OF COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC: A Series of Practical Lessons ON THE ORIGIN, HISTORY, AND PECULIARITIES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, PUNO AND ITS ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES, CRITICISM, AND THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS OF PROSE AND POETICAL COMPOSITION; ILLUSTRATED WITH COPIOUS EXERCISES. ADAPTED TO SELF-INSTRUCTION, AND THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. "True grace in writing comes from ART, not chance."-POPE. BY George ayn P.QUACKENBOS, A. M., ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL OF "THE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL," NEW YORK; AUTHOR NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 346 & 348 BROADWAY. LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. MDCCCLIX. OF VIRGINIA .Q3 1859 320987 IN BY THE SAME AUTHOR. First Lessons in Composition, WHICH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ART ARE DEVELOPED IN CONNECTION WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF GRAMMAR: EMBRACING FULL DIRECTIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF PUNCTUATION, WITH COPIOUS EXERCISES. FROM THE EARLIEST DISCOVERIES TO THE PRESENT TIME; EMBRACING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE ABORIGINES, BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF DISTINGUISHED Men, and NUMEROUS MAPS, PLANS OF BATTLE FIELDS, AND PICTORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS. Illustrated Natural Philosophy, FOR SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES: WHICH UNFOLDS THE LAWS OF THE MATERIAL WORLD, TREATS OF THE VARIOUs BRANCHES OF PHYSICS, EXHIBITS THE APPLICATION OF THEIR PRINCIPLES IN EVERYDAY LIFE, AND EMBRACES THE MOST RECENT DISCOVERIES IN EACII. ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, By G. P. QUACKENBOS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York, то THE REV. DR. FERRIS. CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, AS A TRIBUTE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPECT FOR SOUND SCHOLARSHIP AND UNWEARIED LABORS IN THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION, NO LESS THAN AS A MEMORIAL PREFACE. THE favor with which the public have kindly received the Author's "First Lessons in Composition ", and the frequent calls made by Colleges and higher Academies for a more advanced work on the same plan, with which to follow it, have led to the preparation of the present volume. The elementary book to which reference has just been made, was intended to initiate the beginner by easy steps into the art of composition; the work now offered to the public has a wider scope, embracing a variety of subjects worthy of the attention of advanced pupils, and presenting much important matter heretofore scattered through a number of different textbooks. Claiming to give a comprehensive and practical view of our language in all its relations, this "Advanced Course" views it as a whole, no less than with reference to the individual words composing it; shows how it compares with other tongues, modern and ancient; points out its beauties; indicates how they may best be made available; and, in a word, teaches the pupil the most philosophical method of digesting and arranging his thoughts, as well as the most correct and effective mode of expressing them. The volume commences with a condensed history of our tongue prefaced by a consideration of the origin of language in general, both spoken and written. Attention is first paid to the successive steps, by which, with Divine aid, man was enabled to develop a system of spoken language, to frame that elaborate and wonderful fabric without which civilization would be blotted from the globe. The invention of letters and the various systems of writing form the next subjects in order. The primitive language of Britain is then traced through successive modifications, produced by as many political changes, until at last the German invaders banished |