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periodically give balls, and parties, and sumptuous feasts to the influencial; and yet suffer their workmen, those by whose labor they have acquired the very money which they are so prodigally spending, to go unpaid; who yearly give large sums to public charities, when they know that the matter will become known to the affluent; and yet, who are the greatest niggards on earth, with regard to those who are poor and obscure. If we viewed the conduct of these persons towards the influencial only, we would consider them exceedingly munificent, though, to be sure, very indiscreet; but as we view them in both situations, we must inevitably come to the conclusion that they are in principle, selfish and misanthropic; for we readily perceive that the charac ter of generosity is merely an assumed one; assumed for the purpose of self-advancement; and that too, at the expense of those who are unfortunate enough to be poor. It is made a virtue to take from the unknown, and give to the well known. A person's character should always be estimated by his private acts, and not by his public ones; unless he be a servant of the public."

141. The Colon is next to the full point, in requiring a complete sense in the words. It is mostly used when the writer intends that an explanation of what he is then speaking of, shall immediately follow the sentence which the colon concludes. For example: "There are but seven primary planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Herschel."

142. The Full Point is used at the end of every com. plete sentence. And a complete sentence, is a collection of words, making a complete sense, without being dependent upon another collection of words to convey the full mean ing intended. For example: "A paper currency is a great curse." A sentence, however, may consist of several members or divisions; and when it does, it is called a com. pound sentence. The one just given as an example, is a simple sentence; but the one which I will now give, you will perceive is compounded of two simple sentences: "There are many evils which a country may be afflicted with; but the one most to be dreaded, scarcely excepting civil war, and loss of liberty, is an entire paper currency.'

143. These are all the points. But there are five marks which are used in sentences: The mark of Parenthesis, the mark of Interrogation, the mark of Exclamation, the Apostrophe, and the Hyphen.

144. The Parenthesis is marked thus: () It is made use of to enclose a word or phrase, which we consider will tend to explain the matter we are speaking of; or it is made use of to add force to our assertions or arguments. Here is an example: "How often are the poor (I mean the very poor) suffering for bread, while thousands of dollars are foolishly spent to gratify the vitiated tastes of the children of luxury." 145. The Interrogation is marked thus: (?) and is used when a question is asked. As its name indicates, we use it when we interrogate; thus: "Whom did you see? What did you say? Will you go?" It is necessary to put this mark after the words; because on it depends, in many instances, the sense of the sentence. "Whom did you see? Thomas?" When I ask in this way, I mean, "what person did you see? was it Thomas ?" But when I ask, "whom did you see, Thomas ?" I mean "what person did you, Thomas, see?" In speaking, the sense would be determined by the modulation of the voice; but in writing, there is no other guide than this mark.

146. The Admiration, or Exclamation, is marked thus: (!) It is used in exclamatory sentences; as, "Oh! what shall I do! what is to become of me!" This mark is a great deal used by some authors, and not much by others. The style of the writing determines to a great extent, the use of this mark. You can easily distinguish the difference be. tween what shall I do! and what shall I do? In the first expression, I merely give vent to my feelings without desiring any one to reply to me; but in the last, I call upon some one to give me information; to tell me what to do.

147. The Apostrophe is marked thus: (') It is the same as a comma, only that it is placed above the line. It is used frequently for abbreviating; and in poetry answers this purpose exceedingly well; because these lines must have so many feet, as poets say in them; and these feet are determined by the syllables. Heav'n and giv'n may do very well in poetry, but never ought to be tolerated in prose.

So with can't for cannot, shouldn't for should not. This mark is necessary in the possessive case, as I have before informed you; and it is scarcely ever used in prose writing in any other manner.

148. The Hyphen is marked thus: (-) It is used to connect words, and thus make a compound word of two or more words; as horse-shoe, dog-catcher, scare-crow. The hyphen is sometimes used to connect many words, when these words are used as adjectives; as, the "ever-to-beremembered-Fourth of July, 1776."

149. Besides these marks, there are various signs made use of by authors, such as *, t, t, II, §, ¶; which refer the reader to the bottom of the page for a further explanation of the subject which the writer is treating upon. But the less you use these marks of reference, the better. Always endeavour to make your writing sufficiently explicit in the body of the page, without having to call upon any notes to help you out of your undertaking.

