8. To take offence at every trifling scorn shows great pride or little sense. 9. Praying is contemplating the facts of life from the highest point of view. 10. To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,-that is genius. 11. To tell all that we think is inexpedient. 12. Confessing the truth, I was greatly to blame for my indiscretion. 13. To pull down the false and to build up the true, and to uphold what there is of true in the old,-let this be our endeavor. 14. Striving to make men contented is undertaking an impossibility. 15. The stranger was heard to warn them of the danger, and to incite them to duty. 16. This duty, to obey, is recognized. 17. In this place, they at first began meeting, singing, praying, preaching, and baptizing. 18. Being delightful is being classic. 19. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation. 20. Hoping too much from the patronage of powerful individuals is dooming one's self to disappointment. 21. To take only the historical parts of the Old Testament, there is nothing like them in the power of exciting awe and admiration. CONTRACTION. By means of contraction, compound sentences are reduced to complex and to simple sentences. To contract a compound sentence into a complex sentence, we convert one of the independent members into a clause; to contract a complex sentence into a simple sentence, we convert the dependent clauses into words or phrases. The following examples illustrate the method: Compound. You are perplexed, and I see it. Simple. I see your perplexity. Compound.—The child loves his parents, therefore he obeys them. Complex. The child obeys his parents, because he loves them. 1. The adjective clauses of a complex sentence may be contracted by dropping the subject and the verb. Thus: "The child, who was overcome by fatigue, soon fell asleep," may be changed to, "The child, overcome by fatigue," etc. The adverb clauses of a complex sentence may be contracted by dropping the subject, verb, and connective. Thus: "The Romans took Cincinnatus from the plow, that he might be dictator," changed to, "The Romans took Cincinnatus from the plow to make him dictator." 2. An adjective clause may be contracted into a prepositional phrase with a noun for the principal word. Thus: “A man, who is indolent," changed to, "A man of indolent character." An adverb or a noun claus may be contracted into a prepositional phrase with a participle or a noun for the principal word. Thus: "When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept," changed to, “At the cry of the poor, Cæsar hath wept"; "We hoped that he would recover," changed to, "We hoped for his recovery." 3. Adjective, adverb, and noun clauses may be contracted to participles, or to phrases containing participles. Thus: "This is the only course which is left to us," changed to, "This is the only course left to us"; "As he came forward, he took his brother's hand," changed to, "Coming forward, he took his brother's hand"; "We regret that we never reached the goal," changed to, "We regret having never reached the goal." 4. Adjective, adverb, and noun clauses may be contracted to infinitive phrases. Thus: "The sailors found no haven where they might cast anchor," changed to, "The sailors found no haven to cast anchor"; "He strove that he might conquer," changed to, "He strove to conquer"; "That we do good to our enemies is commanded," changed to, "To do good to our enemies is commanded." 5. Adverb clauses may be contracted to absolute phrases. Thus: "When the rain ceased, we resumed our journey," changed to," The rain having ceased, we resumed our journey." EXERCISE XVIII. DIRECTION.- Get rid of as many of the following adjective and adverb clauses as you can: 1. The wretched prisoner, who seemed overwhelmed by his misfortune, was on the point of putting an end to his existence. 2. The soldiers of the tenth legion, who were exhausted from want of food, could not resist the onset of the enemy. 3. In mere love of what is vile, Charles II. stood ahead of any of his subjects. 4. He was so feeble that he could not walk. 5. He has lived there ever since he was born. 6. The bundle is so heavy that I can not lift it. 7. My brother lives in a house which is one hundred years old. 8. He is as wise as he is learned. 9. The best sermon which was ever preached upon modern society is Vanity Fair. 10. I have experienced nothing that was not kind at his hands. II. Hope, which is the star of life, never sets. 12. When the boy had completed his task, he went to play. 13. He has lost the book which I gave him. 14. The book that was lost has been found. 15. Wherever they marched, their route was marked with blood. 16. A fierce spirit of rivalry, which is at all times a dangerous passion, had now taken full possession of him. 17. Attend, that you may receive instruction. EXERCISE XIX. DIRECTION.-Contract the following adjective, adverb, and noun clauses to prepositional phrases with nouns or participles as the principal words: 1. Tell me how old you were when I first met you. 4. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 5. He will go to ruin unless he alter his conduct. 6. Trains should be run that travelers may be accommodated. 7. If we keep to the golden mean in everything, we shall at least avoid danger. 8. As soon as I landed, I was accosted by some of the principal chiefs. 9. When we had rounded a point of land, we saw immediately before us the great Manitoulin Island. 10. As I did not take notes of this speech, I could not accurately repeat it. 11. The friends of the wounded man were hopeful that he would recover. 12. There is something, too, which is immortal in the sad, faint sweetness. 13. It carries me in blissful thought to the banks of asphodel that border the River of Life. 14. We are very sure that he will appreciate your kindness. 15. An infinity of elders, who had streaming beards, had prostrated themselves before the ascent of a lofty eminence. 16. A sharp criticism which has a drop of witty venom in it, stings a young author almost to death. 17. Men, like peaches and pears, grow sweet a little while before they are ready to fall. 18. If things go on in this way, a gentleman will not be able to speak his own mind. 19. The people could not refrain from capering if they heard the sound of a fiddle. 20. The Mohammedan lives as the Koran directs. 21. He prayed that he might be speedily succored. EXERCISE XX. DIRECTION.-Change each dependent clause in the following sentences to a participle, or to a phrase containing a participle: 1. This is the only witchcraft he has used. 2. As he rushed forward, he shouted to his companions. 3. The big fifth-form boys, who were a sporting and drinking set, soon began to usurp power. 4. His own associates, who were looking on, took no trouble to hide their scorn from him. 5. Men who are unacquainted with literature have little idea of the solace it affords. 6. At Rugby, the Avon is a capital river for bathing, as it has many nice small pools, all within a mile of one another. 7. The landlord, as he rode past, was hissed at the school gates. 8. As they start into the next field, they recognize Holmes and Diggs taking a constitutional. 9. This was the first gap which the angel Death had made in Tom's circle. 10. As he wearily labored at his line, he thought it possible for the report to be altogether false. 11. Here he had felt the drawing of the bond which links all living souls together in one brotherhood. 12. When several men are employed in lifting the same weight, they co-operate with each other. 13. Poor Adam, who was banished and undone, went and lived a sad life in the mountains of India. 14. Now that I was resolved to be a poet, I saw everything with a new purpose. 15. Every country which I have surveyed has contributed something to my poetical powers. 16. Dark clothes are warm in summer, because they absorb the rays of the sun. 17. Error dies of lockjaw, if she scratches her finger. 18. Who does not regret that he never heard the matchless eloquence of Demosthenes? 19. Had he thy reason, would he skip and play? 20. It fell not, for it was founded on a rock. |