The APOSTROPHE ['] is a mark distinguished in appearance from a comma, only in being placed above the line; but its uses are altogether different.

RULE I.

Contractions, or Words Shortened.

The apostrophe is used, chiefly in poetry and in familiar dialogue, to denote the omission of a letter or of letters.

a. Though not, strictly speaking, contractions, the plurals of mere letters or of Arabic figures are formed by the insertion of an apostrophe before the s; as, "Mark all the a's and o's in your exercise." "In this sum there are four 2's and three 5's."

b. It was once a common practice, especially in verse, to write and print tho' and thro', instead of though and through; but these abbreviated forms are now discontinued, for the very just reason that they do not shorten the pronunciation of the words, — the chief object for which contractions are used.

c. The apostrophe is erroneously used in the words to, the, heaven, power, every, threatening, and others of a similar nature, when written, as they frequently are in verse, ť, th', heav'n, pow'r, ev'ry, threat'ning, &c.; for, though apparently, in the full or uncontracted form, making a syllable additional to the number of the feet required by the verse, they are never pronounced differently from the same words in prose, nor does this pronunciation at all affect the rhythm.

d. It seems to have been once the practice to pronounce, as an additional syllable, the ed in the imperfect tense of verbs, in past participles, and in participial adjectives; and hence arose the propriety, in poetical works of a bygone age, of omitting the e in words of this

sort, and of supplying its place with an apostrophe, when the termination treated of coalesced in pronunciation with the primitive to which d or ed was attached. Now, however, that this syllable is not separately enunciated in prose, except in learned, beloved, cursed, winged, when used as adjectives, and in some instances where a combination of harsh consonants necessarily requires the ed always to be articulated as a syllable; and except also in Sacred Scripture, portions of which should be read in a very solemn manner, the propriety of supplying the place of the e with an apostrophe is exceedingly questionable. In many recent publications, therefore, the mark of contraction has been thrown aside in regard to such words, and a grave accent placed on the e in those only which are lengthened for the sake of the rhythm; as will be seen in the following lines:

I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled

On wheels of amber and of gold;

I praised the moon, whose softer eye
Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky;
And moon and sun in answer said,

"Our days of light are numbered."

e. Some of the past participles, having the termination ed, are in verse frequently written or printed with a t, as in the words blest, drest, dreamt; and this mode of spelling, though not analogical, is by no means unpleasant to the eye. In prose, however, when participles having both terminations occur, it is better to adopt that which is more usual; being, to speak generally, the regular form, ed.

State the reason given in the Rule for inserting an apostrophe in the words thus marked, and read them both in the contracted and the full form:

'Mid such a heavenly scene as this, death is an empty name.
Thou'lt yet survive the storm, and bloom in paradise.

Methought that I lay naked and faint 'neath a tropic sky.
If I'd a throne, I'd freely share it with thee.

That lesson in my memory I'll treasure up with care.

I might have lived, and 'joyed immortal bliss.

'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy.

Let me thy voice betimes i'the morning hear.

The thing they can't but purpose, they postpone.

E'en with the tender tear which nature sheds o'er those we love.
You're overwatched, my lord: lie down and rest.

Here's a marvellous convenient place for our rehearsal.*

TO THE TEACHER. These sentences are given merely as an exercise for the necessary insertion of the apostrophe in abbreviated words; but the pupil should be made aware, that, though in poetry and in dialogues such abbreviations are quite proper, they are not used by writers of prose who have any claim to elegance.

Show how the insertion or the omission of apostrophes in certain words, occurring in these portions of verse, is borne out by the preceding Remarks:

Strike till the last armed foe expires!

Here Edwin and his Emma oft would stray,
To enjoy the coolness of the evening breeze.

The toiling ploughman drives his thirsty teams
To taste the slippery streams.

The bird let loose in Eastern skies,
When hastening fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies
Where idle warblers roam.

Unthinking, idle, wild, and young,

I laughed and talked, and danced and sung;
And, proud of health, of freedom vain,
Dreamt not of sorrow, care, or pain.

Serenity broods o'er my mind;
For I daily pray to Heaven,

That, when the hour of death arrives,
My sins may be forgiven.

EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN.

Insert the apostrophe wherever necessary; and mark a grave accent on the vowel in ED in verse, when pronounced as an additional syllable :·

As Yorkshire Humphrey, tother day,
Oer London Bridge was stumping.
That forked flash, that pealing crash,
Seemed from the wave to sweep her.
For who but He that arched the skies
Could raise the daisy's purple bud,
Mould its green cup, its wiry stem,
Its fringed border nicely spin,
And cut the gold-embossed gem,
That, set in silver, gleams within?

Now, brothers, bending oer the accursed loom,

Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom.

