DEFINITION 1.-A primary proposition is a principal proposition, upon which others may depend, but which might itself form a perfect sentence.

DEFINITION 2.-A secondary proposition is one that modifies some word or proposition.

EXAMPLES.

The principles which actuate us, are based upon the gospel. The chief misfortunes that befall us in life, can be traced to some foilies which we have committed.

He that hath light within his own clear breast, may enjoy bright day.

In these examples, the propositions in italics are secondary, each one performing the office of an adjective; the others are primary.

DEFINITION 3.-Correlative propositions are such as have a mutual dependence on each other, and this mutual dependence is expressed by conjunctions, &c.

EXAMPLES.

Because he is good, therefore he is great.

As in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive.
They will neither do the work themselves, nor let me do it.
Although I did not understand his words, yet I could his actions.
If the patient wishes to recover, then he must follow my prescrip-
tions.

SPECIFICATION.-Compound sentences may be arranged in six classes, depending on their composition. They may be composed of

1. Simple subject and compound predicate.

2. Compound subject and simple predicate.

3. Compound subject and compound predicate.

4. Primary and simple or compound secondary propositions.

5. Two or more primary propositions, each independ ent, or accompanied by secondary propositions.

6. Correlative propositions.

RULES OF PUNCTUATION.

The following rules of punctuation, will be observed in the construction of compound propositions:

1. When several words have a joint reference in construction, they are, with their modifiers, to be separated from each other by a comma.

2. When only two words have a joint reference, the comma is not inserted, unless the words have modifiers or are emphatic.

3. When words, having a joint reference, are the subjects of a personal verb, a comma must be inserted before the verb.

4. When words, having a joint reference, are joined in pairs, they must be separated in pairs by a comma.

5. When several primary and independent propositions are constructed into a sentence, they are, usually, separated from each other by a mark [;] called a semi-colon.

I. Simple subject and compound predicate, is when several predications are made of the same subject.

EXAMPLES.

John chops and mows.

The lad can run and jump.

Can the lad run and jump?

The horse ran away and broke the wagon.

The warrior boasts of courage, vaunts honor, claims to be invincible, and is slain with a bit of lead.

Genuine virtue embelishes, enriches, ennobles, expands, and recreates the human soul.

True politeness softens the manners, refines the taste, develops the affections, gives influence to character, and ever renders its possessor an agreeable companion.

May gold buy friends, make enemies, produce war, settle treaties, crown kings, and dethrone emperors?

Will Joseph walk, ride the horse, be conveyed in the stage-coach, or take the steam-cars?

The book was written, printed, bound, sold, bought, and read.

Apply the plough of perseverance, sow the seeds of innocence, cultivate the germs of contentment, rear the healthy plant of intelligence, and reap the fruits of unceasing happiness.

Vapors rise, become condensed, and fall in rain.

II. Compound subject and simple predicate, is when the same fact is predicated of several subjects.

EXAMPLES.

T

Boys and girls study.

The horse, dog, and cat, can run.

John, James, Philip, and Henry, study grammar.

Pen, ink, and paper, are used in writing.

Will William or Ira go?

William or Ira will go.

Will William and Ira go?

The hoe, plough, scythe, and wagon, are implements of husbandry. Grains, vegetables, butter, cheese, and woul, are products of the

farm.

Temperance, industry, perseverance, and constant application, can make the eminent scholar.

Can the wealth of Cræsus, the eloquence of Cicero, the achievements of Cæsar, or the dominion of Alexander, heal remorse? War, famine, pestilence, and death, follow in the train with human ills.

The stately oak, the towering pine, and the drooping fern, claim common origin.

Continents, islands, mountains, oceans, seas, and gliding brooks, "form one common world.

III. Compound subject and predicate, is when there are several subjects, and several particulars predicated of each one.

EXAMPLES.

The boy and girl can read and write.

Henry, George, and Thomas, can read, write, cypher, and hos

corn.

Wheat, rye, oats, and barley, are sowed and harvested on the farm. Wool, camel's hair, hemp, flax, and even the leaves of some trees, are prepared, spun, and woven into cloth.

