t le words which they are

"How completely / h"
·
" Up I
ti
is passion !1as blinded him '"
Tl .
goe~ ie ponderous drawbridge"
·
llS pos1t1on of adverbs ·
·
and interrogative sentences. is most frequently found in exclamatory

* Til e rr:u; t.iC'f' Of scpa ra t·

The words
the relatives*
"Milton is
"Milton is

89 'i

\1Vll c11 th e form er, there.

I

The red urtillery flashed for .
Fnr flashed the red artillery.
These fires shall glow still redder.
R edder still these fires shall glow.
fore, is se para ted from th e la tte r by int erven in g wo rd s, as ofl e n ha ppens , the
speaker or w ri ter is reduced to the alternative ci th L·r of m nkini? th e preposi ti on
follo w its subj ect , in whi ch c:i se it mu st be dcta chP.d from i ts ohj,~ c t , or of makin g
it preced1; its o bj ect, in w hi ch i: a ~e it mu st he dc ta chetl from its s uhject. The
choice, in itae lf arbi lrary, ca n on ly be detcrrn in efi in the iu~tancc nf a ny par.
ti cular la 11 g1J age by c11~tn111 . -Yide Camphcl l's Philosop hy of Rh etoric . b. iii . c. 4,
for n full and sat i sfa ctory di scuss io n o f th e point.
* It is worthy of remark, that th oug h th e re lati ve that tines not ailmit a prepo<;ition before it, it admi ts it al some dis tan ce n0.f! T it. Th us though we cannot sny " He i~ th e same ninn with that yo u are acquainted, '' we can l!ny " He is
th e same man t ltat you ate acquai nted with."

l'.==== ============ ==============

1

; 90

l

EXEI!CISES IN COMPOS ITION,

Have you sold your horse ?
Hae.! he told me in time, I woulrl have gone w'th l .
Thcr~ appears to be a mistake.
I
um.
"I w1H not agree," replied he, an d departed
Fallen •s. th.l'. thron e, O Israel!
·
~fly son, if sinners entice th ee, consent thou not
1y threats, thy mercy I de fy !
•
So able and excellent a man has seldom
. d
tli!~rtunate beyond his fellows is the mana~,l~~r~,;s had

a pious mo-

C01·rect tli.e /rnpropei· .colloccct.ion of tlte woi·ds in italics in
t te following conventional sentences.
Estimated is the population of J
There mou.ntains are .round ab tetruJsa 1cml at twenty thousand.
'J'J
.
o 1 crusa em
ie mas ter /us apprentice dismissed ' . h .
. .
If .)'.OU me respect, do not my frie11d v.1t. out a reason assigning.
He is a so dcscrvin t
csp1se.
. Winter is ov~r und ~ ;~~· '.~:t tli~re ~o fear i~ of hi s success in life.
lls frost.
· sp,,ng' that wJth its flowers, tltis with
Risen is lite sun; it is time for me and
John and yuu arc defeated .
you. to lea ve our beds.
winners.
' me :llld Hobert the judges declare to be
'l'he house belongs to m b ti
,.
1
The b k b ,I
Y ro icr, wmclt is built of brick.
oo
" ongs to the muster wli. j
.
. The village s tands on the l1il 1 '. . zct conta1'!s so many.fine slol'ies.
1s in the valley whence the cu . ~ ult1cli khas t!te fine steeple; the village
1 ing smo e ascends
TJ
.'
Hie vale 0 t the Tweed is bea utiful exceediwrly.
e not on 1y came with out his r .
b
''" .
.
Not m erely is she young but bca r;.~!l'f ut without l11s servant.
1
The city is 1101 0111 fi '
cau. u ·
H e kept back 11ot yo
but the river on which, jt stands.
n Y part of I.h e truth; he uttered pos iti ve falsehoods.
y ou n ever are in tim e for school

d

1

I

I

1

te,

The lesson is cnuu.g/1 Jong.

·

Transpose tlte pn:positions in tlte l'.oll .
J • owino- sentences in
as nuw,1; ways as tlte sense will ad:f'tit :'
It is a fact about. which men now rnr I d'ffi
and the printing press arc inv t'
' fie Y 1 er, that the paper mill
thankful.
en ions or which we can not be too
Of my roving course of Jife J h I I0
I01•e of travel J could not free
ac_ ng ago repented; but from the
F.
II I
my mmc.1
or a t iat you think, and speak and do y
t
account.
•
• ou mus at the Inst day
/
To you I oft have of my lot compla ined.
Such base conduct the very slaves whom
you yes terday parted with
would have been di sg raced lry.

I

91

I

Point out in the following sentences, tlte conjunctions which
connect sentences and tltose which connect only parts
of sentences ; also the sentences and parts of sentences
wkich they respecti1,ely connect.

Down came the blow.
On they march regular a• rolling water.
Onward sweep t/w varied nations.

0

STI!UCTURE OF SENTENCES.

I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I um
there you may be also.
Let us not say we keep the commandments of the one, when we
break the commandments of the other. Por, unless we observe both,
we obey n either.
·
If th ere's a power above usAnd that there is all nature cries aloud
Through all her works-he must delight in virtue.
It is of the utmost importan ce to us, that we associate principally
with the wise and virtuous. When, therefore, we choose our companions, we ought to be extremely cautious in our selection.
Without love to God the enjoyment of him is unattainable. N010,
as, that we may love Goel, it is necessary to know him ; so, that we
may know him, it is n ecessary to study his works.

Transpose tlte conjunctions in tlie following sentences.
You have di srega rded my counsel, then tnke the consequen ces.
The city was but ill provided in the means of defence. However,
it made a vigorous resistance to the besiegers .
The river is broad nnd deep, and may not be crossed w ithout peril.
It is moreover s wollen by the melting of the mountain snows.

Convert by transposition tlte following rltetorical sentences
"
·
into conventional sentences.
Though fickle be our climate a nd deformed with dripping rains our
seasons, yet our sullen skies and fi eld s without a flow er I would not
exchange for warmer France with all her vin es.
My fields you may set on fir e, nnd my children give to the sword;
myself you may drive forth a housclcs•, ch ildless hcggar, or load with
the fette rs of slavery; but th e hatred I feel to yo ur oppression never
can you conquer.
Be thou her
Deep in the ocean has •unk her husband beloved.
comforter, who art the widow's fri end!
On came the evening. There wns over nll the lnnd deep silence;
"nd though I he sun in murky cloud s went down , yet tha t he would not
rise at morning dawn in wonted brilliancy, none dreamed. But not
long were men thus kept in ~ uspen s~ . Before midnight ~ere heard
over nll the di strict unusual nmses. 1 he ocean became ng1tated w ithout any apparent cause ; down fell the rain in torrents- a perfect deluge.
The ground heaved ; the . hou ses nncl lr~cs shook : up •J>rang a
tremendous hurri cane; quick dart.eel th e hght.nml!'. And with pale
lips man whispered, "An earthquake! an ea rthquake!" The earth.
quake it was: nnd that nig ht the city of th e Peruvians ceased to be.

' ~~~--================================================.!

92

EXERCISES I N COMPOSITION.

Th~ earth to thee its incense yields,
'I he la ~k thy welcome sings,

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

93

W}i,en, g htterrng in the freshened fields,
I he snowy mushroom springs.

~Icre, in n .shrine that cast u dazzling Jig ht,
H'·te fixed m thot1g ht the mighty Stagyrite.
Ai ~ sacr.cd hea~ a radiant zodi ac crowned
n various an1111als his sides surround . '
: 1.
Virtue
1\Kia t urcd me
mes us up to God an d heaven,
By Jaw ?f sweet compulsion strong and sure;
As gravitation to the larger orb
The less attracts, through matter's whole domain.
Upon .thy mother's knee, a new.born child

~Ve~p1ng tlwu sat'st whilst all around thee' smiled -

o live, that, sinking into dea th 's long sleep
•
Calm thou may'st smile, whilst all around thee weep.
Of man's fast disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidd?n tree, whose mortal taste
Br? ug ht death mto the world, and all our woe
WJth loss of Eden, till one greater Man
'
~cstore us, and regain th e blissful sea t,
~ng, Heaven!-!' Muse ! th at on the secret top
f Oreb, or of Sinai, didst in sp ire
rhat shep l.icr~ who first taught the chosen seed,
n the begi.nnmg, how the heavens und earth
R ose out of chaos.

''
''
~

J
f

,.
'

I~

,,I,~

,.

'

r

Such music (as 'tis said)
Before was never made .
B.ut when of old the ~ons of morning sung
W.hilc the Creator g reat
'
His con•tcllutions set
And the well-balan'ccd world on hinges hung !
Kn ow, God is every where .
Not to one narrow partial spot confined•
Not, not to chosen Israel; he extends •
Thr~ugh a ll the vast infinitude of space.
~t lns co1~1m and the furious tempests risehe blastmg of the breath of his displeasure .
H e tells th e world of waters when to roa~,
•
~n~.at his b.1ddrng, winds and seas are calm.
n .im, not m an ar m of flesh I trust .
In Him, whose promise never yet has f~ilcd.

SECTION XVII.
PUNCTUATION.

IN speaking or readin g a sentence, various pauses are
made for the purpose of making the construction and meaning more distinct to the hearer.
Punctuation is the ma rkin g of these pauses, by points indicative of their length.
The principa l points are th e Comma (,), the Semi colon(;), the Colon(:), and the P eriod(.).
The Comma represents the shortest pause, and is often
used to mark the construction where very little interruption
of voice is allowable.
The Semicolon marks a longe r pause than the comma,
and separates clauses less closely con nected.
The Colon marks a longer pause than the semicolon, and
indicates a still looser con nection between the clauses which
it separates .
The P eriod, or full point, is used at the end of a sentence,
to indicate that it is completed.
It is often said that a sem icolon marks a pause double that of a
comma, and a colon a pause double that of a sem icolon. But no precise rule cau be given on this su bj ect. The leng th of the pause indicated by the same point is different in different sentences ; and the
proporti on between the different points is by no means uniform. Besides, pauses are sometim es necessary in reading and speaking where
usage does not warrant the insertion of any point.
Th e insertion or om ission of points is, in many cases, very n1 uch a
matter of taste. But there arc certain situations to which custom has
assigned th e use of particular point s.
COMMA.

