Horatius in his harness

Halting upon one knee;

And underneath is 157 written,

In letters all 158 of gold,

How valiantly he kept the bridge
In the brave days of old.15

66.

And still his name sounds stirring
Unto the men of Rome,

As the trumpet blast 161 that cries to them
To charge the Volscians home;

And wives still pray to Juno

For boys with hearts as bold

As his 162 who 163 kept the bridge so well
In the brave days of old.

67.

And in the nights of winter,

When cold 16 the north winds blow,

And the long howling 165 of the wolves

Is heard amidst the snow;

158. Horatius is in apposition with it. 157. The subject of is, is "How valiantly he kept the bridge," and its complement is written. 158. All, an adjective limiting letters. 159. Old, an adjective pronoun, essential element of a phrase. 160. Stirring limits name. 161. Blast is the subject of a suppressed verb. 162. His, a double personal pronoun, subject of a suppressed verb, "As his (heart) was," etc. 163. Who, a relative pronoun joining its sentence to his. 165. Cold, an adjective limiting winds. It is one of those adjectives, used after verbs, which undoubtedly have some adverbial effect. 166. Howling, a verbal noun, subject of is.

When 165 round the lonely cottage
Roars loud the tempest's din,
And the good logs of Algidus
Roar louder yet within ;

69.

When the oldest cask is opened,
And the largest lamp is lit,

When the chestnuts glow in the embers
And the kid turns on the spit;
When young and old in circle

Around the firebrands close;

When the girls are weaving baskets,
And the lads are shaping bows;
70.

When the goodman mends his armor,
And trims his helmet's plume;
When the goodwife's shuttle merrily
Goes flashing 167 through the loom ;

With weeping and with laughter
Still is the story told,

How well Horatius kept the bridge 168

In the brave days of old.

166. All the whens in Nos. 68, 69, and 70 join their sentences forward to the sentence, "Story is told," in No. 70. The first and in No. 68 joins the same sentence to what goes before, in No. 67. The ands alternating with the whens, join the dependent sentences together. 167. Flashing limits shuttle. 168. The sentence, "Horatius kept bridge," is in apposi tion with story.

MARKS OF PUNCTUATION

AND THEIR USES.

The Period (.) is placed at the end of a complete, separate sentence, whether simple or compound.

It is also used after abbreviations, as: Mr., Mrs. ; Thos. for Thomas; Jno. for John; B. C. for before Christ, etc.

When the period is a sign of abbreviation it does not supersede the use of any other point, unless it occurs at the end of a sentence where a full stop is required.

EXAMPLES.-1. There are three classes of verbs, viz., intrans., trans., and neuter. 2. Mr., Mrs., A. D., viz., and i. e. are examples of abbreviations.

The Colon () is principally used under the following circumstances:

I. When a remark or an observation is added to an expression already complete: as, "If we can not boast. of perfection in the fine arts, we can point with pride to the Erie canal: Titans do not make pins."

II. Before a direct quotation, or an example for'mally stated as, "In his anger he turned to the king

and whispered: 'I will yet have my revenge.""

2.

"Mr. Sherman continued as follows: 'I have thus stated the causes of this disaster, etc.'"

The colon is not used as often as in former times.

When a complete period divides into two or more larger and less closely connected divisions, each or either of them containing subdivisions which require the use of a comma, a Semicolon (;) is used between the larger divisions: as, "I did feel, sometimes, for a little while, that I could have wished my wife had been my counselor; had had more character and purpose, to sustain and improve me by; had been endowed with power to fill up the void which somewhere seemed to be about me; but I felt as if this were an unearthly consummation of my happiness.”—Dickens.

More than two words, phrases, or sentences having the same office, should be separated by the Comma (,). If they are subjects of a verb, a comma should follow the last one also: as, 1. Riches, honor, and fame, were bestowed upon him. 2. A good, wise, and great man. 3. "To toil, to drudge, to suffer, all these will be your portion." 4. The prisoner ran out of the court-yard, down the lane, and across the street.

When only two words, phrases, or sentences, are connected by a co-ordinate connective, they are not to be

separated by a comma: as, 1. "He is bold and wicked." 2. "We laughed and cried at the same time."

Exception I. When the two words thus connected have adjuncts, or when one of them has an adjunct which will not apply to the other, they must be separated by a comma: as, 1. He turned, and spoke angrily to me. 2. I was blamed for my action, and praised for my courage.

II. When two verbs thus connected have not the same object or complement: as, 1. I travel, and buy sheep. 2. He works, and earns money.

III. When of two words thus connected one is used as an explanation of the other: as, I shot a wax-wing, or cherry bird.

IV. When the co-ordinate connective is suppressed between two words, a comma supplies its place: as, "This was the saddest, darkest day of my life."

When words are joined in pairs by co-ordinate connectives, the comma separates the pairs: as, "A man may be good or bad, learned or ignorant, rich or poor, but he is still entitled to the rights of a man."

Nouns and pronouns independent by address are usually set off by commas: as, 1. "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears." 2. "Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts."

A noun and its adjunct in apposition are separated by the comma when the latter has adjuncts of its own: