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as, God's mercy, for the mercy of God; a woman's
beauty, for the beauty of a woman.

3. A HYPHEN, marked thus, (-) is used to com-
pound or join two words into one; as Lady-day.*
It is also used when a word is divided at the end of
a line, the latter part being carried to the begin-
ning of another. But observe that you never divide
a syllable, nor put the hyphen at the beginning of
a line, but always at the end.

4. A CARET, marked thus, (4) is placed beneath
a line in writing to show that something is omitted,
which omission is inserted over it. This mark is
also called a CIRCUMFLEX, When placed over a par-
ticular vowel, to denote that it has a long sound, as
Euphrates.+

5. A QUOTATION, marked thus, ("" or "") is
placed at the beginning and end of a passage quoted
from some author in his own words; as,
"The
proper study of mankind is man."-POPE.

6. The ASTERISK or star (*) directs to some
note at the bottom of a page. Several of them
together denote something defective or improper
to be repeated.

7. An INDEX() points to something remark-
able, that should be particularly noticed.

8. A PARAGRAPH (¶) denotes the beginning of
a new subject, not connected with the foregoing.

* The 25th of March, being the annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
The annunciation signifies the tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to
the Virgin Mary of the incarnation of Christ; in memory of which a
festival or feast has been celebrated by the Church, and solemnized or
performed on that day; hence it is called Lady-day.

A large river of Asia.

This character is chiefly used in the Old and New Testaments. It is sometimes used for a reference.

9. A SECTION (§) is used to divide books or chapters into smaller parts; but a greater division than the paragraph. It serves also as a mark of reference.

10. A PARENTHESIS, marked thus, () includes some short sentence within the body of a longer one, which, though not necessary to the sense, yet serves farther to explain or illustrate it, which does not at all affect the construction; as,

"Know then this truth, (enough for man to know),
Virtue alone is happiness below."

POPE.

11. BRACKETS or CROTCHETS [ ] are applied nearly to the same purposé as a parenthesis.

12. A DIERESIS, or dyalisis, marked thus, (") when placed over two vowels, denotes that they are not a diphthong, but two distinct syllables; as, Agesilaüs, &c.

13. An ELLIPSIS, marked thus, (-) shows, that part of a word or sentence is left out by design; as k-g for king.

14. A BRACE (~) is used to unite three poetical lines; or to connect a number of words or lines together in prose, with one common term.

15. An OBELISK or dagger, marked thus (†), a double dagger (†), the parallel lines (||), together with the letters ofthe alphabet, and figures, are used as references to the margin.

* King of Sparta, a once famous city and republic of the Morea, in Greece

CHAP. X.

Of Speech.

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1. Pri"-vi-lege, s. a peculiar advantage.

Or-gan, s. such a part of the animal body as is capable of performing some perfect act or operation; thus the eye is the organ of seeing; the ear is the organ of hearing; the nose of smelling; the tongue of speaking, &c.

Au'-di-ble, a. that may be heard.

2. As-sem'-blage, s. collection.

Al-pha-bet, s. (pro. al-fa-bet,) the letters or elements of speech. 3. Ar-ti"-cu-late, a. distinct.

9. Es-sen-tial, a. important in the highest degree. Necessary. 11. Lon'-don, s. the capital of England, and perhaps the largest city in the world, containing upwards of one million of inhabitants. Pa'-ris, s. the metropolis of France, and one of the largest and most populous cities in Europe, containing about eight hundred thousand inhabitants.

Ma-drid', s. the capital of Spain, containing about three hundred thousand inhabitants.

13. E-mo'-ti-on, s. a sudden and strong sensation, excited either by a pleasing or a painful object.

1. SPEECH is a privilege peculiar to man, who is furnished with organs proper for forming articulate sounds, which gives him the power of expressing his thoughts or ideas, by audible words.

2. Language is an assemblage of signs or expressions among any people, whereby they communicate their thoughts to each other, which is formed into words from the letters of the alphabet.

3. Words are articulate sounds, used by common consent, as signs of our ideas.

4. There are in English nine sorts of words, or as they are commonly called, Parts of Speech; namely, the Article, the Substantive or Noun, the Pronoun, the Adjective, the Verb, the Adverb, the Preposition, the Conjunction, and the Interjection.

5. An Article is a word prefixed to substantives, to point them out, and to show how far their signi

fication extends; as a garden, an eagle, the woman. 6. The Substantive or Noun is the name of any thing that exists, or of which we have any notion; it expresses the idea of a substance considered in itself, and without any regard to its qualities; as London, Man, Virtue.

7. A Pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun, to avoid the too frequent repetition of the same word, as the man is merry, he laughs, he sings.

8. An Adjective is a word joined to a Substantive, to express some quality or circumstance belonging to it; as a tall man, a short woman, a little boy, a pretty girl.

9. A Verb is a word which signifies to be, to do, or to suffer; as I am, I rule, I am ruled; and is the most essential part of a sentence, for without it no sentence can be formed.

10. An Adverb is a word joined to verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, to express some quality or circumstance respecting them; as, he reads well, a truly good man, he writes very correctly.

11. Prepositions serve to connect words with one another, and to show their relation between them: as, he went from London to Paris, and from Paris to Madrid.

12. A Conjunction is a part of Speech chiefly used to connect or join together sentences: so as, out of two or more sentences, to make but one; as James and John are beloved because they are good.

13. An Interjection is a word thrown in between. the parts of a sentence, to express some passion or emotion of the speaker; as, O♪ how delightful is the spring.

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5. Cæ-su'-ral, a. (pro. se-su-ral) from the Latin cæsura, a pause in

verse.

7. Demi-cæ-su'-ra, s. a pause half as long as that of the cæsura; demi signifying half.

Ex-em'-pli-fi-ed, pret. illustrated, explained.

11. Feet, s. pl. (in poetry), a foot is sometimes two, three, or more syllables, called a spondee, dactyl, &c.

I-de-a, s. thought, mind.

Glow'-
-ing, part. feeling a warmth of mind.

12. U-ni-ver-sal, a. general.

Parʼ-ti-al, a. (pro. par-skal) inclined to favour, unjust.

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1. THERE are two ways of writing on any subject, which are, prose and verse.

2. Prose is the usual manner of writing, being that we are taught by nature, having no confinement to metre or measure, or placing the words in any particular form.

3. Poetry or Prose includes metre and rhyme; metre is when every line is confined to a certain number of syllables, and the accents to fall so as to make it harmonious to the ear.

4. Pronounce every word as clearly and distinctly as in prose, and observe the stops with the greatest exactness.

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