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'I feel the mighty current bear me on,217
'Yet know not whither.2 Man foretells afar

'The courses of the stars;215 the very hour

'He knows,227 when they shall darken or grow bright;215
'Yet doth the eclipse of Sorrow and of Death
'Come unforewarn'd.2 Who next of those I love,255
'Shall pass from life,217 or,261 sadder yet,261 shall fall
'From virtue ?4 Strife with foes,247 or bitterer strife
'With friends,247 or shame and general scorn of men-259
'Which who can bear?-4, 259 or the fierce rack of pain,255
'Lie they within my path ?4 Or shall the years
'Push me,261 with soft and inoffensive pace,261
Into the stilly twilight of my age ?4

'Or do the portals of another life

'E'en now,220 while I am glorying in my strength,220
'Impend around me ?4 Oh15 beyond that bourne,241
In the vast cycle of being which begins

'At that broad threshold,241 with what fairer forms
'Shall the great law of change and progress clothe
'Its workings ?4 Gently-259 so have good men taught-259
'Gently,247 and without grief,241 the old shall glide
'Into the new ;215 the eternal flow of things, 261
'Like a bright river of the fields of heaven,261
'Shall journey onward in perpetual peace." 2, 271

BRYANT.

Let the pupil be drilled by abundant exercise in dictation and the insertion of omitted points, until perfectly familiar with the foregoing rules. Such practice is valuable, not merely for the skill in punctuation which it imparts, but for the insight into sentential structure which it demands, and eventually induces.

CHAPTER XV.

VARIETY OF EXPRESSION.

$275. One of the acquirements most important to the young composer is the ability to express a sentiment in different ways. This is called Varying the Expression of a thought. It may be effected in several methods, all reducible to two general heads: 1. Changing the struc

ture of the sentence; 2. Recasting the thought in a sentence entirely different.

I. CHANGE OF SENTENTIAL STRUCTURE.

§ 276. This is further reducible to three classes of operations, as follows:

1. The Use of Equivalent Elements;

2. Change of the Form of Predication;
3. Transposition of Elements.

1. THE USE OF EQUIVALENT ELEMENTS

§ 277. The three classes of sentential elements which may be said to have equivalents belonging to the several forms of Terms, Phrases, and Clauses, are

1. Adjective Elements;

2. Substantive Elements;

3. Adverbial Elements.

§ 278. To change an element of any one of these three kinds into an element of the same function, but having a different form, is called Converting an Element.

1. THE CONVERSION OF ADJECTIVE ELEMENTS.

§ 279. An element of a sentence having the function of an adjective may be—

1. An adjective term, whether simple, complex, or compound;

2. A possessive term;

3. A noun in apposition;

4. A participial or infinitive phrase;

5. An adjunct;

6. A relative clause.

The following sentences contain examples of these according to the numbers:

1. A frugal man will save much.

2. This man's farm has made him rich.

3. Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, died poor.

4. The eagle, watching his chance, pounced upon him.

5. The heir of great expectations has lost all.

6. The mechanic who is industrious will succeed.

It is very evident that in many cases one of these forms of adjective elements is convertible into several, if not all, of the others, without any considerable alteration of the meaning. Thus in the following sentences, the adjective elements indicated by the italics are of a different form in each instance.

1. A prudent man will observe his associates.
4. A man having prudence will observe, etc.
5. A man of prudence will observe, etc.
6. A man who is prudent will observe, etc.

Again:

2. Washington's grave is on the bank of the Potomac.

4. The grave containing the remains of Washington, is on the bank,

etc.

5. The grave of Washington is on the bank, etc.

6. The grave that holds the remains of Washington is on the bank, etc.

Again:

3. Columbus, the discoverer of America, was born in Genoa.

6. Columbus, by whom America was discovered, was born in Genoa

EXERCISE.

Let the pupil vary the expression in the following sentences by changing any of the adjective elements indicated by italics, into some other form.

He was a visionary of a successful kind.

He assumed a ridiculous gravity.

We pronounced him an unskillful workman

Their undisciplined bravery was unavailable.

The questions became perplexing, even annoying.

Thoughts, which will never die, are now being published to the world.

The sum of human happiness remains nearly the same.
My days of pleasure are nearly at an end.

The Baron de Hazenbury, an experienced warrior, feared the determination of the Swiss.

Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple, who have faith in God and nature, who believe that in all ages every human heart is human;

that in even savage bosoms, there are longings, yearnings, strivings, for the good (which) they comprehend not; that the feeble hands and helpless, groping blindly in the darkness, touch His right hand in the darkness, and are lifted up and strengthened,-listen to this simple story, to this song of Hiawatha!

The path of success in business is invariably the path of common

sense.

This was one of the dreams of his youth.

He thought that he had opened a new way to the opulent East.

His earnest words left on my susceptible mind an impression never

to be effaced.

He was averse to mixing with society.

His desires were boundless.

The nature of the Deity is incomprehensible.

The woman that was drowning, and the man who rescued her, are engaged to be married.

2. THE CONVERSION OF SUBSTANTIVE ELEMENTS.

§ 280. The different forms which a substantive element may bear in a sentence, are the following:

1. A noun or pronoun;

2. An infinitive or participle;

3. A nominal phrase, that is a noun accompanied by modifiers;

4. An infinitive or participial phrase;

5. A substantive clause.

1. Theft is wrong.

2. Stealing is wrong.

2. It is wrong to steal.

EXAMPLES.

3. The secret appropriation of the property of another is wrong.

4. To take without leave what belongs to another is wrong.

4. Secretly taking the property of another is wrong.

5. That one should take what belongs to another is wrong.

1. He never relished calculation.

2. He never loved to calculate.

2. He was never fond of calculating.

3. He never relished the process of computing numbers.

3. He was never fond of arithmetical processes.

4. He never relished computing numbers.

4. It was never agreeable to him to compute numbers.

5. It was never agreeable to him that he should compute numbers.

EXERCISE.

Convert the substantive elements italicized in the following sentences into some other form.

Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and dispatch, are the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of any sort.

Repealing this or that act of parliament can not restore America to our bosom.

Forced concessions are not to be relied upon.

To select the best period for the action was the difficulty.

A craving for rest was to him a sure sign of impaired vigor.

Intense earnestness was his characteristic trait.

His scheme was to call forth the utmost abilities of all.

Happiness is the fruit of doing work well.

That you have wronged me doth appear in this.

Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.

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§ 281. The conversion of any simple term into an equivalent complex term is called circumlocution. This name is also given to any process by which we use many words to express what might be expressed in few. The circumlocution by which we substitute a nominal phrase for a single substantive is a matter of sufficient impor tance to demand a separate exercise.

EXERCISE.

Convert the following substantives into equivalent nominal phrases: Women-water-fire-the sun-the moon-the planets-a tyranta hunter-a soldier-a ruler-a lawyer-birds-a railroad-goldiron-glass-books-friends-a school-schoolmasters-physicians

merchants-ships-music-painting-printing-poetry-history

America-Paris-Holland-St. Helena-Napoleon-Alfred-Moses

Judas.

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