1. W h<,m a simple sentence is long, th e subject and pre-

dicate consistin g each of a num ber of words, a comma may,
for the sake of di stin ctn ess, be placed between them; as,
"To be constantly employed in lauda ble pursuits, is characteristic
of a wise man."
In general, a sim ple sentence does not adm it of any point except the
period ; as,
" Diligence is essential to our success in life."

2. When two or more words, whether nouns, adjectives,

94

EXERCISES IN OOMl'OSITION.

"Though dee p, yet clear; thoug!1 gent~e, yet n?~ dull;
Strong, withou t rage; without o erflowmg, full.
.

9 When the absence of a word is indicated m readmg o~
by a pause, its place may be supplied by a comma '
as,
" From law arises Securl. ty ·, lirom security, inquiry; from inquiry,
knowledge."
"rro err is human; to forgive, divine."

3. Absolute, relative, and, in general, a ll parentltetical
clauses, are separated from the other parts of a sentence by
commas; as,

"The pious man, even when persecuted, is the happy man."
"Providence has, I think, displayed a tenderness for mankind."
"Paul,
the great Apostle to the Gentiles, saw our Saviour in a vision
at mid.day."
" While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept."
"The gulf, or bay, is dangerous."
"The sciences, after a thousand indignities, retired from the palace
of Patronage."

4. The modifying words and phrases, 71tay, lwwever,
lience, besides, finally, in sli.ort, at leust, and th e like, are
usually separated by commas.
5. Words denoting the person or object addressed are
separated by commas; as,

SEMICOLON.

1. vVhen a sentence consists of two parts, the one containing a complete proposition, and ~he other added as an
inference or to give some explana~10n, the two parts are
separated by a semicolon ; as,

I " E conomy

6. A word or phrase emphatically repeated 1s separated
by commas ; as,
"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned."
"Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die ?"

1's

no d'1sgraee.• for it is better to live on a little, than• to

:~~l~t~~p~~!:l~l:~n::~a~~f,:Py~d~~~~!r~~e~~~~iJ o~~r!f:!'1s:~~~~:x::d

tluthcr by some green

•

2. W hen a sentence consists of seve r~! members, eac.h
constituting a distinct proposition, and havmg a d ep~nd e nce
upon each other. or upon some common clause, t cy are
separated by scm1colons ; as,
"Wisdom hath builded her house ; she hath .hewn out h ~ r ~even
pi'II·ars,. she hath killed her
I ..beasts; she hath nungled her wme' she
hath nlso furnished her tab e.

" My tears, 0 Ryno, are for the dead."
"'Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer."

.

spe~king

"Master, mistress, children, and servants, were all in the coach."
" Alfred was a brave, pious, and patrioti c prince."
"Happy is the man who honors, obeys, and enjoys God."
"Send it to him, her 1 or me."
" You shou ld seek after know ledge steadily, patiently, and perseveringly."

"Thi>ir general being killed, the army fled."
"The elephant, which you saw in the menagerie, took the child up
with his trunk into his cage."
"The temperate man's pleasures are durable, because they are
regular."

95

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

pronouns, verbs, or adverbs, are connected without the connecting word being expressed, the comma supplies the place
of that word ; as,

COl·ON.

1. \;yhen a sentence consists of two. parts, the one so comlete in itself as to ad mit a full pomt, and the ot hc; confainin 0(l' an additional remark, dcpe ndm g .upon the
·
thowrh not in syntax, the connect10n of the rcma1
m
sense,
"'
· ·me1·ica tccI by <a colon '· 'as '
with
the preceding
proposition is

form~~

7. ' The words of another writer cited, but not formally
introd uced as a quotation, are separated by commas; as,

.
. too 1ovc 1Y _a nd,, useful .to be immured in a cell: the world
"Virtue
1s
is the sphere of her act10n.
.

" I all
pity
the man
who can travel from Dan to Beersheba , and cry,
' 'tis
barren.'
n

2. When a sentence which consists of an cnumera!10n of
articu lars, each separated from the other by a semt?olo.n,
has its . sense suspend ed till th e last clause, that clause is d1sjoined from the preceding by a colo~ ; as,

8. \;yords and clauses, though closely connected in construction, are often separated by a comma, when contrast
or opposition is ex pressed , as,
"Prosperity gain s fri ends, and adversity tries them."
" He wns learned, but not pedantic."

.--- -··- ================~

Jias

"If he has not been unfaithful to hi s king; if he
not! pr~ved a
.
.
..1f h . has never g1 vcn cause wr sue i c arges
traitor
his countryd,
? thin.
as
havetobeen
preferre ngams
' . why then is he afraid to confront
.
his accusers ?"

I

96

'
I

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION,

PERIOD.

Besi~es ?eing used to mark the completion of a sentence
the_ period IS place~ ~fter initials, when used al9ne, as D.
for Do~tor of D1vm1ty ; and after abbreviations ; as Lat.
for Lal!n.
The_ other marks mos~ commonly used are the Dasli (-),
the point of Interrogation ( ? ), the point of Exclamation
( ! ), and the Parenthesis ( ).
The_Daslt marks
a break in th e sen tence, or an a brupt
.
turn; as,

n'.

" If thou art he- but 0, how fallen!"

The point. of Interrogation is put after a sentence which
asks a question; as,
" Wliat is it that thou hast done ?"

The point of Exclamation 1s used after sudden expressions of emotion ; as,

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

97

A placid spirit, is like a pure stream which reflects every object, in
its just proportions.
A man, who is of a perverse disposition, will misapprehend nnd misrepresent, the most innocent words.
To reli eve the indigent to comfort the afflicted to reward the deserviug, is a noble, and humane employment.
The most obvious remedy, is to withdraw from their wicked socidy.
SEMICOLON.

Straws swim upon the surface, but pearls lie at the bottom,
Philosophers assert that Nature is unlimited in her opera'tions, that
she has inexhaustiulc treasures in reserve, that knowledge will always
be progressive, and that all future gen erations will continue to make
discoveries; of which we have not th e lea st idea.
Heaven is the region of gentleness and friendship, hell, of fierceness
aud animosity.
As there is n worldly happiness which Goel perceives to be disguised misery; as there are worldly honors whi ch in his estimation,
are reproach, so, there is a worldly wisdom, which in his sight is foolishness.

" What an admirable piece of work is man!"

The Parentltesis is sometimes used to enclose a remark
or c l a~se not .e~scntial t~ th e sen.tence in construction, but
useful m explamrng 1t, or rntrodu cmg an important idea; as,
" Know then this truth (enough for man to know)
Virtue alone is happiness below."
'
EXEU C I SES IN l'UNCT UATION.

Correct tlte e1·rors u.ud supply tlte defects
in the following sentences :

of

Punctuation

COJIMA.

The tear of sorrow, brings its own relief.
To be totally indifferent to praise or censure is a real defect in
character.
Old; you_ng.; and middle aged; shared a common fate.
Horn ey V1rg1l, and Milton, arc the g reat epic poets.
Health, and pence, a moderate fortune, and a few friends sum up
th; c!cmi:nts ?f earthly felicity.
'
Truth 1s fa1r and artless.; simple and sincere; uniform and constant.
c,harity, like the sun brightens all its objects.
'I hey _took aw~y, their furniture clothes and stock, in trade.
"f3Y berng admired, and flattered we are oflen corrupted.
TheJ:' set. out early, and before the close of day; arrived at the place
of destmat10n.
To prevent further ~ltercation I submitted to the terms, proposed.
Hope the balm of hfe, soothes us under misfortune.

COLON.

The scriptures give us an attractive representation of the Deity in
these word s, u God is love."
Do not flatter yourself with the hope of perfect happiness; there is
no such thing in the world.
A Divine Lciislator uttering his voice from heaven, an Almighty
Governor strctchinir forth his arm to punish or reward; these are the
considerations, which overcome the world ; which support integrity
and check guilt.

Point tlte following sentences:
The pleasurcs, hubits1 and maxims, ofthis world are often most keenly
pursued by those who exclaim most loudly against them .
The gruve1 says Solomon,is never satisfiedibirth youth , bcauty1 learnin~ title'} and fam e, nrc all swallowed up by the ins'atiable tomb.
To act the part of a father to those upon who>e helpless years no
parent of their own ever smiled to rear up the plant that was left alone
to perish in th e storm to watch and superintend its growth till it flourishes and brings forth fruit this is a noble and beneficial employment
well adapted to a generous mind.
How little does he know of true happiness who is a stranger to that
intercourse of good offices and kind affections which by a pleasing
charm attaches men to each other and circulates joy from heart to
heart.
Listen with reverence to every reprehension of conscience and preserve the most quick and accurate sensibility to right and wrong.
If ever your moral impressions begin to decay and your natural ab-

9

98

-I

.EXEU CISES IN COMPOSITI ON.

horrence of guilt to lessen you have ground to dread that the nun of
virtue is fas t approaching.

i
I

I

;· Di vide into sentences and point t!te f ollowing parag rap!ts:

