1. Origin of the arts and sciences 2. Origin of idolatrous worship. 3. State of the arts and sciences among the Egyp- 4. The government and laws of Egypt 5. Reflections on the rudest eras of Grecian history 14. A false impression regarding the historical ev- PART I. A REVIEW OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ORTHOGRAPHY, PUNCTUATION, AND RHETORIC,-AS APPLIED TO THE PRACTICE OF COMPOSITION. THE following recapitulation will enable the pupil to bring under one view, almost every thing of importance in the elements of Composition, (except Syntax,) and will admit of his easily referring to what may have escaped his memory. ORTHOGRAPHY. Remarks on some principles of Orthography, observed in the most accurate recent publications. 1. In many words where æ and œ were formerly used, e is now generally preferred. The following and similar words, are, therefore, spelled in this manner: prefect, pretor, ether, Cesar, Eneas, Phebe. 2. Words ending with silent e, on assuming an additional syllable, beginning with a consonant, retain the e. The words abridgement, acknowledgement, judgement, are not now considered as exceptions to this rule. 3. Polysyllables ending in 7 and t, when the latter syllable is not accented, should not double these letters, on assuming an additional syllable. The following words are therefore spelled thus: traveler, traveling, bigoted, worshiper, riveted, counseled, quarreled. 4. Words ending with a double letter, on assuming an additional syllable, keep the letter double; thus, stiffly, fullness, skillful. 5. Nouns ending in ey in the singular number, retain ey in the plural. Valleys, chimneys, volleys, are, therefore, incorrectly spelled with ies. 6. Many words formerly ending in our, are now spelled without the letter u; and consistency requires that this improved orthography be extended to all words, with the exception of monosyllables. The words honor, humor, labor, &c., with their derivatives, are examples. 7. S is now generally used instead of z, in civilise, moralise, modernise, methodise, and similar verbs, with their derivatives. 8. T is used improperly for ed, in the imperfect tense and perfect participle of regular verbs; as, stept and blest, for stepped and blessed. 9. Choose, show, strow, jail, &c., are now used in preference to chuse, shew, strew, gaol, &c. 10. In poetry, a vowel is often improperly cut off by an apostrophe; as, pow'r for power, giv'n for given, heav'n for heaven, flatt'ring for flattering, av'rice for avarice, &c. 11. Compound words retain, in the last syllable, all the letters of which the simple words are composed; as, foretell, downfall, enroll. The word full is excepted from this rule; as, handful. 12. In counseler, and many other similar words, a preference is now justly shown to the orthography of er instead of or. 13. The interjections O and Oh! are frequently misused for each other. O should be prefixed to a noun or pronoun in a direct address; as, "O virtue, how amiable thou art!" Oh! implying an emotion of the mind, should be followed by a point of exclamation, detaching it from the words which it precedes ; as, "Oh! what shall I do ?" Remarks on the use of the hyphen in compound words. 1. When each of two contiguous nouns retains its original accent, a hyphen is not used; as Master builder. When the latter loses its accent, a hyphen is used; as, Ship-builder. 2. When two nouns are in apposition, and each is separately applicable to the person or thing designated, a hyphen is not used; as, The Lord Chancelor, who is both a lord and a chancelor. 3. When the first noun is used as an adjective, and |