EXERCISE XIII.-TWO ERRORS.

"In consequence of this, much time and labor are unprofitably expended, and a confusion of ideas introduced into the mind, which, by never so wise a method of subsequent instruction, it is very difficult completely to remove."-Grenville's Gram., p. 3. "So that the restoring a natural manner of delivery, would be bringing about an entire revolution, in its most essential parts."-Sheridan's Elocution, p. 170. "Thou who loves us, will protect us still:' here who agrees with thou, and is nominative to the verb loves."-Alex. Murray's Gram, p. 67. "The Active voice signifies action; the Passive, suffering, or being the object of an action."-Adam's Latin Gram., p. 80; Gould's, 77. "They sudden set upon him, fearing no such thing."-Walker's Particles, p. 252. "That may be used as a pronoun, an adjective, and a conjunction, depending on the office which it performs in the sentence."-Kirkham's Gram., p. 110. "This is the distinguishing property of the church of Christ from all other antichristian assemblies or churches."-Barclay's Works, i, 533. "My lords, the course which the legislature formerly took with respect to the slave-trade, appears to me to be well deserving the attention both of the government and your lordships."BROUGHAM: Antislavery Reporter, Vol. ii, p. 218. "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen."—John, iii, 11. "This is a consequence I deny, and remains for him to prove."— Barclay's Works, iii, 329. "To back this, He brings in the Authority of Accursius, and Consensius Romanus, to the latter of which he confesses himself beholding for this Doctrine.”—Johnson's Gram. Com., p. 343. "The compound tenses of the second order, or those in which the participle present is made use of."-Priestley's Gram., p. 24. "To lay the accent always on the same syllable, and the same letter of the syllable, which they do in common discourse."-Sheridan's Elocu tion, p. 78. "Though the converting the w into a v is not so common as the changing the v into a w."—Ib., p. 46. "Nor is this all; for by means of accent, the times of pauses also are rendered quicker, and their proportions more easily to be adjusted and observed."-Ib., p. 72. "By mouthing, is meant, dwelling upon syllables that have no accent: or prolonging the sounds of the accented syllables, beyond their due proportion of time."-Ib., p. 76. "Taunt him with the license of ink; if thou thou'st him thrice, it shall not be amiss."-SHAK.: Joh. Dict., w. Thou. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it."-Prov., xxx, 17. "Copying, or merely imitating others, is the death of arts and sciences."—Spurzheim, on Ed., p. 170. "He is arrived at that degree of perfection, as to surprise all his acquaintance."-Ensell's Gram., p. 296. "Neither the King nor Queen are gone."-Buchanan's E. Syntax, p. 155. "Many is pronounced as if it were wrote manny."-Dr. Johnson's Gram. with Dict., p. 2.

66

"And as the music on the waters float,

Some bolder shore returns the soften'd note."-Crabbe, Borough, p. 118.

EXERCISE XIV.-THREE ERRORS.

66

"Mr. Addi

'It appears that the Temple was then a building, because these Tiles must be supposed to be for the covering it."-Johnson's Gram. Com., p. 281. "It was common for sheriffs to omit or excuse the not making returns for several of the boroughs within their counties."-Brown's Estimate, Vol. ii, p. 132. "The conjunction as when it is connected with the pronoun, such, many, or same, is sometimes called a relative pronoun."-Kirkham's Gram., the Compend. son has also much harmony in his style; more easy and smooth, but less varied than Lord Shaftesbury."-Blair's Rhet., p. 127; Jamieson's, 129. "A number of uniform lines having all the same pause, are extremely fatiguing; which is remarkable in French versification."-Kames, El. of Crit., Vol. ii, p. 104. Adjectives qualify or distinguish one noun from another."-Fowle's True Eng. Gram., p. 13. "The words one, other, and none, are used in both numbers."--Kirkham's Gram., p. 107. "A compound word is made up of two or more words, usually joined by an hyphen, as summer-house, spirit-less, school-master."—Blair's Gram., p. 7. "There is an inconvenience in introducing new words by composition which nearly resembles others in use before; as, disserve, which is too much like deserve."-Priestley's Gram., p. 145. "For even in that case, the trangressing the limits in the least, will scarce be pardoned."-Sheridan's Lect., p. 119. "What other are the foregoing instances but describing the passion another feels."—Kames, El. of Crit., i, 388. "Two and three are five.' If each substantive is to be taken separately as a subject, then 'two is five,' and 'three is five.'"-Goodenow's Gram., p. 87. "The article a joined to the simple pronoun other makes it the compound another."-Priestley's Gram., p. 96. "The word another is composed of the indefinite article prefixed to the word other."-Murray's Gram., p. 57; et al. "In relating things that were formerly expressed by another person, we often meet with modes of expression similar to the following."—Ib., p. 191. Dropping one 1 prevents the recurrence of three very near each other."-Churchill's Gram., p. 202. "Sometimes two or more genitive cases succeed each other; as, 'John's wife's father.'"--Dalton's Gram., p. 14. times, though rarely, two nouns in the possessive case immediately succeed each other, in the following form: 'My friend's wife's sister.'"-Murray's Gram., p. 45.

46

EXERCISE XV.-MANY ERRORS.

"Some

"Number is of a two fold nature,-Singular and Plural: and comprehends, accordingly to its application, the distinction between them."-Wright's Gram., p. 37. "The former, Figures of Words, are commonly called Tropes, and consists in a word's being employed to signify something, which is different from its original and primitive meaning."-Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 337. "The

former, figures of words, are commonly called tropes, and consist in a word's being employed to signify something that is different from its original and primitive meaning."-Blair's Rhet., p. 132. "A particular number of connected syllables are called feet, or measured paces."-Blair's Gram., p. 118. Many poems, and especially songs, are written in the dactyl or anapæstic measure, some consisting of eleven or twelve syllables, and some of less."-Ib., p. 121. "A Diphthong makes always a long Syllable, unless one of the vowels be droped."-British Gram., p. 34. "An Adverb is generally employed as an attributive, to denote some peculiarity or manner of action, with respect to the time, place, or order, of the noun or circumstance to which it is connected."-Wright's Definitions, Philos. Gram., pp. 35 and 114. "A Verb expresses the action, the suffering or enduring, or the existence or condition of a noun."-Ib., pp. 35 and 64. "These three adjectives should be written our's, your's, their's."-Fowle's True Eng. Gram., p. 22. "Never was man so teized, or suffered half the uneasiness as I have done this evening."Tattler, No. 160; Priestley's Gram., p. 200; Murray's, i, 223. "There may be reckoned in English four different cases, or relations of a substantive, called the subjective, the possessive, the objective, and the absolute cases."—Goodenow's Gram., p. 31. "To avoid the too often repeat

ing the Names of other Persons or Things of which we discourse, the words he, she, it, who, what, were invented."—Brightland's Gram., p. 85. "Names which denote a number of the same things, are called nouns of multitude."-Infant School Gram., p. 21. "But lest he should think, this were too slightly a passing over his matter, I will propose to him to be considered these things following."-Barclay's Works, Vol. iii, p. 472. "In the pronunciation of the letters of the Hebrew proper names, we find nearly the same rules prevail as in those of Greek and Latin."— Walker's Key, p. 223. "The distributive pronominal adjectives each, every, either, agree with the nouns, pronouns, and verbs of the singular number only."-Lowth's Gram., p. 89. Having treated of the different sorts of words, and their various modifications, which is the first part of Etymology, it is now proper to explain the methods by which one word is derived from another."L. Murray's Gram., p. 130.

EXERCISE XVI.-MANY ERRORS.