The rolling spheres, the flying clouds, the heaving ocean, the towering mountain, the placid lake, the extended plain, and the trembling leaf, join their evidence, and proclaim the existence of Deity.

Graminar, arithmetic, geography, and analysis, have been commenced, pursued, and completed by the student.

The beech, maple, oak, and hickory, spring up, grow to maturity, die, and return again to dust.

Health, wealth, and happiness, are secured and retained by temperance.

The vicious sou and the needless daughter, blight the hopes, disgrace the life, and embitter the death of the parent.

Greek, Latin, and French, are learned and spoken.

Steam engines and printing presses are invented and constructed by the mechanic.

The sage, the philosopher, and the prince, must die, and moulder in one common grave.

IV. Primary and simple or compound secondary propositions, are such as contain a single primary proposition, and one or more modifying propositions.

EXAMPLES..

I knew nothing of this lamentable history, of which the principal details were now passing confusedly before me.

I had heard sufficient to understand that it was full of dangers. He was not bewildered by the expression of so many grand thoughts, nor by the chaos into which he could, with one word, throw light.

You would have said, to hear him so abruptly quit his nocturnal drama, that the passionate inspiration he had been obeying, had suddenly left him.

Within a short distance of the city of Boston, stands an institution of learning, which was one of the earliest cares of the early forefathers of the country.

I appeal to you, Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens, that such a work, on such a spot, is in accordance with the principles and purest feelings of our nature.

The American, who can gaze on that noble structure with indifference, does not deserve the name of American.

Whoever has paid attention to the manners of the day, must have perceived a remarkable innovation in the use of moral terms. There was no one who did not dread the moment when solitude should deliver him to the tyranny of reflection.

The persons who suggest this objection, of course, think that there are some projects and undertakings that do good.

V. Two or more primary propositions, with or without modifying propositions. The examples will show the composition of these.

EXAMPLES.

And besides this, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowl edge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.

Whoever looks for a friend without imperfections, will never find what he seeks; we love ourselves with all our faults, and we ought to love our friends in like manner.

Wit makes an enterpriser; sense, a man.

Dear with manlike dignity whatever happens; can be conated and fully happy in the good I possess; and can pass hrough this turbid, this fickle, this fleeting period, without bewailings, or envyings, or murmurings, or complainings.

Many a man lives a burden to the earth; but a good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit.

Christianity is indeed peculiarly fitted to the more delicate sensibilities of refined minds; to the more improved stages of soci ety; and especially to that dissatisfaction with the present state, which always grows with the growth of our moral powers and

affections.

This saint entered the prison with the same countenance with which he reduced the thirty tyrants; and he took off ignominy from the place; for how could it be deemed a prison when Socrates was there?

Infidelity is, at least, a shallow quality; and, in objects of eternal moment, it is poisonous to society.

From the worm that grovels in the dust beneath our feet, to the track of the leviathan in the foaming deep; from the moth that corrupts the secret treasure, to the eagle that soars above its eyry in the clouds; from the wild ass in the desert, to the lamb within the shepherd's fold; from the consuming beast, to the cattle upon a thousand hills; from the rose of Sharon, to the cedar of Lebanon; from the crystal stream gushing forth out of the flinty rock, to the wide waters of the deluge; from the lonely path of the wanderer, to the gathering of a mighty multitude; from the tear that falls in secret, to the din of battle, and the shout of a triumphant host; from the solitary in the wilderness, to the satrap on the throne; from the mourner clad in sackcloth, to the prince in purple robes; from the gnawings of the worm that dieth not, to the seraphic visions of the blest; from the still small voice, to the thunders of Omnipotence; from the depths of hell, to the regions of eternal glory; there is no degree of beauty or deformity, no tendency to good or evil, no shade of darkness nor gleam of light, which does not come within the cognizance of the holy Scriptures.

NOTE.-Correlative propositions will be noticed in another place,

EXERCISES.

ORAL.-1. Give the reason for the punctuation of all the examples in this section.

2. Analyze all the compound sentences, and the propositions of which they are composed.

3. Parse the substantives.

WRITTEN AND ORAL.-Write three examples in imitation, under each division, and give the punctuation, &c., as before.