RULE V.

A LONG PARENTHESIS, COALESCING WITH THE REST
OF THE SENTENCE.

When parentheses which easily coalesce with the construction of the sentences in which they occur, are separable into portions requiring points, dashes may be used instead of the common marks of parenthesis ();

as,

The whole external deportment of a child is delightful. Its smile always so ready when there is no distress, and so soon recurring when that distress has passed away- is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond.

Exception.

The parenthesis, even when it cannot be subdivided, is sometimes preceded by and concluded with dashes, when they assist in bringing out the sense more clearly than commas; as,

The poor labourer is not without a feeling-unuttered though it be of the sweetness of spring, and the delights of the passing hour.

REMARK 1. When, by the exclusion of the parenthesis, the sentence could be read without points at the two extremities, none will be requisite along with the dashes; as in the example under the rule, which, by omitting the parenthesis, will read thus: -"Its smile is like an opening of the sky, showing heaven beyond." But when, without the parenthesis, the sentence would require a comma or any other grammatical mark at the place where the parenthesis is introduced, both the dashes must be preceded by that mark; as, “In the heathen world, where mankind had no divine revelation, but followed the impulse of nature alone, — religion was often the basis of civil government."

REMARK 2. -Where one parenthetical clause is contained within another, both of which require to be distinctly perceived, the chief parenthesis may be enclosed by the usual marks ( ), and the subordinate one by dashes, as in the following lines:

"Sir Smug, he cries (for lowest at the board

Just made fifth chaplain of his patron Lord,

His shoulders witnessing, by many a shrug,

How much his feelings suffered-sat Sir Smug)

"Your office is to winnow false from true:

Come, prophe', drink; and tell us, What think you!"

EXERCISES.

Write the following sentences, and distinguish the parentheses by means of dashes:

When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together. - And Babylon shall become she that was the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans as the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah by the hand of God. — The eyes of us all were turned towards the white placid form of the figure now stretched in everlasting rest; and without lamentations save the silent lamentations of the resigned soul we stood around the deathbed of the Elder.—If once Byron lays hold of your attention, unless, indeed, it be by some sudden start of displeasure, the chances are against your getting loose, until he is satisfied to let you go.

We thought as we hollowed his narrow bed,
And smoothed down his lonely pillow

How the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
And we far away on the billow.

From the first hour of existence to the last, from the cradle of the infant, beside which the mother watches with unslumbering eye, to the grave of the aged, where the son pours his last tears upon the bier of his father, in all that intermediate time, every day calls for exertion and activity, and the moral honours can only be won by the steadfast magnanimity of pious duty. The shepherd, as he sits upon the hill-side, and surveys his quiet flock, with its sportive companies of lambs, those sweetest emblems of innocent mirth, feels a joy and a calm satisfaction, that is heightened by the recollection of the vanished snow-storms of recent winter, and of all the anxieties and toils attending his peculiar charge. — Wherever we look, to the chain of animal existence, to the faculties of the individual mind, or the stages of collective society, we discover distinct traces of the same general law; that in proportion to the excellence of any form of being, is its progress tardy, and its cycle vast. — In the two most marked characteristics of old age, the obtusiveness of immediate perception, and freshness of remote memories, may we not even discern an obvious intimation of the great future, and a fitting preparative for its approach? The senses become callous and decline, verging gently to the extinction which awaits them, &c.

RULE VI.

QUESTION AND ANSWER.

The dash is sometimes used between a question and an answer, when they come together in the same para

graph; as,

Exception.

When a series of questions and answers is put into one and the same paragraph, the dash may be inserted before every question except the first, and omitted before the answer; as,

Who created you? God.

Who redeemed you? Jesus Christ.

REMARK. On the same principle, a dash is inserted between the title and the subject-matter, when commenced in the same line; as,

FAULTS OF AUTHORS AND TEACHERS. - Of all the faults which authors and teachers commit in their controversies, perhaps none deserves exposure more than the practice of pronouncing on a man's fairness, good feeling, and integrity, not from the usual indications of those qualities, but from the nature of the conclusions at which he has arrived. So also the dash is used to connect separate paragraphs, examples, dialogues, &c. when it is deemed necessary to save room, as in parliamentary and other reports.

EXERCISES.

Write these sentences, inserting dashes in the appropriate places:—

Tiberius interrupted him with astonishment: "Can these be the sentiments of Belisarius?" "Yes, young man, thus thinks Belisarius: he is able to decide upon this subject. Of all the plagues which the pride of man has engendered, the rage of conquest is the most destructive.". Would you that your friends should love you? Make a friend of God. Would you that their neglect, if they do neglect you, should be better to you than their love? Make a friend of God. Would you that your enemies should be at peace with you? Be ye reconciled to Heaven. Would you that their hatred should promote your interest? Take care to have an interest in God. Would you prosper in the world? You cannot do it without God's help. Would you that your souls should prosper? It must be through his blessing?

Who bade the sun

Clothe you with rainbows? Who, with living flowers
Of loveliest hue, spread garlands at your feet?

God! let the torrents, like a shout of nations,

Answer.

RULE VII.

ELLIPSES OF ADVERBS.

The dash is sometimes used where there is an ellipsis of the adverb namely, or of other words of a similar nature; as,

The four greatest names in English poetry are almost the four first we come to -Chaucer, Spenser, Shakspere, and Milton.

REMARK. This rule may be properly regarded as a branch of Rule I. pp. 71, 72, in reference to significant pauses; but it is here separately introduced, in consequence of its great utility.

EXERCISES.

Write the sentences that follow, and insert the dashes:

From an illusion of the imagination, arises one of the most important principles in human nature the dread of death. - The violator of the sacred laws of justice feels, that the unhappy effects of his own conduct have rendered him the proper object of the resentment and indignation of mankind, and of what is the natural consequence vengeance and punishment. - The best shelter that the world affords us is the first the affections into which we are born, and which are too natural for us to know their worth, till they are disturbed.

RULE VIII.

OMISSION OF LETTERS OR FIGURES.

The dash is often used to denote an omission of letters or of figures; as,

It is also used in poetry, when imperfectly quoted; as,

83

THE APOSTROPHE.

The APOSTROPHE ['] is a mark distinguished in appearance from a comma, only in being placed above the line; but its uses are altogether different.

RULE I.

ELISION OF LETTERS, OR SHORTENING OF WORDS.

The apostrophe is used chiefly in poetry, and in familiar dialogue, to denote the omission of a letter or

REMARK 1. It was once a common practice, especially in verse, to write and print tho' and thro', instead of though and through; but these abbreviated forms are now discontinued, for the very just reason, that they do not shorten the pronunciation of the words, the chief object for which abbreviations are used. To prevent, however, the turning of a poetical line, which is offensive to the eye, tho' and thro' may occasionally be so printed. Till, being a substitute for until, now seldom used, should never have an apostrophe before it, thus, 'till.

REMARK 2. - Marks in Punctuation, as we have frequently mentioned, are used only for two purposes; namely, to assist in bringing out clearly the sense of a written or a printed composition, and in reading or reciting it in a more perspicuous manner than could otherwise be effected. Whenever, therefore, the points fail in accomplishing one or other of these objects, they may properly be dispensed with. To apply this principle to the apostrophe, when indicating elision: the mark referred to is erroneously used in the words, to, the, every, heaven, power, and others of a similar nature, when they are written, as frequently in verse, t, th', ev'ry, heav'n, pow'r; for-though apparently, in the full form, making a syllable additional to the number of feet required by the verse-they are never pronounced differently from the