150. You perceive that some words are printed in Italics, some in SMALL CAPITAL, and some in LARGE CAPITAL letters. In writing, when you wish a word to be set up in Italics, you make a single stroke under it with a pen; when in SMALL CAPITALS, two strokes; and when in LARGE or FULL CAPITALS, three strokes. We also use a capital letter at the beginning of every sentence that succeeds a full-point; at the beginning of all proper names; as, "George, New-York ;" at the beginning of all adjec tives which are derived from the names of countries.or nations; as, "the American revolution; the United States government; the Jewish religion.

151. The Caret is marked thus: (A) and is used to point the reader to something that is immediately above the line in which the mark is. This something is an omitted part of what the writer has to say. This mark tends to disfigure the page; but if you can improve your authorship by interlining a few words, of course the mere appearance of the writing should not deter you from so doing.

152. Some writers make great use of the dash; which is a stroke along the line thus: This mark may, perhaps once in a hundred instances, be used correctly; but there is no need whatever,for using it one-fiftieth part of the number

of times that it is by some. The comma, semi-colon, colon, and full-point, will in nearly all cases, answer every purpose. Take an example: "Lethargy or apathy will mildew all your purposes. One concentrated mass of mould will over. spread all your enterprises; extending its contaminating influence even to your physical persons; until you find yourselves a moving body of gangrene-the corruption advancing, but the corrupted retrograding." Some writers would mangle this, thus: "Lethargy or apathy will mildew all your purposes-one concentrated mass of mould will overspread all your enterprises-extending its contaminating influence even to your physical persons-until you find yourselves a moving body of gangrene-the corruption advancing, but the corrupted retrograding." The last dash may do; but none of the others can be tolerated. Although some authors make great use of the dash, they cannot be said to be in favor of it. They know that some mark must be put after a certain word, or set of words; but they do not know what that mark ought to be; so down they clap a dash, and thus endeavor to conceal their ignorance of punctuation; and perhaps they do conceal it from many who are like themselves; but they, at the same time, more fully expose it to those, the good opinion of one of whom is worth the opinions of five hundred unknowing

ones.

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153. You will not make any great mistake in the using of this part of speech. People are generally able to come at the meaning of a speaker, though he may not use one Article correctly. But then this is not the way that a person ought to speak. He ought to speak in such a manner, that his words will admit of but one meaning, and cannot be rendered nonsense by criticism.

154. You recollect that in paragraph 38, I stated that the general article was applied to nouns in the singular number only. It would seem that there is an exception to this rule; for we can correctly say, a number of horses, though that number implies a plurality. That number, however, though it may take many to make it, is, when made, one thing, one mass; and therefore that one thing, one mass, is singular. It will take three and two and one, to make the number six; yet that number six is singular.

155. Always reflect upon the meaning of words, before you put down an article, and you will seldom or never err in its use. You will know whether it will be right to say, "I wish to see the president and leader of the society," or, "I wish to see the president and the leader of the society." In the first instance, the meaning is, "I wish to see the person who acts as president and leader;" in the second, "I wish to see the persons who act as president and leader."

156. When we use a noun to express the whole of a species, we may omit the article; but when we use a noun without wishing to express merely the species, we must use the article. Thus we say, "woman is a beautiful creature;" "the woman is a beautiful creature." In the first instance, the meaning is, that woman as a whole species, or as part of the human species, is beautiful. In the second, the meaning is limited to one woman, whom we have before spoken of, or heard of. Again: " man is courageous;" "the man is courageous." You see that the first has reference to man solely as a species; but that the last has reference to him as a particular man. Apples are ripe;" "the apples are ripe;" "Peaches are delicious;" "the peaches are delicious." The first and third instances refer to fruit as a whole kind, or sort; the second and last to some particular fruit of a kind or sort.

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157. Mr. Cobbett says, that to say, "a dollar a bushel," is much better than to say, "a dollar per bushel ;" and so it is; for "per bushel" or per any thing is an awkward, and unmusical expression; and is, moreover, not half so well understood. "A dollar a bushel;" that is, a dollar for a

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