I

F or what purp1Jse do these charming flowers come fo rth is it merely
to please our eyes with their brilliant colors and rega le the sense of
smel lin g with their odori ferous perfumes or is it tu attract those num erous in sects which swa rm among them and ri ot amidst th eir liquid
sweets that fl owers were designed for both these purposes is apparent .
fro m the sensations whi ch we experience when we vi sit the de lightful
spots where they grow and from th e assiduou s eagerness which the
uusy bee evin ces in roaming from fl ower to flo wt r to extract their
b:i lmy juices but th ere is another and that a more important use to
which the fl owery tribe may be made subservient in Reason's ear they
I' become preachers th e upright philosopher nf the land of Uz and that
/ devout admirer of th e works of Nature David kin g of I sra el both take
1 occus ion to co mpare our uncertain ten ure of hum an li fe to th e frail
/ and perishable stat e of a flo wer the prophet I saiah represents the transient glory of the crown of pride as being li ke one of th ese fadi ng
bea uties and our Sa viour demonstrates that an important lesson agains t

too anxi ous ca re and aga inst pride in dress may be learned from a
righ t consideration of these g3y vi sitan t• " consider the lilies liow
tl iey g row th ey toil not ne it her do they spin an d yet I say unto you
that Solomon in all his glo ry was not arrayed li ke one of these."
\Vh atcvcr be thy fear if thou kn owcst the truth the truth shall give
thee rel ief have th e terrors of guilt taken hold of tli ce behold the R edee mer has born e thy sin s in his own body on the tree and if th ou art
willing to fors ake them thou knowcs t with certainty tlin t they shall
not be remembered in th e judg ment aga inst thee hast thou with weeping eyes co mmitted to the grave t.hc cl iild of thy affections th e virtuous
fri end of thy youth or the beloved partner whose tender attachm ent
lig htened th e load of life bohold they nre not dead th ou knowest thnt
th ey Ji ;·e in a Letter reg-ion with tli cir Savi our and th eir God th at still !1I
th ou holdcst thy place in their remembran ce and that thon shalt soon
mee t them agam to part no more dost th ou look forw ard with trem- 1
liling to th e days of d,irkness that arc to fall on th.v scl f when thou shalt
li e on the bed of siclrncss "hen thy pulse shall have become low wh en
th e cold damps have g-.i thcrcd on thy brow nnd th e mournful loo ks of
thy attendaJJts have told thee that the hour of thy depa rture is come
I to th e mere natura l man th is sccJJc is a" fu l nnd alarmin g bu t if thnu j
a rt a Christian if thou kno west an d obeycst th e truth th ou ncedes t
fear no evil th e shadows wl iich hang over the valley of death shall re- l
j. tire at thy approach und thou slwlt sec beyond it the spirits of th e just J
and a n innu mera ble co mpany of angels the fu ture compan ions of thy
1
'I

I

I

I

I,I

I

STH UCTUUE OF
bli ss bending from their throne• . to _cheer
, welcome thee into everlasting habitations.
\

Fast by th e mnrgm of a mossy rill
That wandcr'd gurgling down a heath clnd hill
An ancient shepherd stood opprcss'd with woe
And eyed the ocean 's flood that foa m'd below
Wh ere gc11tly rocking on th e rising tide
A •hip's unwonted form was seen to ride.

I

SENT::yr;::~IU'ting soul andfjt: "

r:-· ===-

Not clothed in purple or fine linen stood
The wilderness-apostle; he ~· ns foun_d
d
O'ercunopied by wild rocks frmged with woo
'd.
"Where Na tu re's sternest. scenery darkly frown •
There stood the seerihis loins bcg1rt around '
With outstretch'd hanO,,~are brow/and vocal eye,
His voice with sad solemmty o~ sound(
More thrilling than th e eagles starth?g ~iy, d •eth nigh~'
"Repent repent" exclaim ed/ ' Christ's kmg om ra\\
M name is NorvuJ;on th e Grampian ~ills
]\/ father foe ds his flock; a fr~gal swau~.
Wt1ose constant care was to increase !us store I
And keep his only son/ myselfi at home.
The pursuit I led 1
Till we o'ertook th e spoil-encumbered foe•
fo u ht and conquer'diere a sword "'.as drawn,
: : arr!w
my bow had
their cluef ,
Who wore that day, the arms which now I wear.

picr~ed

from

SECTION XVIII.
QUALITIES ESS E:-ITIAL TO A PERFECT SENTE NCE.
.
nte n ces is of g rea t 1mportit is th~ fo undation
a n ce m e ve 1Y spec eh
pn ot be too s trict ID ou r a tte nl
d
d ritin rr so t at w e can
f
o goo ~v
""
1:. t . f t h e sente n ces be perp e x e '
t ion to it. In a n y s u 'JeC 'di "t will n o t onl y disgu s t the
.
·
r fee bl y e xpresse , i
l
umsy,
o fre que nt 1y". d es t r oy the e ffect whic h the wnte r mcrca
de r, but

A PROPER.

.

f

consti;u~t~~n c~m s~sition :

~o prod_L~~~·

te n dc_<l
to lay d o wn rule s, wi th r ega rd to the pre It is 1mposs 1 ,
.
I 'I e ri od is live ly and fam1c ise ic_n g th _of sente nbces ' as i~c1re~. but a Io n ()' pe riod, if
d lil· e ly to c re m e m
.
"'
1
I t
l.
1ar, an
'
. .
ore a tte ntio n is c a lc u atec o
clea rl y ex pressed , rnqumng m ·
. , · ' \ V ith o ut mu c h
·.
. rr. v. a nd sole mn 1mpr es~ 1 o n.
.
•c: tc,,•a
m a k e .d m o •n
rs acn d s pea 1<C L.s a rc lia ble to e rr ID both these
t
· _
·.t
a n y s h o rt se nte n ces , the se n se
a tte n io n, "
ts By rnc n n s o 1 oo m .
l
<l
res~e? .
. l· •n t h e co nnectio n o f thou g ht wca <ene
is divide d a nd b i o 'c·d' . d
O n the oth e r ha nd, lon g sena nd th o me m ory bu 1 c11~ ..or h e are r's atte ntio n . If a write r
t e n ces fat igue th ef lr?a dc rl ~ t h e s h o uld a nd h e will st udy a
. fi 11
' s tc r 0 llS "LI i1ec '
'
t
IS U )' ma
s ho rt c rio d s , whic h pre ve n s. an
due m1 xtur~ of lo n_g an I ite rta Fi1 s th e mind with a va n e ty ·1 t
irkso m e umfonm t y ' a nc e 1
'

a·

f.

~

I

100

I
.,

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION.

of impressions. Long sentences should never he placed at
the beginning of compositions of any description; the reader's
attention, and, if possible, his interest must be excited before
a person ventures upon long sentences.
The properties, according to Blair, essential to a perfect
sentence, a re the four following; CLEARNESS and PRECISION:

-u.,TY ,_s.,.,.,.,.;

,
1

a,d H..n•oNv.

I

~1 ·

I

/

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES .

101

~

.
of thinrrs connected in
RuLE II. Words, expressive
h oth~r as possible.
thought, shou ld be placed as ~car eact 1·1 a tiger who is never
1<e
· t o ti ie r oornh1111patien
· I II e
"The bnihff came .m
blood of• the
victim on w JllC'
satisfied with any tln ng short. of t c ,, In order to render the mean.
delights to feast, to secure I h,1s pr~y.following feast should be pl.teed
ing of this sentence dear, tic w,~~ICs Sl'n tence, as given above, may
immediately after unpalirnt:
. but it is not more so than many
seem rather extravaga1Hly .d1stfrted, d tions of careless wntcrs who
1
which we d~ily m~et .w :~;~ ~7 ~~~ife:~t~~e of our ow n times.
g
h Id be so place d m
figure conspicuous Y in
RuLE III. The re lativ e pronouns s ou
the antecedent
the senten ce as to le ave no doubt r es pe cting

1

SECTION XIX.

I

CLEARNESS AND PRECISION.

degree of ambiguity, arising from want of clear·
ness and precision, shou ld be avoided with the greatest care ;
/. hence the necessity of observing exactly the rules of gram.
I mar; and in the arrangement of sentences, those words and
members mos t n ea rly related should be placed in the sentence , as n e ar each other as possible, so as to make their
mutual re lation manifest.

i

1

to This
whi crule
h they
r e fe r.
. tly illu strated under the head of Arrange.
has been
suffi" CJen

EvERY

RULE

I. Adverbs and qualifying phrases shou ld be placed

as near as poss ible to the words of which they qualify the
m ea ning.

I

This
has already been illustrated to a certain extent under the
head
of ru:e
Arrangement.

ment.
IV
\void the ambiguity which arises from using
RuLE
• .1
f· ' ntl in the same sentence.
' the pe rs onal pronoun s too i.eq.~~ b ~heir kings when compelled
I "·They were
recourse to 'their aid."
by th eir wants and b~ th eir ca. , f
. ocal words or those
R , V Avoid the use o eqmv
.
'
·
·
. ULEconvey
•
• or• I cs::;, than the pre cise meanmg mwh1ch
mo1e

summoned~ o~c~:w~~' 1/. .v!

I
I tende d·
Many of the words

susceptible of a double
i? our lang ".age are : st good taste to place
me.aning; and it. is
an
doubt respecting the
them in such a situation as Ca\·cs . d
sense in which they ure to be rccc1vcf. I
. · lerrunt or vul<Yar
~ 'I A . l t he u ~e o ow, m e o
. "
RuL1·: v .
VOit
. '
.
lcasant associati o ns;
·d . of ex
1n·css ion s w lu c h. exc.1te
•
WO! S,
·
·d· unp

c?ns1der~d o~~;cr:a~~~'7n

I1

I
I
II of techni ca l te rms and fore ign J

I

I

/I

I

1. "Come to me only with your lessons." The improper collocation
of the adverb only, in this sentence, leaves it doubtful whether the
writer directs his pupil to come only to him for instruction and to no
other person, or to com e to liim for no other purpose but to recite his
, lessons. In th e former ca se he shou ld say, "Come only to me with your
/ lessons." In t/ ie /utter case," Come to me with your lessons only."
2. "The R omans understood liberty, nt le•st, as well ns we." Thi s
may mean, that the Romans, in wl1atever else th ey were deficient,
'I understood the nature of liberty, as well as we; or that th e Romans
und erstood the nature of Ii berty as well as or better than we. Supposing
the latter to have been the writer's meaning, the words should have
/ been arranged thus : " The Romans understood liberty, as well, at
least, as we."
.

