PAUSE.

Grammatical Pauses are those which are used to make clear the meaning of a writing or discourse. They are indicated by the Punctuation Marks: Comma, Semicolon, Colon, and Period.

The Interrogation and Exclamation Points do not mark the relative pauses of the voice, occupying, as they do, sometimes the place of the comma or the semicolon, and sometimes that of the colon or the period. They are often placed at the end of sentences, and are then equivalent to a full point.

No definite rule can be given in regard to the length of grammatical or rhetorical pauses. The good taste of the reader or speaker must determine it, as sometimes a longer pause is required at the same mark than at other times.

The Dash does not mark the relative rests of the voice; but is often used where a significant pause is required.

Rhetorical Pauses are employed chiefly to give effect to expression. They consist in suspending the voice, either directly before or after the utterance of an important thought, thus arresting the attention of the listener, and also giving force to what follows.

The Rhetorical Pause belongs to the higher departments of expression, and is not subject to grammatical rules. It is the result of emotion, its power being exerted through the eloquence of silence.

The following rules, though important if properly applied, are not complete, as the employment of the Rhetorical Pause depends on the judgment of the speaker, and no rules can be given which will meet all the cases that arise for its use in the complicated relations of thought and emotion:

1. The subject of a sentence, when either emphatic or com pound, requires a pause after it; as,

The soul demands beauty.

Hope and despair dwell under the same roof.

2. Two nouns in the same case, without a connecting word, require a pause between them; as,

Whittier the poet, wrote this.

3. Adjectives, which follow the words they qualify, require pauses immediately before and after them; as,

A voice sweet and sad responded.

4. But, Hence, Yet, and other words that mark a sudden transition when commencing a sentence, require a pause after them; as,

But I have something more to say.
Hence these directions were given.
Yet I do not wish to decide the case.

5. In cases of Ellipses, a pause is required; as,

He gave me three books Maryone.

6. That, when a Conjunction, or Relative, requires a pause before it, as also the relatives who, which, what, together with when, whence, and other adverbs of time and place which involve the idea of a relative; as,

He studied that he might become learned.

This is the book that I lost.

We were here when you came.

7. The Infinitive Mood requires a pause before it, when it is governed by another verb, or separated by an intervening clause from the word which governs it; as,

He will come to weep with me.

He will call in the morning to see me.

8. A Slurred Passage requires a pause immediately before and after it; as,

All dim in haze the mountains lay.

O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth

That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!

SUSPENSIVE QUANTITY.

Suspensive Quantity is prolonging the end of a word, without an actual pause, and then suspending without wholly interrupting the progress of sound. It is marked thus | in the following examples.

It is used for three purposes

1. To prevent too frequent a recurrence of pauses; as,

Tell me ye winged winds | that round my pathway roar,

Do ye not know | some | spot | where mortals | weep no more?

2. To produce a slighter disjunction than would be made by pause; as,

And so from youth to age, yea, till the end,

An unforsaking, unforgetting | friend,

Thou hoverest round us!

3. To break up the current of sound without the abruptness which would result from pausing too frequently, and to give ease in speaking; as,

Warms in the sun, refreshes | in the breeze,
Glows in the stars, and blossoms | in the trees!
Lives through all life, extends | through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates | unspent.

When a Preposition is followed by several words depending upon it, the word preceding the preposition will either have suspensive quantity or a pause; as,

He is honored | by the whole world.

Students should be required to tell which of the preceding rules or principles is illustrated, whenever a mark representing the pause or the suspensive quantity is introduced in the following selections:

EXERCISES IN PAUSES.

1. WASHINGTON.

1. It matters very little what immediate | spot may have been the birthplace of such a man as Washington. No people can claim no country can appropriate him. The boon of Providence to the human race his fame is eternityand his dwelling-place | creation.

2. Though it was the defeat of our arms and the disgrace of our policyI almost bless | the convulsion in which he had his origin. If the heavens thundered and the earth | rocked yet when the storm passed

how pure was the climate that it cleared how bright in the brow of the firmament was the planet which it revealed to us!

3. In the production of Washington it does really appear as if nature was endeavoring to improve upon herself and that all the virtues of the ancient world were but so many studies preparatory | to the patriot of the new. Individual instances no doubt there were splendid exemplifications of some single quaification. Cæsar was mercifulScipio was continent Hannibal was patient. But it was reserved for Washington to blend them all in one and like the lovely masterpiece | of the Grecian artist to exhibit in one glow of associated beauty the pride | of every model and the perfection | of every master.

4. As a generalhe marshaled the peasant into a veteran and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman he enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system | of general advantage. And such was the wisdom of his | views and the philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman he almost added the character of the sage.

5. A conqueror he was untainted with the crime of blooda revolutionist he was free | from any stain of treason for aggression | commenced the contest and his country | called him to the field. Liberty unsheathed his sword necessity stained victory returned it.

6. If he had paused here history might have doubted what station | to assign him whether at the head of her citizens or her soldiers her heroes or her patriots. But the last | glorious | act crowns | his career and banishes all hesitation. Who like Washington after having emancipated j

a hemisphere resigned | its crown
tic life to the adoration of a land
created?

and preferred the retirement of domeshe might almost be said to have

How shall we rank thee upon glory's | page,
Thou more than soldier and just less than sage!
All thou hast been reflects less | praise on thee,
Far less than all thou hast forborne | to be.

2. RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS.

1. The letter of Columbus to the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, in which he announced his discovery, had produced the greatest sensation at court. The sovereigns were for a time dazzled and bewildered by this sudden acquisition of a new empire.

2. Shortly after his arrival at Seville, Columbus received a letter from them expressing their great delight, and requesting him to repair to their court at Barcelona, to concert plans for a more extensive expedition. The letter was addressed to him by the title of "Don Christopher Columbus, our Admiral of the Ocean Sea, and Viceroy and Governor of the Islands discovered in the Indies."

3. Columbus set out on his journey to Barcelona, taking with him the six Indians and the various curiosities and productions he had brought from the New World. The fame of his discovery had resounded throughout Spain. Wherever he passed, the surrounding country poured forth its inhabitants. In the large towns, the streets, the windows and the balconies were filled with spectators, who rent the air with acclamations.

4. The multitude pressed to gain a sight of him and of the Indians, who were regarded as if they had been natives of another planet. Popular rumor had, as usual, exaggerated the truth, and filled the new-found country with all kinds of wonders. His entrance into Barcelona has been compared to one of those triumphs that the Romans decreed to a conqueror.

5. The Indians—according to their savage fashion, decorated with tropical feathers and ornaments of gold-various kinds of live parrots, stuffed birds, animals of unknown species, tropical plants, Indian coronets, bracelets and various other trophies of an unknown world--being paraded in front, made a conspicuous display.

6. Columbus followed on horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade of Spanish chivalry. The streets were almost impassable, the very roofs being covered with spectators. The event was looked upon as a signal dis