same words in prose. No elocutionist or poet deserving of the name would read the expressions, to attain perfection and the accomplished sofa, in the following lines, tattain perfection and thaccomplished sofa; though, judging from the mode in which they were originally printed (ť attain and th' accomplished), a reader might imagine that this absurd and senseless pronunciation was requisite:

So slow

The growth of what is excellent; so hard
To attain perfection in this nether world.
Thus first Necessity invented stools,
Convenience next suggested elbow-chairs,
And Luxury the accomplished sofa last.

REMARK 3. It seems to have been the practice in former times to pronounce, as an additional syllable, the ed in the imperfect tense of verbs, in past participles, and in participial adjectives; and hence arose the propriety, in poetical works of a bygone age, of eliding the e in words of this sort, and of supplying its place with an apostrophe, when the termination treated of coalesced in pronunciation with the primitive to which d or ed was attached. Now, however, that this syllable is not separately enunciated in prose,except in learned, beloved, cursed, winged, when used as adjectives, and in a few instances where a combination of harsh consonants necessarily requires the ed always to be articulated as a syllable; and except also in Sacred Scripture, portions of which require to be read in a very solemn manner, the propriety of supplying the place of the e, in poetry, with an apostrophe is exceedingly questionable. In many recent publications, therefore, the mark of elision has been thrown aside in regard to such words, and an acute or a grave accent is placed on the e in those which are lengthened for the sake of the rhythm; as will be seen in the following lines:-

O my good friend! thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished.
But come, thou goddess, fair and free,
In heaven ycleped Euphrosyne,
And, by men, heart-easing Mirth;
Whom lovely Venus, at a birth,
With two sister Graces more,

To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore.

The acute accent is perhaps preferable; but, however that may be, one mode of accentuation should be preserved throughout in the same work or composition.

REMARK 4. In the preceding paragraph, we have endeavoured to show the inutility of ever inserting the apostrophe instead of e, in the termination ed. It may, however, be proper to admit, that many respectable printers adopt a different mode in reference to the words under consideration. They retain the e in the imperfect tense and perfect participle of those verbs whose infinitive ends in that letter, but use an apostrophe, in poetry, in the same forms of verbs, when the infinitive terminates with a consonant; as, "to grieve, grieved; to gain, gain'd." They also, as a matter of course, reject, as unnecessary, the use of the accents in such words as cherished and ivy-crowned, when the ed forms an additional syllable; the e being retained as an excep

tion to their general rule, in order to indicate that the ed does not coalesce with the preceding syllable. The mode of using the e and the apostrophe, here adverted to, is exemplified in the following lines:

Ages elapsed ere Homer's lamp appear'd,
And ages ere the Mantuan swan was heard:
To carry nature lengths unknown before,
To give a Milton birth, ask'd ages more.

REMARK 5. - Though but indirectly connected with Punctuation, it may be remarked, that some of the past participles, having the termination ed, are in verse frequently written or printed with a t, as in the words, blest, drest, dreamt; but this mode of spelling, though not analogical, is by no means unpleasant to the eye. In prose, however, when participles having both terminations occur, it is better to adopt that which is more usual; being, to speak generally, the regular form, ed.

EXERCISES.

Write the following sentences, and insert the apostrophe where required by the preceding rule:

ter.

Lets go in, gentlemen. — Thourt a good boy. — Thats my mas- Ill give him reasons fort. — Whod be so mocked with glory? - Ive lost a day. - What ist your honour will command? - Tis not in folly not to scorn a fool. On other themes Ill dwell. If Id a throne, Id freely share it with thee.-Oh! she is ten times more gentle than her fathers crabbed; and hes composed of harshness. - Enraptured childhood rushes out to play, mid light and music, colours and perfumes.—Im a pleader for freedom in every form. Blest was my boyhood, when I wandered free, fearless, and far, oer mountain, moor, and vale. a silvery crisp on the grass. -Oh! tempt me no more to the wine-brimming bowl, nor say twill arouse me to gladness. -Methought that I lay naked and faint neath a tropic sky. -May Heaven afford thee, to thy latest hour, the joy of doing good, and neer deny the power!-So wise he judges it to fly from pain, however, and to scape his punishment. I might have lived, and joyed immortal bliss. — Beast now with beast gan war, and fowl with fowl.-Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy. Yet for a while, gainst Passion's threatful blast, let steady Reason urge the struggling oar. — To you, ye wastes, whose artless charms neer drew ambition's eye, scaped a tumultuous world's alarms, to your retreats I fly. - Whereer the oak's thick branches stretch a broader, browner shade; whereer the rude and moss-grown beech oercanopies the glade. - Twas Milton struck the deep-toned shell.

H

RULE II.

THE POSSESSIVE CASE.

The apostrophe is used also to denote the possessive case; which is formed in the singular number by adding to the nominative an s, with an apostrophe before it, and in the plural by annexing an s, with the mark after it; as,

A man's morals; the drapers' company.

Exception 1..

The apostrophe is sometimes used in the singular number without the additional s, particularly when the nominative ends in s, ss, or ce; as,

Moses' rod; for righteousness' sake; for conscience' sake.