'I

EXERCISES .

j

Write a few sentences i ntrod11cing into eaclt of them one of thP. fol.
lowing adverbs or adverbilll pli.rases, taking ca1·e to 71/acc them so as
!lo express the meaning clearly. Only, nt least, c/1 iclly, essentially,
! truly, in short, in fine, ind l'ed, really, effectually, on tli c whole, in the
1lcost, in th e main, undoubtedly, greatly, agreeably, universa lly, geneI rally, politely, cleverly, charmingly, enchanting ly, intelligibly, deci.
sively,beneficently.
peremptori ly, precisely, concisely, briefly, brilliantly, bounti/ fully,
i'
!

1

I

IO~~~m of his provoking such
reason to rcpen
dangerous enermcs."-1-Tu.me.
1i · as after another."-Lowtli..
"I had as lief say." t/11ng .aftte.r ~·~~ate or show his wit; but plainly
"N would he do tt to mam am c
'
tell m~rwliat stuck with him."-Barnet.
" The king so?n found

EXERCISES.

. slentences
in each of which there is a
th~ Jollowhing.
if p;rs11icuity. or precision.f b k
I Corre~t
violation of t .e 111 es o
. not, .'' great collector o oo s
I Sixtus th e Fourth was, if I mistake
least.
I at By
greatness, I

do no t only
. mean the hulk of any single object, but

~vholc v1~w. it is but conjecture, something more.
May w.e not
o.r much in vogue among our
This
Jund
of
wit
s ver;
Wfl~ d"I d ~ o t practise it for any oblique reason,
I about an age or two wa
ago,

co~JCCture,

c~:mnlrymen,

i the largeness of a

I

ILI. . . ~olomon,

~emg ~vt~~ilt the temple,
was a wise man.
. ----==-

but purely for the sake of
the son of Dand, w o
!) f <

-l 02

!

-~ EXERCISES

IN COMPOSITION.

STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

David, the father of Solomon who was the .
S aul, was a great warrior.
'
immediate successor of
David, the king of Israel, who wrote the p I
harp.
sa ms, played upon the
William Penn, the son of Admir 1 p
' Pennsylvania, received his ch· rt fja
eCnhn, who was the founder of
a er rom
ar1es the Second.

SECTION
UNITY.

THERE must always b
d"
chain of connection bet e so1~e 1ea mg principle to form a
c?mposition, and there';:~~ t~e c~mponent parts ?f eve_ry
c1ple among the arts I
. e t e same connectmg prmstrictest unity is ~equir d ~ f(a s1f gle sentence, above all, the
implies one proposition eto'bor tie very nature of a sentence
e expressed It ma
·
f
·
Y consist. o
parts; but these parts ou""ht t b
as to make an i·m
. o
o e so c1osely bound tobaether
press1on upon th e mm
· d of one object, not'
of many.
The fo llowing are Dr Bl . _,
unity of a sentence.
. au s rules for preserving the
RuLE I. The scene th
b"
as little a8 p~ssi~l:.u ~ect and the person should be
I'changed

I"
r

After we came to anchor the
welcomed by all my friends 1'
y _Put me on shore, where I was
ness." Corrected, it stands't~u~o_r~cHvcd me with the greatest kindp~t on shore, where I was wclco~ed ~vmg come to an anchor, I was
with the greatest kindness."
y all my friends, and received

" He was exceedingly beloved both b
.
. .
Mary, who nominated Dr T
·
Y Kmg Wilham and Queen
· enmsson bishop 0 f L '
hi " Tl .
~·
us should obviously be d" ·J d .
mco1n, to succeed
phance with the rule.
1v1 e mto two sentences, in com.

RuLE III. Parentheses
ht
.
the middle of sentences. ~~g not to be .mtroduced into
wnters at present is to
"d deed the practice of the best
avo1 parentheses
I
·
bl e, wherever pers1)icuity
is a 1 d" . '·. as muc i as poss1"
ea mg ou1ect.

When the parliament sat d
(Ii ·
·
scrvation, th.at both houses we~;nfoli"o;tz~:i"ervcs our particular ob.
for _the present govern.
ment, and of resentment a ainst th .
one party in parliament. fnd n
~ late usurpations,) there was but
' the nation." It is obvio~s h
o o •~r party coul_d raise its head in
' ~ -- ··-- - ow comp etely the umty of this sentence

is destroyed by the parenthesis. The remedy is a complete remodelling of the whole into two or more sentences.

RuLE IV. Sentences ought never to be extended beyond
their natural close.
Swift, in speaking of the writings of Cicero, says, "\Vith these
writings, young divines are more conversant than with those of Demosthenes, who, by many degrees, excelled the other; at least as an
orator."

XX.

RULE II. Never crowd j t
!1ave so little connection th· tn t~ one sentence, things that
mto two or more sent ences.
' a
ey can bear to be divided

103

I

The natural close of the sentence is at the word other; at this word
the sense was complete, and the succeeding clause was quite unnecessary.
EXERCISES.

Change the form ef the following sentences, so as to give
tliem greater unity, by using the nominative case absolute instead of the conjunction; thus :
"My horse was saddled and I took a short ride," may be changed
to" My horse having been saddled, I took a short ride."
My fowling piece was taken down and cleaned, and I then shouldered it and rambled out into the woods.
A covey of partridges flew up before me; and I brought down two
of them at a single shot.
A beggar came to the door and I gave him some money.
I was walking alone this morning, and met a gentleman, and he
came home to breakfast with me.
Henry was negligent and the monitor reported him.
The lion lay couched in a th ick covert and a traveller passed by and
the lion sprung upon him and killed him.
The garden was beautifully laid out and its appearance was very
inviting.

Restore the unity ef the following disjointed sentences by
making one p1·incipal agent in each; thus :
" As I came into the house, my brother met me and gave me my
cloak, and my sister found an umbrella and brought it to me and then
the coach came just in time for me to start." Altered to "Coming
into the house I was met by my brothe r with my cloak and by my sister
with an umbrella, which I received just in time to save my passage in
the coach."
I took a walk this morning; my sister was with me; and just as we
came to the bridge, a horseman met us, who spurred his horse as we
passed, and the hors:e was near running over us.

The travellers landed on the shore; the Indians came down towelcome them; and brought the son of their king, who offered the hospitality of his father's residence, which they willingly accepted.
James joined his regiment; but the officers of his mess were unfriendly to him; and a quarrel soon took place in which an ensign
offered him a gross insult.

EXERCISES IN COUPOSITION.
STRUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

the strongest impression. This depends on the nature of
the composition; and the kind of sentence which is used.
For illustration of this rule the pupil is referred to Section

SECTION XXI.

XVI.
RuLE IV. Avoid concluding a sentence with an adverb,
preposition, or any other inconsiderable word.
.•

STRENGTH.

/

TuE strength of a sentence consists in such a dis osition
of its several words and clauses us ' hall t d
tp
fi II
·
'
~
en mos poweru .Y to impress the mind of the reader with the meanin
:-V~1ch the author mtends to convey. To attain this ualit g
it is necessary to pay attention to the f.ollo ·
I q ' y,
wmg ru es.
Ru LE I. A sentence ought to be divested of all redunda t
words and clauses.
n

I. " The other species of motion are incidentally blended also."
2. "Every nature, you perceive, is either too excellent to want it, or
too base to be capable of it."

RuLE V. In the members of a sentence, where two objects are either compared or contrasted, some resemblance
in the language and construction should be preserved.
"The wise man is happy when he gains his own approbation; the
fool, when he recommends himself to the applause of those about him."
Better thus: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own approbation; the fool, when he gains that of others."

of ~t.'.: Being content with deserving a triumph, he refused the honor
2. "Never did Athens succeed b tt ·
· ·
and es tee m of all men."
e er m gammg the universal love .
The word being , in the first sentence should be
·
· /
the second, one of the words in italics shduld be lefi o;n1btterl ; and!, m
express the same idea.
ou , eeause t 1ey
3 · "How many arc there by whom thes
·d·
f
e 1' mgs o good news 1
were never heard "' Tl · ·
'd'
'
.
IJS I S TAUTOLOGY; the writer might as
11 '
say ti mgs of tidings or news of news. It would be b tt
we i
thus
·
"By·
wl
ti
d
.
.
e
er
expressed
1

I.

·u r

4.

10111

1cse _goo·

EXERCISES.

Correct the following sentences by striking out the redundant words or altei·ing the form of the sentences, conformably to the pi·eceding rules.

I

tidings were n eve r heard.,,

The voices of the people united unanimously in pronouncing him
the first man in the whole nation.
I started from Philadelphia and when I got to New Y ork, I got the
captain to get me a porter to get my baggage, up to the hotel for me;
and when, I got there I found no difficulty in getting rooms.
The measure was considered and regarded as a wise, politic and
prud ent measure.
~'hen I turn the matter over in my mind and con sider it fully and
carefully in all its bea rings and relations and connections, I am firmly
fixed and resolved in my purpose of reformation and amendment.
H e sealed himself under the umbrageous shade of a tree, by the
side of a clear, limpid stream.
Milton is a sublime poet, Goldsmith is a beautiful poet, and Moore 1
is a voluptuou• poet.
H e was commanded to release the prisoners and let them go.
The a bsurd folly of his conduct and uehavior, every where, upon
ull occasions, at length excluded him out of all respectable society.
It is clea r and ouvious that economy and frugality arc necessary
for the acqu isition and accumulation of wealth.
H e was universally respected by all his felloll' citizens.
This newspaper circulates generally all over the country, and is dis. :
seminated in all parts of the land.
!
H e returned back again to the same town from whence he came
forth.
The departure from, is much easier than the return to, the paths of

Th e very firs_! di scovery of it strikes the mind with in
'
through all its faculties ." Here th
wardd r

'JOiy, and spreads delight
Ic ausc 1s red undant.

e secon

. Ru~E IL Ju constructing a sentence, particular attention 1'/
is to_ c pa id to tlw ~roper disposition of copulatives, rela- I
ti~cs, -~-c . The splittrng of particles, or referrino- of two 1
p1 epos1t1ons to the same noun, is to be avoided.
b
ii

I

"Thou~h virtue borrows no assistance from et it m
/
nccompa111cd hy, !lie advantages of fortu e" Hy
ay often be I
stand in thought bein, 0 hr d
~ ·
ere we are put to a 1
b .t If. ·I . ·I j
g . •g~ to rest a little on the preposition from
g;v~::s.' " llC 1 rns no s1gn1ficancy, till joined to the noun which it
•1

".