"A Noun with its Adjectives (or any governing Word with its Attendants) is one compound Word, whence the Noun and Adjective so joined, do often admit another Adjective, and sometimes a third, and so on; as, a Man, an old Man, a very good old Man, a very learned, judicious, sober Man."-British Gram., p. 195; Buchanan's, 79. "A substantive with its adjective is reckoned as one compounded word; whence they often take another adjective, and sometimes a third, and so on: as, 'An old man; a good old man; a very learned, judicious, good old man'"-L. Murray's Gram., p. 169; Ingersoll's, 195; and others. "But though this elliptical style be intelligible, and is allowable in conversation and epistolary writing, yet in all writings of a serious or dignified kind, is ungraceful."-Blair's Rhet., p. 112. "There is no talent so useful towards rising in the world, or which puts men more out of the reach of fortune, than that quality generally possessed by the dullest sort of people, and is, in common language, called discretion."— SWIFT: Blair's Rhet., p. 113. "Which to allow, is just as reasonable as to own, that 'tis the greatest ill of a body to be in the utmost manner maimed or distorted; but that to lose the use only of one limb, or to be impaired in some single organ or member, is no ill worthy the least notice."-SHAFTESBURY: ib., p. 115; Murray's Gram., p. 322. "If the singular nouns and pronouns, which are joined together by a copulativo conjunction, be of several persons, in making the plural pronoun agree with them in person, the second person takes place of the third, and the first of both."-Murray's Gram., p. 151; et al. "The painter *** cannot exhibit various stages of the same action.' In this sentence we see that the painter governe, or agrees with, the verb can, as its nominative case."—Ib., p. 195. "It expresses also facts which exist generally, at all times, general truths, attributes which are permanent, habits, customary actions, and the like, without the reference to a specific time."-lb., p. 73; Webster's Philos. Gram., p. 71. "The different species of animals may therefore be considered, as so many different nations speaking dif ferent languages, that have no commerce with each other; each of which consequently understands none but their own."-Sheridan's Elocution, p. 142. "It is also important to understand and apply the principles of grammar in our common conversation; not only because it cnables us to make our language understood by educated persons, but because it furnishes the readiest evidence of our having received a good education ourselves."-Frost's Practical Gram., p. 16.

EXERCISE XVII.-MANY ERRORS.

"This faulty Tumour in Stile is like an huge unpleasant Rock in a Champion Country, that's difficult to be transcended."-Holmes's Rhet., Book ii, p. 16. "For there are no Pelops's, nor Cadmus's, nor Danaus's dwell among us."-Ib., p. 51. "None of these, except will, is ever used as a principal verb, but as an auxiliary to some principal, either expressed or understood."Ingersoll's Gram., p. 134. "Nouns which signify either the male or female are common gender." -Perley's Gram., p. 11. "An Adjective expresses the kind, number, or quality of a noun.' Parker and Fox's Gram., Part I, p. 9. "There are six tenses; the Present, the Imperfect, the Perfect, the Pluperfect, the Future, and the Future Perfect tenses."-lb., p. 18. 'My refers to the first person singular, either gender. Our refers to the first person plural, either gender. Thy refers to the second person singular, either gender. Your refers to the second person plural, either gender. Their refers to the third person plural, either gender.”—Parker and Fox's Gram., Part II, p. 14. "Good use, which for brevity's sake, shall hereafter include reputable, national,

46

1.

and present use, is not always uniform in her decisions."-Jamieson's Rhet., p. 44. "Nouns which denote but one object are considered in the singular number."-Edward's First Lessons in Gram., p. 35. "If, therefore, the example of Jesus should be plead to authorize accepting an invitation to dine on the sabbath, it should be plead just as it was."-Barnes's Notes: on Luke, xiv, "The teacher will readily dictate what part may be omitted, the first time going through it." -Ainsworth's Gram., p. 4. "The contents of the following pages have been drawn chiefly, with various modifications, from the same source which has supplied most modern writers on this subject, viz. LINDLEY MURRAY'S GRAMMAR"-Felton's Gram., p. 3. "The term person in grammar distinguishes between the speaker, the person or thing spoken to, and the person or thing spoken of."—Ib., p. 9. "In my father's garden grow the Maiden's Blush and the Prince' Feather."Felton, ib., p. 15. "A preposition is a word used to connect words with one another, and show the relation between them. They generally stand before nouns and pronouns."-Ib., p. 60. "Nouns or pronouns addressed are always either in the second person, singular or plural."— Hallock's Gram., p. 154. "The plural MEN not ending in 8, is the reason for adding the apostrophic's."-T. Smith's Gram., p. 19. "Pennies denote real coin; pence, their value in computation."-Hazen's Gram., p. 24. "We commence, first, with letters, which is termed Orthography; secondly, with words, denominated Etymology; thirdly, with sentences, styled Syntax; fourthly, with orations and poems, called Prosody."-Barrett's Gram., p. 22. Care must be taken, that sentences of proper construction and obvious import be not rendered obscure by the too free use of the ellipsis."-Felton's Grammar, Stereotype Edition, p. 80.

EXERCISE XVIII.—PROMISCUOUS.

"Tropes and metaphors so closely resemble each other that it is not always easy, nor is it important to be able to distinguish the one from the other."-Parker and Fox, Part III, p. 66. “With regard to relatives, it may be further observed, that obscurity often arises from the too frequent repetition of them, particularly of the pronouns WHO, and THEY, and THEM, and THEIRS. When we find these personal pronouns crowding too fast upon us, we have often no method left, but to throw the whole sentence into some other form."-Ib., p. 90; Murray's Gram., p. 311; Blair's Rhet., p. 106. "Do scholars acquire any valuable knowledge, by learning to repeat long strings of words, without any definite ideas, or several jumbled together like rubbish in a corner, and apparently with no application, either for the improvement of mind or of language?"—Cutler's Gram, Pref., p. 5. "The being officiously good natured and civil are things so uncommon in the world, that one cannot hear a man make professions of them without being surprised, or at least, suspecting the disinterestedness of his intentions."-FABLES: Cutler's Gram., p. 135. "Irony is the intentional use of words to express a sense contrary to that which the speaker or writer means to convey."-Parker and Fox's Gram., Part III, p. 68. "The term Substantive is derived from substare, to stand, to distinguish it from an adjective, which cannot, like the noun, stand alone."Hiley's Gram., p. 11. 'They have two numbers, like nouns, the singular and plural; and three persons in each number, namely, I, the first person, represents the speaker. Thou, the second person, represents the person spoken to. He, she, it, the third person, represents the person or thing spoken of."-lb., p. 23. "He, She, It, is the Third Person singular; but he with others, she with others, or it with others, make each of them they, which is the Third Person plural.”— White, on the English Verb, p. 97. "The words had I been, that is, the Third Past Tense of the Verb, marks the Supposition, as referring itself, not to the Present, but to some former period of time." —Ib., p. 88. "A pronoun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid a too frequent repetition of the same word."-Frazee's Improved Gram., p. 122.

"That which he cannot use, and dare not show,

And would not give—why longer should he owe?”—Crabbe.

PART IV.
PROSODY.

Prosody treats of punctuation, utterance, figures, and versification.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.-The word prosody, (from the Greek poç, to, and won, song, is, with regard to its derivation, exactly equivalent to accent, or the Latin accentus, which is formed from ad, to, and cantus, song: both terms, perhaps, originally signifying a singing with, or sounding to, some instrument or voice. PROSODIA, as a Latin word, is defined by Littleton, "Pars Grammaticæ quæ docet accentus, h. e. rationem atollendi et depremendi syllabas, tum quantitatem earundem." And in English, "The art of ACCENTING, or the rule of pronouncing syllables truly, LONG or SHORT." -Litt. Dict., 4to. This is a little varied by Ainsworth thus: "The rule of ACCENTING, or pronouncing syllables truly, whether LONG or SHORT."-Ains. Dict., 4to. Accent, in English, belongs

as much to prose as to poetry; but some deny that in Latin it belongs to either. There is also much difficulty about the import of the word; since some prosodists identify accent with tone; some take it for the inflections of voice; some call it the pitch of vocal sounds; and some, like the authors just cited, seem to confound it with quantity,– LONG or SHORT."*

OBS. 2.-"Prosody," says a late writer, "strictly denotes only that musical tone or melody which accompanies speech. But the usage of modern grammarians justifies an extremely general application of the term."-Frost's Practical Grammar, p. 160. This remark is a note upon the following definition: "PROSODY is that part of grammar which treats of the structure of Poetical Composition."-Ibid. Agreeably to this definition, Frost's Prosody, with all the generality the author claims for it, embraces only a brief account of Versification, with a few remarks on "Poetical License." Of Pronunciation and the Figures of Speech, he takes no notice; and Punctuation, which some place with Orthography, and others distinguish as one of the chief parts of grammar, he exhibits as a portion of Syntax. Not more comprehensive is this part of grammar, as exhibited in the works of several other authors; but, by Lindley Murray, R. C. Smith, and some others, both Punctuation and Pronunciation are placed here; though no mention is made of the former in their subdivision of Prosody, which, they not very aptly say, "consists of two parts, Pronunciation and Versification." Dr. Bullions, no less deficient in method, 'begins with saying, "PROSODY consists of two parts; Elocution and Versification;" (Principles of E. Gram., p. 163;) and then absurdly proceeds to treat of it under the following six principal heads: viz., Elocution, Versification, Figures of Speech, Poetic License, Hints for Correct and Elegant Writing, and Composition.