REMARK. The reason for this exception is founded on the propriety of modifying, as much as possible, the disagreeable nature of the hissing sound. Recourse, however, should not be had to the principle laid down in the exception, when its adoption would cause ambiguity, or when the addition of the s does not render the pronunciation of the word exceedingly offensive. For instance, the Italic words in the following expressions, "James's book, Thomas's cloak, Burns's poems, Queen Bess's government," -though they contain the hissing sound, are not unpleasant to the ear, and are more analogical and significant than the abbreviated forms, "James' book, Thomas' cloak, Burns' poems, Queen Bess' government."

Exception 2.- To form the possessive case plural, the apostrophe, with an s after it, is added to the nominative plural, when it does not end in that letter; as,

Men's passions; women's tenderness; children's joys.

Exception 3. The possessive case of pronouns is formed without an apostrophe; as,

REMARK. Some grammarians would use the apostrophe in the following words: -Our's, your's, her's, it's, their's. But the impropriety of this is evident from the mode in which the other pronouns in the possessive case are always written; namely, mine, his, and whose; which indicate the case without the mark in question.

EXERCISES.

Write the following phrases and sentences, and insert the apostrophe where required by the nature of the possessive case :—

-

Childrens toys. - - The empresss carriage. The enemies resistance. - These are Socrates fetters. Tired Natures sweet restorer, balmy Sleep. The ladies gloves were very handsome. This canal is the Duke of Bridgewaters.-I am going to the booksellers (sing.), to purchase Popes Homer and Drydens Virgil.-Burnss prose as well as poetical compositions are astonishing productions. In Jesus name the Christian prays. The precepts of wisdom form the good mans interest and happiness. - Wisdoms precepts are good mens delight. For goodness sake, I entreat you to pardon me. The traveller went to lodge, not in Mr. Jacobs house (the house of Jacob), but in Mr. Jacobss (the house of Jacobs). — The following is a sonnet of John Critchley Princes, written on the blank leaf of a volume of well-selected poetry:

Behold Affections garden, whose sweet flowers

A blending of all odours, forms, and hues-
Were nursed by Fancy and the gentle Muse,
In heaven-born Poesys delightful bowers.
Ye who appreciate the Poets powers,

And love the bright creations of his mind,

Come, linger here awhile, and ye shall find

A noble solace in your milder hours:

Here Byrons genius like an eagle towers

In dread sublimity, while Rogers lute,

Moores native harp, and Campbells classic flute,
Mingle in harmony, as beams with showers.

Can their high strains of inspiration roll,

Nor soothe the heart, nor elevate the soul!

Fames proud temple shines afar. — Referring to the sermons of Dr. Burn, we may write, Burns sermons; but we must be careful to put the apostrophe in its right place. The witnesss evidence (the evidence of the witness) was unexceptionable. — For quietness sake, he would not enter into the dispute. Blest be the day I 'scaped the wrangling crew, from Pyrrhos maze and Epicurus sty. The witnesses testimony (the testimony of the witnesses) agreed with the facts of the case. Philippa was the name of Edward the Thirds Queen. Moved with admiration of the womans virtues, the cardinal bade her be of good courage. Moses laws were admirably adapted to the condition of the Jews. On eagles (plur.) wings he seemed to soar. He had the surgeons (sing.), the physicians (sing.), and the apothecarys advice.

88

THE HYPHEN.

The HYPHEN [-] is employed to connect the constituent parts of compound epithets and nouns. It is also used to divide words into syllables, for the purpose either of exhibiting the pronunciation, or of showing the simple portions into which words may be resolved.

REMARK. -From this explanation, it will be seen that the hyphen is used for two very different purposes; namely, to join and to separate. The mark of junction is inserted in those nouns and adjectives which are respectively formed of the union of two or more words; as in "the inhuman slave-trade;" "the never-to-be-forgotten tragedy of Macbeth." The mark of separation is employed by lexicographers and printers to analyse words, and to divide them into syllables; - by the former to indicate as accurately as possible the pronunciation, and by the latter merely to disunite portions of words that cannot fully be brought into a line of letterpress.

RULE I.

COMPOUND WORDS.

The hyphen is used between the words of which a compound epithet or noun is formed.

EXAMPLES.

1. EPITHETS FORMED BY MEANS OF A NOUN AND A PARTICIPLE.Heaven-born philosopher; incense-breathing morn; a weather-beaten vessel; the violet-embroidered vale.

2. EPITHETS COMPOUNDED OF TWO ADJECTIVES, OR OF AN ADJECTIVE AND A PARTICIPLE. -The all-wise Being; twenty-five men; pure-eyed Faith; dewy-feathered Sleep.

3. EPITHETS COMPOUNDED OF A PARTICIPLE AND A PREPOSIMade-up articles, of a most heterogeneous nature; the cast-off structure of a plant or an animal.

TION.

4. EPITHETS COMPOUNDED OF AN ADVERB OR A PREPOSITION AND A PARTICIPLE.-A well-arranged catalogue; ill-requited love; the now-forgotten bard; oft-repeated expressions; a never-failing supply of water; the before-mentioned place.