Chapter V: Part 5

One remark about your reading. I do not know whether it has been sufficiently brought home to you that there are two kinds of books. When a man is reading on any kind of subject, in most departments of books—in all books, if you take it in a wide sense—you will find that there is a division of good books and bad books—there is a good kind of book and a bad kind of book. I am not to assume that you are all ill-acquainted with this; but I may remind you that it is a very important consideration at present. It casts aside altogether the idea that people have that if they are reading any book—that if an ignorant man is reading any book, he is doing rather better than nothing at all. I entirely call that in question. I even venture to deny it. It would be much safer and better, would he have no concern with books at all than with some of them. There are a number, an increasing number, of books that are decidedly to him not useful. But he will learn also that a certain number of books were written by a supreme, noble kind of people—not a very great number—but a great number adhere more or less to that side of things. In short, as I have written it down somewhere else, I conceive that books are like men’s souls—divided into sheep and goats. Some of them are calculated to be of very great advantage in teaching—in forwarding the teaching of all generations. Others are going down, down, doing more and more, wilder and wilder mischief.

And for the rest, in regard to all your studies here, and whatever you may learn, you are to remember that the object is not particular knowledge—that you are going to get higher in technical perfections, and all that sort of thing. There is a higher aim lies at the rear of all that, especially among those who are intended for literary, for speaking pursuits—the sacred profession. You are ever to bear in mind that there lies behind that, the acquisition, of what may be called wisdom—namely, sound appreciation and just decision as to all the objects that come round about you, and the habit of behaving with justice and wisdom. In short, great is wisdom—great is the value of wisdom. It cannot be exaggerated. The highest achievement of man—“Blessed is he that getteth understanding.” And that, I believe, occasionally may be missed very easily; but never more easily than now, I think. If that is a failure, all is a failure.—_Carlyle._

EXERCISE I.

Examine carefully the foregoing expositions. Notice the definite plan on which each is constructed.

EXERCISE II.

Write an expository composition on one of the following subjects:—

1. Commerce.
2. The Pleasures of Conversation.
3. The Value of Time.
4. Friendship.
5. The Power of Conscience.
6. Peace and War.
7. Patriotism.
8. Advantages of Travel.
9. A Taste for Reading.
10. Punctuality.

A plan for the first subject:—

=Introduction= {Definition of commerce.

{Origin of commerce. (Tell who were the
first to engage in it and when).
=Discussion.= {Its history. (Show the growth in the
means of transportation).
{Great discoveries of other lands that
have extended commerce.

=Conclusion.= {Advantages arising from commerce.
(Distributes the productions of the
earth, helps to educate and to
civilize).

* * * * *

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.

=A.B.= or Bachelor of Arts.
=B.A.=
=Acct.= Account.
=A.D.= In the year of our Lord.
=Ala.= Alabama.
=A.M.= Before noon (_ante meridian_).
=A.M.= or =M.A.= Master of Arts.
=Anon.= Anonymous.
=Ark.= Arkansas.
=Aug.= August.
=Ave.= Avenue.
=B.C.= Before Christ.
=B.C.= British Columbia.
=B.C.L.= Bachelor of Civil Law.
=B.D.= Bachelor of Divinity.
=B. Pæd.= Bachelor of Pedagogy.
=Cal.= California.
=Capt.= Captain.
=Co.= Company.
=Co.= County.
=C.E.= Civil Engineer.
=C.O.D.= Cash on Delivery.
=Col.= Colonel.
=Col.= Colorado.
=Conn.= Connecticut.
=Cr.= Credit.
=Cr.= Creditor.
=D.C.= District of Columbia.
=D.C.L.= Doctor of Civil Law.
=D.D.= Doctor of Divinity.
=Dec.= December.
=Del.= Delaware.
=do.= The same (_ditto_).
=Dr.= Debtor.
=Dr.= Doctor.
=D. Pæd.= Doctor of Pedagogy.
=E.= East.
=e.g.= For example (_exempli gratia_).
=Esq.= Esquire.
=etc.= And others; and so forth.
=Feb.= February.
=Fla.= Florida.
=F.R.S.= Fellow of the Royal Society.
=Ga.= Georgia.
=Gen.= General.
=Gov.= Governor.
=Gov.-Gen.= Governor-General.
=Hon.= Honorable.
=Ill.= Illinois.
=Ind.= Indiana.
=inst.= Instant—the present month.
=Jan.= January.
=Jr.= or Junior.
=Jun.=
=Kan.= Kansas.
=Kee.= Keewatin.
=Ky.= Kentucky.
=La.= Louisiana.
=Lab.= Labrador.
=L.I.= Long Island.
=Lieut.= Lieutenant.
=Lieut.-Col.= Lieutenant-Colonel.
=Lieut.-Gov.= Lieutenant-Governor.
=LL.B.= Bachelor of Laws.
=LL.D.= Doctor of Laws.
=Maj.-Gen.= Major-General.
=Man.= Manitoba.
=Mass.= Massachusetts.
=M.B.= Bachelor of Medicine.
=M.D.= Doctor of Medicine.
=Md.= Maryland.
=Me.= Maine.
=Messrs.= Gentlemen (_Messieurs_).
=Mich.= Michigan.
=Minn.= Minnesota.
=Miss.= Mississippi.
=Mlle.= Mademoiselle.
=Mo.= Missouri.
=Mon.= Monday.
=Mont.= Montana.
=M.L.A.= Member of Legislative Assembly.
=M.P.= Member of Parliament.
=M.P.P.= Member of Provincial Parliament.
=Mr.= Mister.
=Mrs.= Mistress.
=Ms.= Manuscript.
=Mss.= Manuscripts.
=N.= North.
=N.B.= Note well (_nota bene_).
=N.B.= New Brunswick.
=Neb.= Nebraska.
=Nev.= Nevada.
=N.C.= North Carolina.
=N. Dak.= North Dakota.
=Nfld.= Newfoundland.
=N.H.= New Hampshire.
=N.J.= New Jersey.
=No.= Number.
=Nov.= November.
=N.S.= Nova Scotia.
=N.Y.= New York.
=O.= Ohio.
=Oct.= October.
=Ont.= Ontario.
=Or.= Oregon.
=p.= Page.
=Pa.= Pennsylvania.
=per cent.= By the hundred.
=Ph.B.= Bachelor of Philosophy.
=Ph.D.= Doctor of Philosophy.
=P.M.= Afternoon (_post meridian_).
=P.M.= Post Master.
=P.O.= Post Office.
=pp.= Pages.
=Pres.= President.
=Prof.= Professor.
=Pro tem.= For the time being (_pro tempore_).
=prox.= Next month (_proximo_).
=P.S.= Postscript (_post scriptum_).
=Que.= Quebec.
=Rev.= Reverend.
=R.I.= Rhode Island.
=R.R.= Railroad.
=Rt. Rev.= Right Reverend.
=S.= South.
=Sask.= Saskatchewan.
=Sept.= September.
=Sr.= or Senior.
=Sen.=
=S.C.= South Carolina.
=S. Dak.= South Dakota.
=Sat.= Saturday.
=ss.= Steamship.
=St.= Street.
=Sun.= Sunday.
=Supt.= Superintendent.
=Tenn.= Tennessee.
=Tex.= Texas.
=Thurs.= Thursday.
=Tues.= Tuesday.
=ult.= Last month (_ultimo_).
=U.S.= United States.
=U.S.A.= United States Army.
=U.S.A.= United States of America.
=Va.= Virginia.
=Vs.= Against (_versus_).
=Vt.= Vermont.
=W.= West.
=Wed.= Wednesday.
=Wis.= Wisconsin.
=Wash.= Washington.