OBS. 3.-If, in regard to the subjects which may be treated under the name of Prosody, "the usage of modern grammarians justifies an extremely general application of the term," such an application is certainly not less warranted by the usage of old authors. But, by the practice of neither, can it be easily determined how many and what things ought to be embraced under this head. Of the different kinds of verse, or "the structure of Poetical Compostion," some of the old prosodists took little or no notice; because they thought it their chief business, to treat of syllables, and determine the orthoëpy of words. The Prosody of Smetius, dated 1509, (my edition of which was published in Germany in 1691,) is in fact a pronouncing dictionary of the Latin language. After a brief abstract of the old rules of George Fabricius concerning quantity and accent, it exhibits, in alphabetic order, and with all their syllables marked, about twenty-eight thousand words, with a poetic line quoted against each, to prove the pronunciation just. The Prosody of John Genuensis, an other immense work, concluded by its author in 1286, improved by Badius in 1506, and printed at Lyons in 1514, is also mainly a Latin dictionary, with derivations and definitions as in other dictionaries. It is a folio volume of seven hundred and thirty closely-printed pages; six hundred of which are devoted to the vocabulary, the rest to orthography, accent, etymology, syntax, figures, points-almost everything but versification. Yet this vast sum of grammar has been entitled Prosody-"Prosodia seu Catholicon,"-" Catholicon seu Universale Vocabularium ac Summa Grammatices."-Sec pp. 1 and 5.

CHAPTER I.-PUNCTUATION.

Punctuation is the art of dividing literary composition, by points, or stops, for the purpose of showing more clearly the sense and relation of

(1.) "Accent is the tone with which one speaks. For, in speaking, the voice of every man is sometimes more grave in the sound, and at other times more acute or shrill."-Beattie's Moral Science, p. 15. "Accent is the tone of the voice with which a syllable is pronounced."—Dr. Adam's Latin and Enolish Gram., p. 266. (2.) Accent in a peculiar stress of the voice on some syllable in a word to distinguish it from the others."Gould's Adam's Lat. Gram., p. 243.

(3.) The tone by which one syllable is distinguished from another is the accent; which is a greater stress and elevation of voice on that particular syllable."-Bicknell's Eng. Gram., Part II, p. 111.

(4.) "Quantity is the Length or Shortness of Syllables; and the Proportion, generally speaking, betwixt a long and [a] short Syllable, is two to one; as in Music, two Quavers to one Crotchet.-Accent is the rising and falling of the Voice, above or under its usual Tone, but an Art of which we have little Use, and know less, in the English Tongue; nor are we like to improve our Knowledge in this Particular, unless the Art of Delivery or Utterance were a little more study'd."-Brightland's Gram., p. 156.

(5.) "ACCENT, 8. m. (inflexion de la voix.) Accent, tone, pronunciation."-Nouveau Dictionnaire Universel, 4to, Tome Premier, sous le mot Accent.

"ACCENT, subst. (tone or inflection of the voice.) Accent, ton ou inflexion de voix."-Same Work, Garner's New Universal Dictionary, 4to, under the word Accent.

(6.) "The word accent is derived from the Latin language and signifies the tone of the voice."-Parker and Fox's English Gram., Part III, p. 32.

(7)The unity of the word consists in the tone or accent, which binds together the two parts of the composition."-Fowler's E. Gram., § 360.

(8.) "The accent of the ancients is the opprobrium of modern criticism. Nothing can show more evidently the fallibility of the human faculties, than the total ignorance we are in at present of the nature of the Latin and Greek accent."-Walker's Principles, No. 486; Dict., p. 53.

(9.) "It is not surprising, that the accent and quantity of the ancients should be so obscure and mysterious, when two such learned men of our own nation as Mr. Foster and Dr. Gally, differ about the very existence of quantity in our own language."-Walker's Observations on Accent, &c.; Key, p. 311.

(10.) What these accents are has puzzled the learned so much that they seem neither to understand each other nor themselves."-Walker's Octavo Dict., w. Barytone.

