II. PUNCTUATION OF THE COMPLEX SENTENCE.

Rule I.-Introductory adverbial clauses are, in general, cut off from the principal statement by a comma.

Teachers will require pupils to copy the examples, point out the clauses, explain the punctuation, and give additional illustrations.

1. Before the storm began, we had built a camp-fire.

2. If this be treason, make the most of it.

3. When a nation wishes to make war, the opportunity is usually found.

Rule II.-Explanatory adjective clauses, introduced by who or which [="and he," "and it," etc.], are cut off by commas; restrictive clauses [="that"] require no commas.

1. Explanatory Clauses.

1. The king, who [and he] was a merciful ruler, forgave the offence.

2. The Missouri, which rises in the Rocky Mountains, is the chief tributary of the Mississippi.

3. Plutarch, whose [= and his] Lives has been called the "Bible of Heroisms," lived A.D. 100.

2. Restrictive Clauses.

1. That is the man who aided me.

2. It is the tallest tree that I ever saw.
3. This is the book which you want.
4. He is the man whom we saw yesterday.
5. This is the flower that you spoke of.

Rule III. A noun-clause introduced by a relative pronoun and used as the object of a transitive verb requires no comma.

1. I have told you who he is.

2. I know which he will buy.

3. I know who will go.

Rule IV-A noun-clause used as the subject of a verb must be cut off from the verb by a comma.

1. That the earth rotates on its axis, was denied by the ancients. 2. That illiterate electors should be intelligent voters, is not to be expected.

3. That a piece of amber will attract light bodies, was a fact well known 600 B.C.

Rule V.-When the sentence is introduced by the pronoun it, and the noun-clause is put after the verb, no comma is required.

Change each of the sentences under Rule IV. into a sentence introduced by it.

Rule VI.-Commas must be used to mark off a parenthetical expression when it comes between the divided parts of a sentence.

1. He expected, it seems, to surprise the enemy.

2. The man was murdered, it is believed, by a band of Apaches. 3. "Beautiful creature," said the cunning fox, "you sing like a nightingale."

III. PUNCTUATION OF THE COMPOUND SENTENCE.

Rule I-Unless highly contracted, the principal statements, when closely connected, are, in general, cut off by a comma, and are always so cut off when there are more than two principal statements.

EXAMPLES TO BE COPIED.

1. Napoleon Bonaparte was of Italian blood, and was a native of Corsica.

2. "Scrooge signed it, and Scrooge's name was good on 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to."-Dickens.

3. Tea comes from China, coffee from Java and Brazil, and sugar from the West Indies.

4. I came, I saw, I conquered.

Study an assigned reading - lesson, and point out five cases in which the preceding rule is applied.

Rule II.-Principal statements, when loosely connected, when very long, or when subdivided by a comma, are separated by a semicolon.

EXAMPLES TO BE COPIED.

1. The history of the Orient is the history of dynasties; the history of Greece and Rome is the history of the people.

2. The Greeks were indebted to the Phoenicians for the alphabet; the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet, with some changes; the Roman alphabet is the basis of our modern alphabet.

EXERCISE.

From suitable reading - lessons, teachers will point out to their pupils the application of the preceding rule to the punctuation of the piece.

Rule III-When a compound sentence is highly elliptical, or contracted, the omission of the principal statement before each of a series of clauses is marked by a semicolon.

APPLICATION.

"England has to undergo the revolt of the colonies; [England has] to submit to defeat and separation; [?] to shake under the volcano of the French Revolution; [?] to grapple and fight for the life with her gigantic enemy, Napoleon; [?] to gasp and rally after the tremendous struggle."-Thackeray.

Rule IV.-Principal statements and clauses are punctuated according to the rules for the simple and the complex sentence.

IV. QUOTATION-MARKS.

Rule I.-When we use the exact words of another person, we mark off the expressions or sentences with quotation-marks at the beginning and the end.

Rule II.-In general, a quoted sentence begins with a capital letter: Cæsar exclaimed, "And you, too, Brutus!" Rule III-In general, a quoted sentence or expression is separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma; as, "I'll try," said General Miller.

Rule IV-A very formal quotation, placed in regular order in a sentence, is marked off by a colon; as, Remember the old adage: "A stitch in time saves nine."

Rule V.-A quoted clause introduced by the word that is not marked off by a comma and does not begin with a capital; as, It is said that "necessity knows no law."

EXERCISE.

Copy the following examples, and explain how the preceding rules are applied:

1. "Don't give up the ship," exclaimed the dying Lawrence. 2. "What great teeth you have!" said Little Red Riding-hood. "The better to eat you with," said the wolf.

3. "Vanity of vanities," saith the preacher, "all is vanity." 4. "Language," said Talleyrand, "is made to conceal thought." 5. There is a Prussian maxim as follows: "Whatever you would have appear in the life of a nation, you must put into the schools."

Study an assigned reading-lesson, and explain the application of the preceding rules to any quotations you inay find there.

CHAPTER VIII.

RULES FOR WRITING GOOD ENGLISH.

Note. The following practical directions, including a combination of grammar and elementary rhetoric, are intended for the use of teachers in the highest classes in the grammar-school, as a supplement to text-books on grammar. Let pupils copy the rules into blank-books; the examples may be given orally, requiring pupils to give additional illustrations.

I. WORDS.

1. The leading qualities of good composition are clearness, force, and brevity. These characteristics depend mainly on the right use and right arrangement of words.

2. A knowledge of the exact meaning of words may be acquired. in various ways:

1. By referring to the dictionary.

2. By studying word-analysis.

3. By reading good authors.

4. By conversing with educated persons.

5. By attention to the kind of words used in writing or in speaking.

6. By the study of synonyms.

Rule I-Use the right word to express your exact meaning.

Put in place of each italicized word some word accurately and properly used.

1. Great quantities [numbers] of people were there.