Parker's Second Reader Part 25

Good-morning to you, Charles! Whose book is that which you have under your arm?

A benison upon thee, gentle huntsman! Whose towers are these that overlook the wood?

The incidents of the last few days have been such as will probably never again be witnessed by the people of America, and such as were never before witnessed by any nation under heaven.

To the memory of Andre his country has erected the most magnificent monuments, and bestowed on his family the highest honors and most liberal rewards. To the memory of Hale not a stone has been erected, and the traveler asks in vain for the place of his long sleep.

LESSON LIX.

_The Semicolon._

THE SEMICOLON is made by a comma placed under a period, thus =;=

When you come to a semicolon, you must generally make a pause twice as long as you would make at a comma.

Sometimes you must keep the voice suspended when you come to a semicolon, as in the following:

EXAMPLES.

That G.o.d whom you see me daily wors.h.i.+p; whom I daily call upon to bless both you and me, and all mankind; whose wondrous acts are recorded in those Scriptures which you constantly read; that G.o.d who created the heaven and the earth is your Father and Friend.

My son, as you have been used to look to me in all your actions, and have been afraid to do anything unless you first knew my will; so let it now be a rule of your life to look up to G.o.d in all your actions.

[Sometimes you must use the falling inflection of the voice when you come to a semicolon, as in the following:]

EXAMPLES.

Let your dress be sober, clean, and modest; not to set off the beauty of your person, but to declare the sobriety of your mind; that your outward garb may resemble the inward plainness and simplicity of your heart.

In meat and drink, observe the rules of Christian temperance and sobriety; consider your body only as the servant and minister of your soul; and only so nourish it, as it may best perform an humble and obedient service.

Condescend to all the weakness and infirmities of your fellow-creatures; cover their frailties; love their excellences; encourage their virtues; relieve their wants; rejoice in their prosperity; compa.s.sionate their distress; receive their friends.h.i.+p; overlook their unkindness; forgive their malice; be a servant of servants; and condescend to do the lowest offices for the lowest of mankind.

[The semicolon is sometimes used for a question, and sometimes as an exclamation.]

EXAMPLES.

Hast thou not set at defiance my authority; violated the public peace, and pa.s.sed thy life in injuring the persons and properties of thy fellow-subjects?

O, it was impious; it was unmanly; it was poor and pitiful!

Have not you too gone about the earth like an evil genius; blasting the fair fruits of peace and industry; plundering, ravaging, killing, without law, without justice, merely to gratify an insatiable l.u.s.t for dominion?

What a glorious monument of human invention, that has thus triumphed over wind and wave; has brought the ends of the earth in communion; has established an interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south; diffused the light of knowledge and the charities of cultivated life; and has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which Nature seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier!

LESSON LX.

_The Colon._

THE COLON consists of two periods placed one above the other, thus =:=

Sometimes the pa.s.sage ending with a colon is to be read with the voice suspended; but it should generally be read with the falling inflection of the voice.

The general rule, when you come to a colon, is to stop just long enough to count three; or three times as long as you are directed to pause at a comma.

EXAMPLES.

Law and order are forgotten: violence and rapine are abroad: the golden cords of society are loosed.

The temples are profaned: the soldier's curse resounds in the house of G.o.d: the marble pavement is trampled by iron hoofs: horses neigh beside the altar.

Blue wreaths of smoke ascend through the trees, and betray the half-hidden cottage: the eye contemplates well-thatched ricks, and barns bursting with plenty: the peasant laughs at the approach of winter.

[The following pa.s.sages ending with a colon are to be read with the voice suspended:]

Do not flatter yourselves with the hope of perfect happiness: there is no such thing in the world.

A boy at school is by no means at liberty to read what books he pleases: he must give attention to those which contain his lessons; so that, when he is called upon to recite, he may be ready, fluent, and accurate, in repeating the portion a.s.signed him.

As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did not perceive its moving; and it appears that the gra.s.s has grown, though n.o.body ever saw it grow: so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are perceivable only by the distance gone over.

When the proud steed shall know why man restrains his fiery course, or drives him o'er the plains; when the dull ox, why now he breaks the clod, is now a victim, and now Egypt's G.o.d: then shall man's pride and dullness comprehend his actions', pa.s.sions', being's use and end.

Jehovah, G.o.d of hosts, hath sworn, saying: Surely, as I have devised, so shall it be; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.

George, you must not laugh at me; I will not bear it. You forget what you are about when you ridicule me: I know more than you do about the lessons.

I never heard a word about it before, said George, yesterday: who told you about it, Charles?

I never heard one word of it before, said my uncle Toby, hastily: how came he there, Trim?

Thou shalt p.r.o.nounce this parable upon the King of Babylon; and shalt say: How hath the oppressor ceased?

It is not only in the sacred fane that homage should be paid to the Most High: there is a temple, one not made with hands; the vaulted firmament: far in the woods, almost beyond the sound of city-chime, at intervals heard through the breezeless air.

THE END.