wanity in wain

for by we bit

1 profound acquirements. Pretty and ugly, they apply to 1 person, instead of, to his external appearance. In these stat hear, "I guess it rains," when the speaker knows this to be refore, guessing is uncalled for. "I expect I can go;" or, "instead of, "I suppose or presume." In New-England, often called a minister, in New-York, a priest, and south The last is preferable.

etter than hizzen. are line writ well? better than this ere.

be gone to hum, neow, narter um.

re, derights, and bring

irn.

the stun which I shew SS made him sithe, for hot.

el, and cut a staddle, for er on. Ize jest agoneter

Is not that line well written? It is no better, or, it is not any be ter than this.

The cows are gone home, and I a going after then..

He will be here, directly, and brin yours and theirs.

He touched the stone which I showe him, and it made him sigh, for it wa hissing hot.

Go, Nathaniel, and cut a sapling,'t make a lever of. I was about to go or, intending to go immediately, father I dump my cart, square? Where shall I unload my cart? Yon er. Whats the heft of der. What is the weight of your load

it hum from Hafford? When did you return from Hartford You diddent, did ye ? A fortnight ago. Is it possible! Dia Danel, whose sot up a you see my son Daniel, who has opened ? No. Hede gone afore a publick house there? No. He had left , the pesky criter! Hele before I arrived there. O, the paltry stump. fellow! He will soon come to nought. supurb mansion is de- My friend's superb mansion is dewated on a nate-eral lightfully situated on a natural mound siderable hithe. It hez of considerable height. It has a long n front; but it is furder porch in front; but it is farther from the than I'de like my hum. city than I would like to reside.

NEW-ENGLAND.

CORRECTED.

nither geestin nor jokin about it; but not jesting about it; but, by permitting if they'd permit me to giv en my me to give them my view of the subject, ideze, they'd oblecge me. So I par- they would oblige me. So, I perseversevered, and carried my pinte. You ed, and gained my point. Indeed! Are don't say so. Be you from Barkshire? you from Berkshire? I am. Really! I I be. Neow I swan! if I aint clean am surprised.

beat.

You baint from the Jarseys, be ye? Are you from New-Jersey? Yes. Yes. Gosh! then I guess you kneow Then I presume you know how to tend a heow to tend tarvern.

tavern.

PROSODY.

PROSODY treats of the modulations of the voice according to the usages of the language we speak, and the sentiments we wish to express: hence, in its most extensive sense, it comprises all the laws of elocution.

Prosody is commonly divided into two parts: the first teaches the true pronunciation of words, comprising accent, quantity, emphasis, pause, and tone; and the second, the laws of versification.

Accent. Accent is the laying of a peculiar stress of the voice on a particular letter or syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest, or distinguished from them; as, in the word presúme, the stress of the voice must be on the letter u, and the second syllable, sume, which syllable takes the accent.

Every word of more syllables than one, has one accented syllable. For the sake of euphony or dístinctness in a long word, we frequently give a secondary accent to another syllable besides the one which takes the principal accent; as, `les ti mo ni`al, a ban' don`ing.

Quantity. The quantity of a syllable is that time which is occupied in pronouncing it. It is considered as long or short.

A vowel or syllable is long, when the accent is on the vowel; which causes it to be slowly joined in pronunciation with the following letters; as, "Fall, bāle, mōōd, hōuse, feature."

A syllable is short, when the accent is on the consonant; which causes the vowel to be quickly joined to the succeeding letter; as, "ant, bönnět, hunger."

A long syllable generally requires double the time of a short one in pronouncing it; thus, "mate" and "note" should be pronounced as slowly again as "mat" and "not.”

Emphasis. By emphasis is meant a stronger and fuller sound of the voice, by which we distinguish some word or words on which we design to lay particular stress, and to show how they affect the rest of the sentence. Sometimes the emphatick words must be distinguished by a particular tone of voice, as well as by a greater stress.

Emphasis will be more fully explained under the head of Elocution.

Pauses. Pauses or rests, in speaking and reading, are a total cessation of the voice during a perceptible, and, in many cases, a measurable space of time.

Tones. Tones are different both from emphasis and pauses; con

sisting in the modulations of the voice, or the notes or variations of sound which we employ in the expression of our sentiments.

Emphasis affects particular words and phrases; but tones effect sentences, paragraphs, and sometimes a whole discourse.

PUNCTUATION.

PUNCTUATION is the art of dividing written composition into sentences or parts of sentences, by points or stops, in order to mark the different pauses which the sense and an accurate pronunciation require.

The Comma represents the shortest pause; the Semicolon, a pause double that of the comma; the Colon, double that of the semicolon; and the Period, double that of the colon.

Punctuation is a modern art. The ancients were entirely unacquainted with the use of points; and wrote, not only without any distinction of members and periods, but also without any distinction of words. This custom continued till the year 360 before Christ. How the ancients read their works, written in this manner, it is not easy to conceive. After the practice of joining words together had ceased, notes of distinction were placed at the end of every word. This practice continued a considerable time.

As it appears that the present usuage of points did not take place whilst manuscripts and monumental inscriptions were the only known methods of conveying knowledge, we must conclude, that it was introduced with the art of printing. The introduction was, however, gradual all the points did not appear at once. The colon, semicolon, and note of admiration, were produced some time after the others. The whole set, as they are now used, became established, when learning and refinement had made considerable progress.

As the rules of punctuation are founded altogether on the grammatical construction of sentences, their application presupposes, on the part of the student, a knowledge of Syntax. Although they admit of exceptions, and require a continual exercise of judgment and literary taste in applying them properly, they are of great utility, and justly merit our particular attention.

The great importance of acquiring a thorough knowledge of punctuation, and of attending strictly to the application of its rules, is established by the single fact, that the meaning of a sentence is often totally perverted by the omission or misapplication of points. To illustrate the correctness of this remark, numerous examples might be selected. The following border on the ridiculous: "Mr. Jared Hurton having gone to sea his wife, desires the prayers of this church;" "Tryon, who escaped