"In my affection to my country you find me ever true and invariable. Not the solemn demand of my person, not the vengeance of the Amphyctionic council, not the terror of their threatenings, not the flattery of their promises, no! nor the fury of those accursed wretches whom they roused like wild beasts against me, could tear this affection from my breast." Demosthenes. 6. Irony. This is a mode of speech expressing a sense exactly contrary to that which is intended, there being something in the tone or manner of the writer or speaker which makes the real meaning apparent. "It's a fine thing for a man in your position to be proved dishonest." "You are very likely to succeed in your business if you "And it came to pass that at noon Elijah mocked them, 7. Metonymy. This figure, which is most frequently used in composition, consists in using, instead of the name of the thing which is intended, the name of another thing which is connected with it. Sometimes the sign is put for the thing signified: "As loyal English citizens we obey the crown; as dutiful sons of the Church we reverence the mitre and the altar; as a law-abiding people we uphold the dignity of the ermine." Sometimes the instrument is put for the person who uses it : "Cromwell set up parliaments by the stroke of his pen, and scattered them by the breath of his mouth." "In this country capital employs many thousands of hands." "When his admonition failed to produce any effect, he called in the assistance of the whip and the stocks." Sometimes that which contains is put for that which is contained : "You cannot induce a drunkard to give up his bottle." This is a bitter cup for him to drink. The kettle boils. "I had rather be ruled by St. James's than St. Giles's." Sometimes an effect is put for the cause: "Can gray hairs make folly venerable ?" Sometimes a part is put for the whole : The fleet consisted of fifty sail. "I abjure all roofs." "The girl had seen but fifteen summers, but the life of the man had extended through seventy winters." Sometimes the abstract is put for the concrete :— "We wish that Labour may look up here, and be proud in the midst of its toil; we wish that Infancy may learn the purpose of its creation from maternal lips; and that weary and withered Age may be solaced by the recollections which its suggests." (Exercises XXXIII.—XXXVI.) CHAPTER VI. PUNCTUATION. PUNCTUATION is the art of dividing a written composition into sentences or parts of sentences by means of points or stops. The meaning of a passage would be obscured if the words composing it were simply placed one after another in succession, without any arrangement to show how they are to be grouped. In speaking, a man makes pauses and alters his tone of voice in certain places, in order to assist his hearers in understanding him; but in writing, helps of a different kind must be used. The object of punctuation is so to group words in composition as to make their collective meaning clear and unmistakable to the reader. They assist us in composition in the same way as signals upon a railway assist those in charge of trains. It is a great mistake to suppose that punctuation marks serve no other purpose than to denote certain places at each of which the reader is required to make a pause. Their proper use is to help the mind of the reader to go exactly with the mind of the writer, and then, understanding the writer's meaning, the reader expresses it as intelligibly as he can, pausing or not pausing according to his own sense of propriety, but under no slavish control to the punctuation marks. In such sentences as the following the comma certainly does not indicate a pause, for the pause is invariably made before the comma occurs : I told him that, if you came, I would stay over to-mor row. We are informed that, during the illness of the complainant, the case cannot be heard. In these sentences the position of the comma is determined by Rule 6 following, but the pause occurs in a different place. We will lay down the important rules with regard to each of the punctuation marks in succession. 1. The Comma. This mark is used for the following purposes: (1.) To separate the simple sentences that together form one period. John is here, but James has returned home. I have written to Charles, and have sent your message to him. "Many are called, but few chosen." "As the contumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men." "When I had concluded, I received the compliments of my audience, some of whom came and shook me by the hand, swearing that I was a very honest fellow, and that they desired my further acquaintance." (2.) To mark off the distinct groups of words constituting a simple sentence. "On the eastern coast of the mountains, above Port Louis, in the Mauritius, upon a piece of land bearing the marks of former cultivation, are seen the ruins of two small cottages." "With observations like these, the prince amused himself as he returned, uttering them with a plaintive voice, yet with a look that discovered him to feel some complacence in his own perspicacity, and to receive some solace for the miseries of life, from consciousness of the delicacy with which he felt, and the eloquence with which he bewailed them." (3.) To denote the omission of a word. 66 Anger prompts men to contention; avarice, to oppression." Alfred was a good, wise, and valiant king. "She reigns over a free, happy, and religious people." "As a companion he was severe and satirical; as a "War is the law of violence; peace, the law of love." 66 Reading maketh a full man; conference, a ready man; writing, an exact man.' (4.) To call separate attention to certain words or groups of words. Grammar, geography, and history, are useful studies. "She thought the isle that gave her birth "He has an absolute, immediate, and I may say personal 66 Reputation, virtue, and happiness, depend greatly on the choice of companions." (5.) To separate participial phrases from the sentences with which they are connected. The king being dead, his son succeeded him. This man, forsaken by his friends, became desperate. |