Chapter IV: Proof-Reading ” 101-114

Introduction.

The principal punctuation marks are,—

1. The Comma ,
2. The Semicolon ;
3. The Colon :
4. The Period .

The comma indicates a somewhat close relationship between the parts of a sentence; the semicolon, a more distant relationship; the colon indicates that the parts are almost independent of each other; the period marks the close of a sentence, and indicates that a thought is complete.

In simple sentences, when the words are closely united together, and the relationship of the words to each other is readily perceived, there is usually no need of any punctuation marks, except a period at the close. It should always be borne in mind that punctuation marks are used primarily to assist in bringing out the meaning of the writer, and not to embellish a written or a printed page. In sentences made up of parts that are closely related to each other, but, at the same time, distinct in character, commas should be used. They are way-marks for the accommodation of the reader. A production unpunctuated presents as dreary a prospect to the reader, as the level plain of Chaldæa presents to the perplexed traveler who has lost himself among the sandy mounds on the banks of the Euphrates, and has nothing by which to direct his course.

When the different parts of a sentence are somewhat disconnected, and not closely related to each other, a semicolon or colon should be used. Sentences are sometimes very long and complicated. It is then necessary to separate the main divisions by semicolons, and the smaller by commas. Sometimes the smaller parts of a sentence are separated by commas and semicolons, and the main divisions by colons.

The other marks in use are,—

1. The Interrogation Point ?
2. The Exclamation Point !
3. The Dash —
4. Marks of Parenthesis ( )
5. Brackets [ ]
6. Quotation Marks “ ‘ ’ ”
7. The Apostrophe ’
8. The Hyphen -
9. Miscellaneous marks.

THE COMMA.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

In order to properly understand some of the rules that are given in the following pages, it is absolutely necessary to have a clear understanding of the difference between a sentence and a clause. A sentence is a combination of words expressing a complete thought, and usually followed by a period; a clause is a distinct part of a sentence. Some sentences are simple in form, and have but one subject and one finite verb; as, “Language is part of a man’s character.”—_Coleridge._ Other sentences are made up of clauses, each clause having a subject and a verb; in other words, several clauses are sometimes joined together to form one sentence; as, “New forms of beauty start at once into existence, and all the burial places of the memory give up their dead.”—_Macaulay._ It will be easily seen that clauses will be more readily recognized with the eye, and more easily comprehended, if they are separated from each other by punctuation marks. This will be especially so, if the clauses are long.

In preparing this hand-book, the aim has been to avoid, as much as possible, the use of technical terms. Whenever such terms are used, explanations will usually be found under the head of _Remarks_.

RULE I. _Independent Clauses._—Independent clauses should be separated from each other by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“Savage was discomposed by the intrusion or omission of a comma, and he would lament an error of a single letter as a great calamity.”—_Dr. Johnson._

“Man wants but little here below,
Nor wants that little long.”—_Goldsmith._

“Take short views, hope for the best, and trust in God.”—_Sydney Smith._

REMARKS.

1. An independent clause is one that is not dependent on any other clause for the completion of its meaning; as, Take short views | hope for the best | and trust in God. Independent clauses are frequently connected by _and_, _or_, _nor_, _but_.

2. When the clauses are short and closely united, the comma may be omitted; as, “Death had lost its terrors and pleasure its charms.”

3. When the clauses are long and divided into smaller portions by commas, they should be separated from each other by semicolons. See Rule I. p. 23.

RULE II. _Dependent Clauses._—Dependent clauses should be separated from each other by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair.”—_Dr. Johnson._

“When Dr. Franklin wished to gain his enemy, he asked him to do him a favor.”

“Clap an extinguisher upon your irony, if you are unhappily blest with a vein of it.”—_Lamb._

“Although we seldom followed advice, we were all ready enough to ask it.”—_Goldsmith._

REMARKS.

1. A clause is said to be dependent, when it depends on some other clause to complete its meaning; as, When Dr. Johnson wished to gain his enemy | he asked him to do him a favor. The first clause of this sentence would not be complete in meaning without the second. Dependent clauses usually commence with _if_, _when_, _since_, _because_, _until_, &c.