* * * * *

INDEX.

Abbreviations, 156, 157
Adjectives, 7
classes of, 36-38
clauses, 98
comparison of, 39
parsing of, 41, 42
Adverbs, 9
classes of, 74
clauses, 98
comparison of, 75
parsing of, 76
Adverbial objective, 83
Analysis, 2, 93, 94, 100, 101, 102, 103
exercises for, 94, 95, 96, 97, 104, 105, 106, 107
Apposition, 83
Auxiliary verbs, 58-67

Capitals, 108
Case, 23
Clauses, 97, 98
Colon, 110
Composition, 108-155
Compound sentence, 98
Complex sentence, 98
Complement, 94
Comma, 109, 110
Conditional verb-phrases, 66
Conjugations of the verb, 53
weak or new, 53-56
strong or old, 53, 56-58
Conjunctions, 12
classes of, 78
parsing of, 79

Dash, 110
Defective verbs, 58
Different values of words, 14, 15
Different kinds of sentences, 1
Description, 139
models of, 139-147
exercises in, 141, 142, 148

Emphatic verb-phrases, 63
Exclamatory sentences, 1, 2
Exclamation mark, 109
Exposition, 149
models of, 150-154
exercises in, 154-155

Figurative language, 115

Gender, 18
Gender-nouns, 18, 19, 20

Hyphen, 110

Imperative mode, 46
Indicative mode, 46
Infinitives, 47, 48
Interjections, 13
parsing of, 80
Interrogation mark, 109
Irregularities of conjugation, 54, 55
It, 28, 94

Letters, models, 121-127
Letter-writing, 119-120
exercises in, 128

Mode, 46

Narration, 128
models of, 129-138
exercises in, 130-131, 134-135, 138
Nominatives, different kinds of, 25
Nouns, 4-5
classes of, 16-18
clauses, 97
parsing of, 26-27
predicate, 83
Number, 20-21

Object, 23
direct, 26
indirect, 26
of a preposition, 11, 83
retained, 83
Objective predicate, 84
Obligative verb-phrases, 66
Order of words, 89

Paragraph, 113
principles of, 113
Parts of speech, 4-14
Participles, 49-50
Parenthesis, 110
Period, 109
Person, 28
Potential verb-phrases, 66
Predicate, 2
complete, 44
incomplete, 44
Prepositions, 10, 11
parsing of, 77
Progressive verb-phrases, 72
Pronouns, 5-6
classes of, 27-34
parsing of, 34, 35
Prose, varieties of, 119
Punctuation, 109

Quotation marks, 110

Relations of the noun, 82-84
“ “ pronoun, 84-85
“ “ adjective, 86
“ “ verb, 87
“ “ adverb, 88
Representative subject, 94

Semicolon, 110
Sentences, 1
simple, 93-96
compound, 102-107
complex, 101-107
loose, 112
balanced, 112
periodic, 112
short and long, 112
emphatic places of, 113
Style, 116-117
Subjunctive mode, 46
Syntax, 82-89

Use of words, 111

Verbs, 8-9
classes of, 4-43
tense of, 50-52
voice of, 44-45
mode of, 46-47
person of, 52
number of, 52
conjugation of, 53-58
of complete predication, 43
of incomplete predication, 44
parsing of, 73-74

Verbal nouns, 18

* * * * *

=Transcriber’s Notes:=

Punctuation has been corrected without note. Other errors have been corrected as noted below.

Page 30, Added Third Person. to bottom of first column of table. Page 159, abverb, 88 ==> adverb, 88