(11.) "The ancients designated the pitch of vocal sounds by the term accent; making three kinds of accents, the acute (), the grave (), and the circumflex (^), which signified severally the rise, the fall, and the turn of the voice, or union of acute and grave on the same syllable."-Sargent's Standard Speaker, p. 18.

the words, and of noting the different pauses and inflections required in reading.

The following are the principal points, or marks; namely, the Comma [], the Semicolon [;], the Colon [:], the Period [.], the Dash [-], the Eroteme, or Note of Interrogation [?], the Ecphoneme, or Note of Exclamation [], and the Curves, or Marks of Parenthesis, [()].

The Comma denotes the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of the comma; the Colon, a pause double that of the semicolon; and the Period, or Full Stop, a pause double that of the colon. The pauses required by the other four, vary according to the structure of the sentence, and their place in it. They may be equal to any of the forcgoing.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.-The pauses that are made in the natural flow of speech, have, in reality, no definite and invariable proportions. Children are often told to pause at a comma while they might count one; at a semicolon, one, two; at a colon, one, two, three; at a period, one, two, three, four. This may be of some use, as teaching them to observe the necessary stops, that they may catch the sense; but the standard itself is variable, and so are the times which good sense gives to the points. As a final stop, the period is immeasurable; and so may be the pause after a question or an exclamation.

OBS. 2.-The first four points take their names from the parts of discourse, or of a sentence, which are distinguished by them. The Period, or circuit, is a complete round of words, often consisting of several clauses or members, and always bringing out full sense at the close. The Colon, or member, is the greatest division or limb of a period, and is the chief constructive part of a compound sentence. The Semicolon, half member, or half limb, is the greatest division of a colon, and is properly a smaller constructive part of a compound sentence. The Comma, or segment, is a small part of a clause cut off, and is properly the least constructive part of a compound sentence. A simple sentence is sometimes a whole period, sometimes a chief member, sometimes a half member, sometimes a segment, and sometimes perhaps even less. Hence it may require the period, the colon, the semicolon, the comma, or even no point, according to the manner in which it is used. A sentence whose relatives and adjuncts are all taken in a restrictive sense, may be considerably complex, and yet require no division by points; as,

"Thank him who puts me loath to this revenge

On you who wrong mo not for him who wrong'd."-Milton.

OBS. 3.-The system of punctuation now used in English, is, in its main features, common to very many languages. It is used in Latin, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, German, and perhaps most of the tongues in which books are now written or printed. The Germans, however, make less frequent use of the comma than wo; and the Spaniards usually mark a question or an exclamation doubly, inverting the point at the beginning of the sentence. In Greek, the difference is greater: the colon, expressed by the upper dot alone, is the only point between the comma and the period; the ecphoneme, or note of exclamation, is hardly recognized, though some printers of the classics have occasionally introduced it; and the eroteme, or note of interrogation, retains in that language its pristine form, which is that of our semicolon. In Hebrew, a full stop is denoted by a heavy colon, or something like it; and this is the only pointing adopted, when the Vowel points and the accents are not used.

OBS. 4.-Though the points in use, and the principles on which they ought to be applied, are in general well fixed, and common to almost all sorts of books; yet, through the negligence of editors, the imperfections of copy, the carelessness of printers, or some other means, it happens, that different editions and different versions of the same work are often found pointed very variously. This circumstance, provided the sense is still preserved, is commonly thought to be of little moment. But all writers will do well to remember, that they owe it to their readers, to show them at once how they mean to bo read; and since the punctuation of the early printers was unquestionably very defective, the republishers of ancient books should not be over scrupulous about an exact imitation of it: they may, with proper caution, correct obvious faults.

OBS. 5. The precise origin of the points, it is not easy to trace in the depth of antiquity. It appears probable, from ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, that the period is the oldest of them; and it is said by some, that the first system of punctuation consisted in the different positions of this dot alone. But after the adoption of the small letters, which improvement is referred to the ninth century, both the comma and the colon came into use, and also the Greek note of interrogation. In old books, however, the comma is often found, not in its present form, but in that of a straight stroke, drawn up and down obliquely between the words. Though the colon is of Greek origin, the practice of writing it with two dots we owe to the Latin authors, or perhaps to the early printers of Latin books. The semicolon was first used in Italy, and was not adopted in England till about the year 1600. Our marks for questions and exclamations were also derived from the same source, probably at a date somewhat earlier. The curves of the parenthesis have