~; 1 should ~o)

acT.~e

omit the rclati1•c; as in the following Examplea _

ie "!an . ove :" - 2. "'rhc dominions we

possessed."__: 3

soldiers m th e camp were prepared for the part they were

t~

theThe conjunctio~ and should not ue frequ ently repeated, exce t for
in ti pup;7se of g 1v111g add 1!1onal emphasis. Its repetition is p~oper
' " o ow mg sen tence. "Such a man might fall" vict im lo '
.
but truth, and reason, and liberty, would fall with him."
po ver'

I

Rur.E III.
· 'd
f

The capital word or word

105

. . ·
h
s, exp1essing t e

.~ mam ~ ca _o the sentence, should be so disposed as to make

1

l

virtue.

106

f!

EXEUCISES IN COMPOSITION.

A great intimacy subsists between
gether, him und me.
' and a strung affection binds towhat grand purpose is ull this
.
What author is this fin
preparation for?
'We have had
,,
c poem the production of?
Y l
a p eas.i nt excursion very
ou lave misunderstood me cnt" I
.
He was quulified for llOnc of th i~e. y .
.
Charles was unfit for ti
e 11gl1cr pursmts of learning at all
Tl
w practice ot law lot 1l
.
JC pcn~1ve inan seeks the shad
.
a y.
walks on the side where the
h.l'. side of the lull, the cheerful man
In
sun s mes
. peace sons bury their fathers . :
sprmg to the gra vc.
. ' m war fathers follow their off.
Self esteem causes a man to seek h.
a course of conduct which seems I" I· I is own approval: vanity induces
.
i 'e Y to please others.

D west tlte fioll ·
owing sentences 0:;1-" tlitezr
· superjfoous ands
1
an d ot11e1· comzect-i·ves.
.
I cam e l1ome and brought with

lll

:b~ks and distributed them among n~yal~~m~r ohfpretty and amusing

visitors.
i e rot ere and sisters and
John went into the garden
d
.
.
'
gathered all the fl owers he coufdn Ii ~ok with 111m a little basket and
th em to hi s ~ioth er.
n and brought them in and gave
The va?qu1 shcd citizens who had k
.
now termmatcd, were deprived of 1ta en part m the war which had
hitherto enjoyed; which \\'as c
.dt ie rigl1ts which they had always
vict r
J· 1 d
onsi cred an out ·
h
o s, w He' escrved the severest reprobation.rage on t e part of the
eir

SECTION XXIL
llAU~IONY •

. To rende r our compositions a"'r bl
g1ble, it is neccssa1·y to
o eea e, as well as intelli'1'
·
pa y some tt ·
he words and scntcncr.s s h Id b. a ent1 on to harmony.
du ce an effect simila r to ,that ~~ "'Oo~ so arra nged _as to propartly upon th e choice of word°music. ·This depends
ran"emcnt of tliein T l
~ , and. partly upon the ar0
•
10se word
the ~a r, which a rc composed of s 1~ ai c mos t .ag!·eea ble to
and In wJ1ich th ere is a H'o e r i ~oth. and liquid sounds,
consonants, without too i~·ia! co~i;e1mixture o~ vowe ls and
or too ma ny open vowels in ; u ~onants clashmg toge_ther,
are diffic ult of pronun ciation cc:ss_10n. Whatever sounds
I harsh and pain fid to th e e·1 r ' ;~ e m the same proportion
nants stren!!th to th . • d· f owels add soflness, conso.
~
'
e SOLl!l o word .. th
I d
guage requires a Just proportion of s
e me o y of lancommonly more HITreea ble t tJ
eac i. Long words are
I and among words o of any l:nO';~ e~· than. monosyllabl.es;
L'..
o ' t ose aie most musical

I

J

=11

STUUCTURE OF SENTENCES.

107

which do not run eithe r upon long or short syllables, but
are composed of an intermixture of' both.
In arranging the parts of a sentence, as well as in the
c hoice of words, observe that whate ve r is easy and agreeable to the organs of speech, always sounds grateful to the
ea r. vVhile a period is going on, the termination of each
of its me mbers forms a rest or pa use in the pronoun cing ,
and these pauses should be so dis tributed as to make the
breathin g easy, and, at the same time, shou ld fa ll at such
distances as to bea r a so rt of musical proportion to each
other; but th e rests should not be too numerou s, or placed
at intervals too measured and regular, lest the style savor of
affectation.
The close or cadence of the whole sentence demands the
greatest care, because on this the mind pauses and rests.
He re eve ry hea rer and reader expects to be grat ified; here,
ap plause breaks forth. The rule to be observed is, that,
when we aim at dignity or elevation, the sound should be
made to grow to the last ; the longest member of the period, a nd the fullest and most sonorous words should be
rese rved for the conclnsion.
The same rule holds good in melody, which has been
already laid down with respect to significan cy; a fa lling off is a lways unpl easant, and offends the ea r.
In
general, a musical close, requires either the last s yllable, or
the last but one, to be a long syllable. But it should be ob- ·
served that sentences so constructed as to make the sound
always swell and grow towards the e nd, gives th e discourse
a tone of declamation, which soon becomes unpleasant to
the ear. The measures should be freq ue ntly varied, and ·
short sentences should he inte rmixed with long and swelling ones, to render the composition at once agreeable and
impressive.
Though the music of sentences demands co nsidc rnble
attention, yet it must be kept within bounds ; the re must !
be no affectation of harmony , es peciall y if th e love of it !
betray the writer to sac rifice pe rspicu it y , prec ision, or 1
~ trength of sentiment to sound.. All unmea ning words, 1
mtroduced merely to round a pc n ocl, or complete the melody, are justly regarded as ble mishes in writing.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

PART III.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

SECTION

xxm.