Then lighted from his gorgeous throne; for now
Twixt host and host but narrow space was left.

Approach, and read (for thou canst read) the lay
Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn.

Thou rather, with thy sharp and sulphurous bolt,
Splitst the unwedgeable and gnarled oak,
Than the soft myrtle.

Blest be the day I scaped the wrangling crew
From Pyrrho's maze and Epicurus' sty,
And held high converse with the godlike few,
Who, to the enraptured heart and ear and eye,
Teach beauty, virtue, truth, and love and melody!

RULE II.

The Genitive or Possessive Case.

The apostrophe is used to distinguish the possessive case of nouns; which is usually formed in the singular number by adding to the nominative an s, with an apostrophe before it, and in the plural by simply annexing this mark.

EXAMPLES.

1. What majesty attends Night's lovely queen!

2. The Ages' voice speaks everlasting truth.

REMARKS.

a. The apostrophe is sometimes used in the singular number without the additional s, when the nominative ends in s, ss, ce, or x; as, "Moses' rod," "for righteousness' sake," "for conscience' sake," "the administratrix' sale." This mode of punctuation holds good chiefly in proper names having a foreign termination, and in such common nouns as are seldom used in the plural, an exception to the rule of forming the possessive singular, which is founded on the propriety of modifying the disagreeable nature of the hissing sound.

For

b. Recourse, however, should not be had to the principle laid down in the preceding remark, when its adoption would cause ambiguity, or when the addition of the s is not offensive to a refined ear. instance, the Italic words in the phrases, “Burns's Poems,” “ James's book," "Thomas's cloak," "the fox's tail," though they contain the hissing sound, are not particularly unpleasant, and are far more analogical and significant than the abbreviated forms, "Burns' Poems," "James' book," "Thomas' cloak," "the fox' tail.”

c. To form the possessive case plural, the apostrophe, with an s after it, is added to the nominative plural, when it does not end in that letter; as, "Men's passions; women's tenderness."

d. The possessive case of pronouns is formed without an apostro

phe; as,

TO THE TEACHER.

- Some grammarians would use the apostrophe before the s in ours, yours, hers, its, theirs. But the pupil should be shown the inaccuracy of this punctuation, from the mode in which the other pronouns in the possessive case are always written; namely, mine, his, and whose; which exhibit the case without the mark in question.

State the reason for the insertion and position of the apostrophe in these

sentences:

A man's manners not unfrequently indicate his morals.

On eagles' wings he seemed to soar. · Our enemies' resistance.
The shepherd-swain on Scotia's mountains fed his little flock.
And the Persians' gems and gold were the Grecians' funeral pyre.
We will not shrink from life's severest due. Woman's rights.
Few columns rose to mark her patriots' last repose.

The sun is the poet's, the invalid's, and the hypochondriac's friend.
The ladies' gloves and shawls were exceedingly handsome.
O majestic Night, Nature's great ancestor, Day's elder born!
He must strike the second heat upon the Muses' anvil.
Mother's wag, pretty boy, father's sorrow, father's joy.
Spirit of Good! on this week's verge I stand.

Bid them in duty's sphere as meekly move.

Why is that sleeper laid to rest in manhood's pride?

Who loves not spring's voluptuous hours, or summer's splendid reign? Is sparkling wit the world's exclusive right?

The Turk awoke: he woke to hear his sentry's shriek.

The people's shouts were long and loud. - Thy mercies' monument. A friend should bear a friend's infirmities.

The ox's hide.

Show how the Rule or the Remarks (p. 121) are applicable to the possessive case in the following phrases and sentences:

Adam's book, not Adams's: the book did not belong to Adams.
John Quincy Adams's death was no common bereavement.
Sir Humphrey Davy's safety-lamp. - Davis's Straits.
Josephus's "History of the Jews" is a very interesting work.
Andrew's hat, not Andrews's. Andrews's "Latin Reader."
Henry Brooke's "Fool of Quality" is a celebrated novel.
Joshua Brookes's museum was filled with anatomical specimens.
Sir Matthew Hale's "Contemplations, Moral and Divine.”
The ever-memorable John Hale's "Golden Remains."
William Ames's writings were once prized much above their worth
For quietness' sake, the man would not enter into any dispute.
Col. Matthews's delivery. - Matthew's Gospel, not Matthews's.
The witness's testimony agreed with the facts of the case.
Athanasius' friends, as well as his foes, were numerous and powerful.
Let Temperance' smile the cup of gladness cheer.

Nor roamed Parnassus' heights nor Pindus' hallowed shade.
There is no impropriety in speaking of the cockatrice's den.

I oft have sat on Thames' sweet bank to hear my friend.

Like the silver crimson shroud, that Phoebus' smiling looks doth grace. After two years, Porcius Festus came into Felix's room.