GENERAL REMARKS ON FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

A STRONG and vivid imagination i
t .h .
.
or writing, satisfied with . bringing sb:~o;.:1~her hm spe~kmg
reader's
· d II I
·
e earer s or
.
mi!1 . a tie circumstances immediate!
w1~h the ~nnc1pal subject, and placing them if ~o~t~f~·ted
~omt of vie w ; 1t borrows colors and for
ii
I mg
Jects, to embellish and adorn the picture~sth'.~n:1 odt ier obmeans· o f.fiiguratzve
· zanguage. It is called
' lfi:s is t"one bby
cause the author's meaninrr is ex ressed
gura ive_ eph!T·aseology, _but under the i1~age of~ometh,ingno~ls~y direct
·
·
·.
he assertwn, that "a a d
hope in the midst of aillicti~~o,, ~:~ entys sansfact1on and
in the simplest manner possibie . but \ovlise r~at t_wn expressed
t h
·
'
en 1 is said " Th t
-~ t ~ upnght th ere ariseth light in darkness " th
a
I ea is expressed in figurative lanrrua e .
e. sa~e
put in the place of satisfaction ana'\o~e ' atn~t
./;zght ~s
~sed. to suggest the idea of adversity. 'fhe p )ar. nesr JS
m his description of the virtuous chara t
sakm1st a so,
highly figurative language:
c er, ma es use of
" He shall be like a tree pla t d b h .
that b_ringeth forth his fruit in h~ eseas~nt. ~i:1~eearsf of! wahte1I·l,
not wither."
'
a sos a
Though figures imply a deviation from what ma b
reckoned the most simple form of
h
h
Y e
far from beina uncommon that speec ' yet t ey are so
"'
'
on very many
·0
~~~y_are the most. natural, and the most common C::Zt~a;~ ~;
errng our sentiments. It is impossible to compose a

h'.

ds,

discourse of any length without using them very frequently;
they occu r even in didactic subjects.
The origin of figures has, by some, been referred to the
poverty of language; but by others, either to the sport of
fancy, or to the ex pression of passion or enthusiasm. At
any rate, and upon any theory, figures must be regarded
as an important part of that language which nature seems
to dictate to man. They are not the res ult of long study;
nor the invention of schools; the most illiterate speak in
figures as often as the most learned. Imagery, especially
that derived from natural objects, is employed by the rudest
and most savage nations, not from necessity, but as a matter
of choice. Specimens of this kind of ornament abound in
the speeches of our Indian chie fs, and among the earliest
The oldest writings with
productions of the Arabians.
which we are acquainted, namely, those which compose the
Scriptures of the Old Testament, are full of figures; these
are derived from those objects with which, from the time
and situation of their country and nation, the sacred writers
were most familiar.
Figures have been described to be language that is
prompted either by the imagination or the passions. They
are divided into two great classes, viz. figmes of words
and figures of thought. The form er are ca lled tropes, a
Greek term that ~ignifies the turning of a word from its
original meaning; and they consist in a word's being employed to signify something tha t is different from its original
and primitive mea ning, so that if the word be changed, the
figure is destroyed; thus, in the passage already quoted,
"Light a riseth to the upright in darkness," the trope consists in the words light and darkness being substituted, the
I one for satisfaction and hope, and the other for afHiction,
on account of some analogy which they are supposed to
j bea r to these conditions of li fo.
Figures of thought supj pose the words to be used in thE>ir proper and literal meanJI ing; and the figure consists in the turn of tho ught, as is
11 the case in exclamations, inte rrogations, apostrophes. and
,'I comparisons. This distinction is of no great use, nor is
it of mu ch importance, whether we assign to any particular
I mode of expression tire name of trope or figure, provided
we remember, that figurative language imports some coloring of the imagination, or some emotion of passion.
Ancient writers classed as tropes, the metaphor, meto, nymy, synecdoche, and irony; with them, figures were

I
I

I

(JOe)

109

10

'i

1io-1V

"""'~"'Y

EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION. --

-

-'-=I

/ almo.r in""mamble. [< ;, not
<-0 follow 'hot-Ori.
!/ cia"' fo all <hai.· ""'"' di,<inoho"'' wo aholl "'Y b,iofly

/, proceed to treat of those forms of expression which are sug'i gested by the relation of resemblance, contiguity, and cause/
:1 and
_the relation of resemblance proceed the !
coml?anson or s11nile, the metaphor, the allegory, and the if
1i/
1 nlluszon.

eff~ct. Fro~

We do not deem it advisable, by way of exercise, to set :1/
'! the pupil to manufacturing figures of speech out of Jialf.fin- .
// ished sentences furnished for his assistance. Figures being ;
11 the natural lang_unge of
or emotion, shou ld be used ;/'
1
•/ only when passion or emotion prompts. We shall, there- i
the more common _figures: as
:;
/ fore, merely
;: as _possible, and gzve the rules by which th eir use 1s go- ;
;/ verned and restricted. Our only exercises under this head, i
!I will consist of a few passages, in which the figures occur, ·1
I and in which the pupil should be required to point them ;
! out. He will thus learn to recognise the figures as they /
;/spontaneo usly flow from his pen, in writing; and will recol1111ect_
pos1t1on. principles which should regulate their use in com!1

descri~e

I

I

pas~ion

con~isely

~he

CoMPARISoN, or simile, is the first and most natural of/
rhetorical figures. A young writer, in attempting to express I
his ideas on any moral or abstract subject, finds himself im. ,1
mediately presenting various
in the natural world by i
way of comparison in order to enforce and illustrate his .1
/ views. The following are the principal rules with respect /
1 to the use of comparisons.
i•

o~jects

/ ob.Jects.
L Thay aho•ld no< 00 <akoo from aommon o, '"'•"' 1.ij
2. They
not to be trite, such as comparing a violent /I
passion
to a ought
tempest.

3. They
to be founded on a likeness, neither tool
obvious
nor ought
too remote.
4. Comparisons should not be drawn from an unknown
object, or one of which few people can form clear ideas.
As comparison is founded on the resemblance, so ANTITUEsis depends on the contrast or opposition of two ob.
jects. Antithesis may, therefore, on many occasions, be

"------=

,

the impress10_n
d to advantage in order. to streng then
d make.
On thzs
employe .
d that any object shout . . l . orations;
which weC mien
.
'<l "ble use of zt m llS
d
.
akes cons1 eza
'de stan s
account, icero ldTI • • ·t Catiline : " On one sfi1d t"fy on
'
.
the one
e
· the secon - ag,un ~
as m
h 0 ther impudence' on
" &
1
modesty, on t e
·
there sacrilege,
c.
h.
the other deceit; here piety,
on of all figures of speec '
ME'l'APHous are the most commth'no- is expressed figuru' o
so .muc h so, that IV hen we say
h a
.
.
we refer to the metap or.. . . form only, not Ill
tlvely,
h
d-ffi rs from a sumle
f b ti
In a
A me tap or I
·s the foundat10n o
o 1. ' J'on
· th e express
substance: com parzson
b'ects are kept distinct m
. - kept dis-'
simile, the
in a metaphor,
hero reas well as m
b"
t ·n the express10n.
. .0
. t ·n the thou o-ht, ut. no I
- blance many s1m1 es
tmc 1
.
d upon that resem
B
t let 1us
sembles a hon; an
H
. and other poets.
u
b
d figure the hero to e
h
been founded by ome1 .
the aid of the
by that variation the
a lion, instead of only resemta u~~r; \~hich is carried on by
. ·11
resemble
those
~ converted mtol' ·a mef 'p
the l'1011 IV h'1,.l1
v
'
I'
Sim!
e -,_
describing a ll tTheh qua~tt1e~y°firruring his hero to ~e a a117~;
of the hero.
e poc ' . 0 a ea ranee; but m r~ .
d t
the ·b·
hon m
PP · an d his descnpt10n
procee s o describe
·
the hero
,
d
· ll the while descn mg
' ing the virtues an
he is a
culiarly beautiful, by
rly belonrr not to
beco:ries pfe th hero in terms wh1c prope
o
qualities o
e.
ore
render the style m.
h' but to the hon.
tm, uses of the
are t? o- new idea, in whz_ch
t
and
lost; to diverstf,Y
the"'moment the ongrnall.
from that
anrl vary t l s tyle ' and
b three ieve
result of a mo cl c of d1 ct1on,
fi ·111 m
formity which would c e •d in the literal sense; an?, -~' I~
which every word wa~ use
b'cct and bestow d1grn ':( .
"Death spares ne1thc1
ilarrre and elevate the su ~ 'j'h"' 'h;,
heo
mp0>·ed d''.i< h
the
rich lines
nor theIJ>o.~1,
beautiful
of ci°-1 .ice, *expressive of' the same t ea'
l ted into English :
trans a
; artial fate
,,

I~

~ 1
_tw~h:ut~oucrht;

c:~ein

~hey a~

imagma~;on, :~e

.

~x:ress

SECTION XXIV.
COMPARISON, AN'l'I'l'IlESis, ANO METAPUOR.

1

1

111 Ii

--=--===--=-- ----r========:F~I:G;UHATIV
E LAJSG U AGE,

,,!_

1

?k7~rr
~0~1

metaph~r

~e

:,:, .:;~"';ii°".

animated~ ~y mtroducz~;
~e
seem~t
i:'ri:. '°,~

tediou~ u~z-

'°

u'.::

111

p
the cottage gate.
" With cc1ual pace,
Knocks at the palace, as

•

.
rr -cl to metaphors are .
of
The
rules laid down \~It~ ~~~~~ nature of the subject
1. They should be suite
l 'ch we treat.
W 11* Pallida mors requo pul sn t pcd e pnupe•r-~1 n tabcrm1s, R eg umque
turres.
·- -

J

I

'
I

!I112

2. They shou ld be neith
too elevated .
er too many, nor too gay, nor

. 3. They shou ld not be 1
disagreeable, mean or vu! ca ~du luted to raise in the mind
4 Th
'
ga r 1 eas
·
e resemblance which . 1 •
r?or, should be clea r ~nd
_is .t 1e foundation of the metad1~cu.It of discovery.
pe1sp1cuous, not far -fetched, nor
. Two metaphors should
same object. T his is called neve: be made to meet on the
Shakspeare's exp
·
·
· ress10n
to " at kmixed meta phor· Su c I1 is
troub les. "
'
a e a rms aga inst a sea of
6. Metaphors ou"ht not t b
one anothe r, nor sh~u l d th ob e crowded or heaped upon
ey e pursued too fa r.
EXERCISES.

Examine
the J+.0 zz owing
. exti·acts
l
d
·
. an point out in tltem,
eac '· example of the Com
lJfetapli.or.
parison, th e Antithesis, and tlte
" Th ere is n joy in rri ef
th ey arc wafted with
'~hen peace dwells with th e
arc few. Th e fa ! . 10urn111g , 0 daughte r of Tosc
sorrowfo
l. But
1

1

/!

! :::tu~t; en~th, ahc: /11~",~;~ld!',~eh;~ep!~~vt on '.vhich ~r:0a~~ 11 h1:·~k~"f~
r

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE·

EXERCISES IN COM POSITIO N .

"w;,e drop' of night."-Ossian.
. over it, and its head is heavy
I'll . y id not] pass awn .
~ ;~~:~'.r head unseen, u~d ~~r~~v~~~~ 1;~~h~~eedfl 1o-;er
of the rock that
eaves on the blast ?"

0

"He scnrce had ccas'd, when th e superi or fiend
Was moving toward s the shore; his pond'rous shield,
Etherial temper, mase y, large, and round,
·Behind him cast; the broad ci rc umference
Hung on hi s shoulders like the muon , whose orb
Throug h optic glass the Tu scun artist views
At ev'ning from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno, to desc ry new land s,
Rivers or mountains, in her spotty globe."-llfi!ton.
" Man liveth only in himself; but the Lord liveth in all things;
\
And his pervading unity qu ickcneth the whole creation.
Man docth one thing at once, nor can he thin k two thoughts together;
But God compasseth all things, mantlin g the globe li ke air."
Tupper.
" Ca nst thou not minister to a mind diseased 7
Pluck from th e memory a rooted sor row?
Rase out the written trou bles of the brain;
And, with some sweet oblivious antidote,
Clcan>e the fou l bosom of that pe ril ous stuff,
That weigh s upon the heart ?"-Shakspeare.
"A man too careful of danger liveth in continual torment;
But a cheerful expecter of the best hath a fountain of joy within
him :
Yea, though the breath of disappointment should chill the sanguine
hcarl,
Speedily gloweth it again, warmed by the Jive embers of hope ;
T!,~ugh the black and heavy surg e oloscs above the head for a
moment;

Yet the happy buoyanr-y of Confidence riseth snpe rior to D espair."
'l'u.pp er.

But le t concca ;• She never told her love,
F eed on her d a :~~~I~, ~;:<e a worm i' th' .bud,
And with a green and e~ 7 ,• he pm'd 111 thoug ht;
S he. ~at like Pati ence ~ a O \\ melancholy,
Srmhng at Grief." S' k monument,

0

· -

1 ·

SECTIO N XXV.
ALLEGORY AND OT H ER FIGURES.

Ila speare .

"Fir'd al first sig ht wi th w .
In fear less yo uth w
hat the muse im parts
0 1
While from the b
,j"mpl the height of arts '
S hort views we t· ~un e d level of our mind '
a c, 11or sec th e ] , ti b .
J3 u t more advan c'cl b ·I Id . eng JS ehmd .
N c w di stant scenes'
~~dl ,with .s trung~ surpris;,
, ~ s s sc 1r. ncc rise !
S o pleu s'd at fi r ~ l tli c
Mount o'er the ~ I lo\\' nng Alps we try,
Th' eternal sn ow~ ~~; •".IU ."f e m to tread the sky !
And th e first cloud s u;~~r" rcacly post,
But, these nttnin 'd
c mountn i11 s seem the last .
The grnw in g.lub , w~. tremble lo survey
'
Th' incn•asi1w ors o the lengthened way :
' J]
"' prospec t trrco 0
d'
.
ur wan r1.ng eyes;
H J s peep o'er JijlJs aid
' ' Alps on Alps arise !" Pope.

ot
1

na 1\

is a continued metaphor, or perh aps more
correctl y , a se ries of metaphors in one or more sentences.
In th e SOth Psalm, a fin e allegory occurs, commencin~ with
" Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out
the heathen and planted it."
AN

ALLEGORY

Dishop Lowth has, in his treatise " De Sacra Pocsi llcbracorum,"
specified three forms of allegory that occur in sacred poetry. The
first is that which rhetori cia ns call a continued metaphor; an example
of this kind occurs in the beginning of the twelfth ohupler of the book
of Ecclesia stes, in which old age is so admirably de picted. A second
kind of all egory is that which, in a proper and more re,tricted sen se,
muy be ca lled a parable. It cons ists of a contin ued narration or some \
fictitious event, accommodated by wny of similitude to the il111strntion

IJ ,= -- ----- 10

'it

'

f: 114

IIG.
I!
f

EXEUCISES I N
.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

CO ~IPOSITION.

.

c~~tarn 11npor~a~t truths. Allegories of th is kind are called by the
,,eecks, upol?gucs, by lite L ut1n s, fabk•s. Such are the fables of
S sop, and P1lpay, the Indian sage; and suc h a re the narrati ves of our
. av10ur, con;·ey;d unuer the name of p~rable~. Such, in later times,
~re., s.~e?scr s I atry Qu een, wlHch cn.ns1sts of ll se ries of th ese alle1 gones, a nd th e very popul ar work of J ohn Ilunvan "The Pi!
· •
P ro1'rcss." The third s pecies of a llegory , which- ofl~n occurs i~rn~o~
phctrn poetry , is th at m wh ich a dou ble m eaning is C1Juched uncle ptl
j s~~ne word s.; or w hen the .same dis?ourse differently intcrprcte/ d~~
I •.1., n atcs differen t events, d1ss11mlar rn their nature and r emote as t
I tune.
o

I

. METONYMY consists in a change of names, by putting the
ca~1 se for th e effect, or th e effect for the cause, the ad junct
fo 1 th e s ub.1 ec t, or th e sub3cct for th e ad1·un c t · as
·

.

'

'

~· ~far~ is put for War; Ceres for Corn; and Bacr.hns for wine
:-· \ 1r~ 1l calls th e two Scipios th e destmction of Liby a.
·
. 3. C icero says, m time of battle, the laws, that is the 1·ndges ure
SI 1l'llt.
'
'
an

4d. A mild nnd humane prince is called a Titus · a cruel one a N ero .
a g reat conqueror, an Alexander.
'
'
'

. ~YN~CDO C UE is a fi gure hy which the whole is put for a
pa i t., 01 a pa rt for the whole, a genu s for a species, or a
s pecies for a genu s ; as,
_Th e former gets his bread by th e s wea.t of Ii.is brow. H ere are two
e xamples_ of sy nccdoche. Bread, w hi ch is a part of th e farm er'• sub
s 1stencc, 1~ put fo r the wh ole ; and by the phra se, tlie sweat of !ti; brow .
t 1lC effect 1s put for the cause, Yi z. labor.
'

. The PERIPHRASIS is a metonymy, in whic h more words
a 1c employed than are necessar y , or usua l, for the purpose
of e ffect; as,

115

" 0 gentle Sleep ,
Nature'• sofl nurse, bow have I fri ghted thee!
That tho u no more wilt we igh my eye lids down,
And steep my senses in forgetfulness."

Three rul es are to be observed for the man agement of
personification.
.
1. The high er degrees should rarely be a ttempted, unl ess
when prompted by s trong passion; nor continu ed when th e I .
passio n begins to fla g .
!'!
2. vVe must never, in grave co mpositions , pe rsoni fy any
object, but suc h as has so me di gnity in itself, a n<l can make
a prope r figure in the elevation to which we raise it.
3. vVheneve r personification is introduced , the picture 1
it prese nts s hould be com plete a nd consistent with itself.

I

APosTROl'HH is an address to an a bsent or deceased pe rso n, as if he were present an d listening to us; as,
" Ullin , Car ril, and R yno, voices of the days of old ! Let me hear
you, while it is dark , to please and awake my soul-I hear you not,
ye son s of song; in what hall of the clouds is your r est ? D o you n ot
touch the shadowy harp, robed with morning mist, where the rustling
sun com es from hi s g n:cn-head cd waves?"

The HYPER BOLE is noth in g more than a n excess of figu - i
rative language, th e cflect, whe n it is natural, of passion. \\
All pass ions are inclined to mag nify th eir objects. Injuries .
seem g reate r than th ey ren. ll y a rc, to those who have su s - 11
ta inecl th em; a nd da nge rs a rc magnified lo those who are in 1j
apprehension of them.
i
I

. The illustrious a uthor of th e D eclaration of Independ ence is us ·d
m stead of the name J efferson.
'
·e
In dclibcrati.ve assc mbli co, th e honorahlc gentle man on my lcfl or
on my rtghl, 1s a common express ion m slcad of the g enlle in "n'

name.

u

s

. PRoso ~'?P<EIA or _PERso.NIFI.c ~lTJON is th o figure which at tnhutes li fe and actwn to marnmate objects.
There a rc three degrees of P ersonification.
L Wh ~ n .the qual iti es of living beings a re appropriated to thin s
without li fe, us, the proud banner, the insatiable sword, the ragi!g
waves.
2 . \Vhen in animate obj ects arc rt•prcsentcd as a cting like Jiving
beings; as,
"Th e zephyr play in g w ith an a spen leaf-"
:: The venom ed thorn • tlrnt se ntinel tlic leaves of the nettl e."
Th e hurncanc rug-cth fi ercely."
3. When a dtre•:l address is ma<l e lo an inanim ate object, or when
..: it ts represe nted as addressing us; us,

I.

"Victors and vanriui ~h'd joi n promiscuous cries,
And s hrilling shout• , nnd dy in g groans arise ;
With streaming bl ood, the slipp'r_v field s arc dy'd,
And s laughter'd heroes s well th e dreadful tide."
HoMER 's Iliad.

I
I

I

I

The hy pe rbole s hould neve r be introduced in the descripti on of an y thin g ordin ary or familiar, for in such case it is
unnatura l, bcin2 dPstitute of s urprise, which is its only
foundation.
The hy perbole ca n neve r suit a di spiriting
passion ; and it s hould neve r be strained beyo nd due bou nd s. II
Lon g inus com pares a n ove rstra ined hype rbole to a bow- I
string, whi ch relaxes by overstra inin g and produces a n
effect directly oppos ite to wh a t is intenckd- Finall y , th e II
hyperbole ought to be co mprebcncl cd in the fewest word s
possibl e .
InoNY, according lo some writers, has been classed as a .

I

I

li===================================================""'=o-~ ~~

EXERCI8ES IN COMPOSITION.
figure of rhetoric, but others do not allow it that rank. All
irony, says Dr. Priestley, is humor, but a ll humor is not
irony; it genera lly consists in giv ing undese rved praise, implying censu re on the object; or conveying praise under
the appearance of censure : th e form er is the most common.
When Frede ric II. published his poem on the art of war,
he omitted to noti ce the Duke of" Marlborou<>h. On that
. umstance th e Monthly R ev iewers remarked,
"' that " they
circ
, pres umed his majesty had omitted the name of Mariborough, in the catalogue of distinguished commanders,
b.eca use J:e ·might be deficient in one branch of his profess10n, having neve r, on any occasion, evinced his skill in con.
/ ducting a retreat."
. The PA~A~EIPSIS borders on irony; it implies an affectation of om1ss1on, as when an orator exclaims, "l refrain
from mentioning th e rapacity, the venality , the exceeding
corrupt1011 of the person l accuse," &c. Cicero, in his orations, makes mu c h use of this figure, but it requires powerful tal ents, and an ardent manner, to do justice to it.
Of the lNTEHROGATION , th ere arc many fine instances in
th e poet ica l and prophet ical parts of Scripture, "God is not
' a man that H e shou ld lie, nor the son of man that He should
repe nt. Hath He sa id, and s hall Be not do it?"
ExcLAMATION is a stronge r figure than the former, and
must be but rarely used, as it will appear ridiculous, unl ess
where the pas!;ions arc inllamed. Cice ro uses this firrure
0
to express a variety of pass ions : as indignation, resentm ent,
contempt, grie f, and admiration. It has its use in ridicule
and irony. Thu s the orator exclaims, in his oration for
i Bal bus, deriding the accuse r, "0 excellent inte rpreter of
amender of our
1 the law, master of antiquity, corrector and
constitution!" St. Paul makes use of the exclamation in
exu ltation and triumph, " 0 death, where is thy sting! 0
grave, where is th y victory!" It is frequently used with
an int.e rrogation, a nd serv es to prepare the mind by exciting
uttent10n.
Anoth~r fi g ure of speech, called by Blair and other critics,
, V1sroN, IS adapted also to warm and animated composition,
; by whi c h we desc ribe a thing that is past or absent, as if
: actually passi ng before our Rye. Thus Cicero says, " I
seem to myself to behold this city, the ornament of the
earth, and th e capita l of a ll nations, sudden ly involved in
; one conflagration. I see before me the s laughtered heaps
[ ~f _citizens lying unburied in the midst or their ruined coun-

l

.
I

FIGURATIVE LANGUAOE.

.1 17 1

.

I

try. The furious cou ntenan?e o.f Ceth.egu~ rises to ~y v!ew,~
while, with a savage joy, he 1s tnumphmg m your m1ser~es.
This manne r of description supposes u sort of enthusiasm
which carries the speaker or write r in some measure out of
himself and if well executed, impresses the hearer or reader
strong!~, by th e force of sympathy.
.
REPETITION is another animated figure, b.y which the most
material words or a sentence are repeated, m or?er to make
the impression the st ronge r: one of. the finest mst~nc~~
. fi ·e is in St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinth1<ms,
th IS
gui
.
I
I
l't 1 s
"Are they Hebrews? So nm 1.-Are t iey srae i es · o
am I.-Are thRy th e seed of Abraham ·r So am 1.-Are they
ministers of Christ '! ( [ speak as u foo l) I am. mor~; m labors
more abundant, in str ipes abovf! measure, m prisons more
frequent, in deaths.on."
.·
Such are the prmc1pal figures of rhcto1.1c. Man)'. ot~ers
are enume rated and described by rhet.oncians, aH of which,
says Dr. B lair, are berrutiful or n.ot, m proport10n .as they
are native expressions of the sentiment or pass10 n intended
to be heig htened by the m. L et nature and passion a:wafs
speak the ir own language, and they will ~uggest fi gu 1es. m
abundance. But if we seek lo counterfeit a warmth wh1c~
we do not fee l, no figures will either supply the dflfec t, 01
conceal the imposture.

o:

EXERCISES .
Point out the figures ef speech in the_ following e:rtracts,
and give them their appropriate names.
"Wallace was a thunderbolt of wnr.".
,,
" In peace, Fingal was the gale of s pnng.
"Did I but purpose to em bark w ith thee
On th e s mooth s urfUcc of a summer's 8ca,
While gentle zephyrs play '~ilh P.rospcrous gales,
And fortune's favor fills the swellin g sa tls;

Bu~ -,_ vould forsake the ship, and make the shore,,,

When the winds whistle, and the tempests roar?

.
Prior.

u As rusheth a foamy strea m from the dark slrndy steep of C~om~~i'
when thunder is rolling above, and d ~rk brown 111g-ht nf·~tsEon t e Tll '.
ast

terrible rush forward the Rons o

"f .fir~~kes~ ~;, j1 ; 1 ~ of
80

rm.

JC

\

ocea; followed by all its l>illow" •. l'ours valor :
~0~\~ 1 ' U$ a s~rca m, rolling its might a lo~g th e sh orc."- Oss~au. .
:\
"Li ke Autumn's da rk storm" pmmng from two cchomg l11llsi; to- '\
\ wards each other npproachcd the he roes : as two dark strcai~"b:;,~l; 1·1
hi I.' rocks meet and roar on the ~lain , loud, rough, and dark
,
m~ct Lochlin nnd lnisfuil."-Ossw. 7i.
q
\

I

118

EXERCISES IN CO:IIPOSITION.

C ONCLUDIN G RE)lARKS .

" I found her on the floor
In nil the storm of grief. yet b f fi 1
Pouring forth tears at s~ch leau u ;
That were the world ,
a av1s I ~ate,
The wrath of H eave on fiJe, they might have drown'd
n, an quench'd the mighty ruin."

advantageous to rend Dr. Gregory's "Letters on Litnrature,
Taste, and Composition," " Dr. Aikin's L etter to his Son,"
Dr. Blair's "Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres,"
Lord Kames's "Elements of Criticism," Dr. Campbell's
"Philosophy of Rhetoric," Archbishop Whately's " Elements of Rhetoric," "Irving's Elements of Composition," Rippingham's "Rules of Composition " M'Culloch's

t

" S 'fl C
Lee.
.
, l wi
amilla scours the plain
Fl ics
o er ti' unbendi
.
'
ng corn, and skims along the main."
"Art thou, my Gregory, fo rever fl ed?
And au~ I !ell to unava iling woe?
When fortun e's storms assa il this wear head
Where care lo11g since h·1s shed
f ~
'
Ah, now for comfort whi~her sha~"i'me/ snow,
No more thy soot! ·
, ·
go·
Thy pl acid eyes ":;t~f 8~~:fees ~~ l~~g~ish cheers ;
1
My hopes to cherish and allay my Pen~s~'ow,

Pope.

"Manual of English Grammar"

"Dut I k
Beattie.
W lkoo • the morn, in russet mantle clad
a s o'er th e dew of yon high enstward hill."
u

If

M aught of oaten stop or past 'ml song

Shakspeare.

ay hope, chaste Eve! to soothe tl1y
d t
L'J
'
mo es ear
J <e

tn>:'

own solemn springs,

'

Thy sprrngs nnd dying gn Jc,,"- Collins.
"N.
1 ig ht, sable goddess ! from her cbon throne
n ralyless ma;csty, now stretches lorlh
'
H er eaden sceptre •
. world."- Young.
o er a s I ulllbcrmg

SECTION XXVI.
CON CLUDING REMARKS.

IN the exercises and rules

.
.
which we have now brou o- ht 1' compos1lng. the little volume
d
d
.
"'
o a cone us1on we h
envore to fur111 sh th e pupil wi th th
t . '1
nve enof proceed in " req uired ·fo r n 1_.
e mn cn a sand methods
th e nrt of co~n1)os ilion. Wm , _mg a s11 ccess ful beginning in 1
ti
<: pt oposed no more th
th. ·
ie outset;
an
IS Ill /
., i't wou Id be more p
fc
·
. a nd fJP· rhnpo
apo Iog1sc fo r havi na attem pted to co d t I . roper or us to ,
course, eonsiderincr"'the narrow I' .t n ~cl 11111 so far on his i
offer an y excuse f;;r not en
so t.1e ~o lum e , than to t
further.
deavonng to aid hi s progress still /

":JI

,_I

119

In prosecu tincr his su bse u
·
. . .
.
on which th e a~t of c
q e~t mqumes m to the prmciples /
ompos1t1on is found ed, he wi ll find it

I

!a~n~di!t!h!e!!~~I!~~~~

o
:vtio • tles1rous o trl'pTovement in compos1t10n
acquainted with the Latin or French, or any
other language than his own, he cannot do better than occasionally translate passages from a classical author, into English; and when he has done his best, if he compares his
version with an existin g translation, he will perceive in what
his own defects consist, and be able to correct them. In
this view, he mi ght ta ke Cicero's treatise De Amicitia, or
De Senectutc, and compare his own efforts with the version
of Mr. Melmoth.
"Another useful method will be, to read, or to hear read,
narratives, or other compositions, in various styles, and then
write down wha t he remembers in his own language; and
at first, without much rega rd to any thing except correctness of thought. Writing clown at home recollections of
sermons that are heard, without attempting to remember the
preacher's expressions, and occasionally allowing th e mind
to follow its own train of ideas, has been recommended by
pe
s
fited b the p rnctice.
IQ oripa compositlQDs, th youth should,
prev1ou
o his ta'k!n"'
Jl•
x i his mind distinctly what object he hns iu view, what subject he means
to discuss, what fact he intends to illustrate, what moral he
wi ~ hes to enforce, or what circu msta nces he has to na rrate.
When he has made up his mind on this, he will next con-

· --------~--~
- -~~
--~
----------- =
=
-=
-=--=
-- ~=
=~
- -~--- ~~---=-

120

EXERCISES IN C0111POSITION.

sider the several ways by which his object may be attained,
and having determined upon what appears to him the best,
let him pursue it without deviation. In his first essay, he
will probably be short; but modes of application will, after
some practice, readily occur. All he should chiefly regard
in his earl ie r attempts, is correctness in the structure of his
sentences, and the bearing of his argument on the business
in hand. Young persons are often defective in breaking
down their thoughts into sentences ; but on this we have
al ready treated at large. To sit in judgment on their own
compositions, when they have not the assistance of a guide,
th ey will do well to lay aside for a few days what they have
composed, and then examine it by such rules of criticism as
they may be acquainted with. Of one thing they may be
certain, if they do not themselves understand what they have
written, othe r people cannot. Learning to co rrect, and not
sparing their own compositions, are very important points
and
·ei;;,o.romende tQo sJ,re~iy-----...--cll..,.

ave 1r and full Rlay for the exerCISe
a iC!itl frien will t row cold water upon e
i rudest essays. In matters of reasoning, they should digest
I' their plan, and minute down th eir lead ing divisions.
"To conclude, young people will acquire a just taste for
composition, by th e freq uent perusal of those moral essays,
which periodically appeared during the last century, and
which have been collected into vo lumes, and are generally
known under the denomination of British Classics. Such are
th e Spectator, th e Rambl er, the Guardian, Adventurer, &c.
These will enrich the mind with a variety of choice &entiments, and will inspire the reader not only with a love of
what is excellent, but with a readiness to imitate it."
Mr. Joyce concludes by quoting Dr. Johnson's recommendation to him who would improve his English sty le, "to
devote his days and nights to the pages of Addison." "\VP.
would also commend to his special attention the works of
Goldsmith, Edgeworth, and Washington Irving.

I

,

THE END.

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