2. When clauses are closely connected, the comma may be omitted; as, Mozart published some music when seven years of age.

RULE III. _Relative Clauses._—1. A relative clause should be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

2. But the comma should be omitted, when the relative clause is so closely connected with what precedes that it cannot be dropped without destroying the sense.

EXAMPLES.

1. “Men in a corner, who have the unhappiness of conversing too little with present things.”—_Swift._

“The waters are nature’s storehouse, in which she locks up her wonders.”—_Izaak Walton._

“He had on a coat made of that cloth called thunder-and-lightning, which, though grown too short, was much too good to be thrown away.”—_Goldsmith._

2. “Althworthy here betook himself to those pleasing slumbers which a heart that hungers after goodness is apt to enjoy when thoroughly satisfied.”—_Fielding._

“A man who is good for making excuses is good for nothing else.”—_Dr. Franklin._

“Like Cæsar, Cortes wrote his own commentaries in the heart of the stirring scenes which form the subject of them.”—_Prescott._

REMARKS.

1. Relative clauses are generally introduced by the relative pronouns _who_, _which_, _that_, or _what_.

2. A comma should be placed before the relative clause, even when it is necessary to complete the meaning of the antecedent,—

_a._ When the relative is immediately followed by a word or an
expression inclosed in commas; as, “As a man, he may not have
deserved the admiration which he received from those, who,
bewitched by his fascinating society, worshiped him nightly in
his favorite temple at Button’s.”—_Macaulay._

_b._ When the relative has several antecedents that are
separated from each other by commas; as, “All those arts,
rarities, and inventions, which vulgar minds gaze at, the
ingenious pursue, and all admire, are but the relics of an
intellect defaced with sin and time.”—_South._

3. The words _of which_ are sometimes preceded by a comma, even when they are necessary to complete the meaning of the antecedent: as, “His mind was formed of those firm materials, of which nature formerly hammered out the Stoic, and upon which the sorrows of no man living could make an impression.”—_Fielding._

RULE IV. _Parenthetical Words and Phrases._ When single words and phrases break the connection between closely related parts of a sentence, they should usually be separated by commas from the rest of the sentence.

1. Words used parenthetically,—

therefore,
indeed,
perhaps,
namely,
finally,
consequently,
however,
moreover,
nevertheless, &c.

2. Phrases used parenthetically,—

in short,
in truth,
of course,
in fact,
in a word,
you know,
in reality,
no doubt,
as it were, &c.

EXAMPLES.

1. “As an orator, indeed, he was not magnetic or inspiring.”—_G. W. Curtis._

“There is, perhaps, no surer mark of folly, than to attempt to correct the natural infirmities of those we love.”—_Fielding._

“There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.”—_Burke._

2. “I had grown to my desk, as it were, and the wood had entered my soul.”—_Lamb._

“In short, he is a memorable instance of what has been often observed, that the boy is the man in miniature.”—_Boswell._

REMARKS.

1. Words and phrases are said to be used parenthetically, when they obstruct, as it were, the flow of the sentence, and might be dropped without destroying the sense.

2. Whenever parenthetical words and phrases readily coalesce with the rest of the sentence, it is better to omit punctuation marks; as, “I am therefore exceedingly unwilling that anything, however slight, which my illustrious friend thought it worth while to express, with any degree of point, should perish.”—_Boswell._

3. A distinction should be made between words used parenthetically, and adverbs qualifying particular words; as, “And with learning was united a mild and liberal spirit, too often wanting in the princely colleges of Oxford.”—_Macaulay._

“That, too, has its eminent service.”—_Burke._

RULE V. _Parenthetical Expressions._—Expressions of a parenthetical character should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“She was tumbled early, by accident or design, into a spacious closet of good old English reading, without much selection or prohibition, and browsed at will upon that fair and wholesome pasturage.”—_Lamb._

“He [Sheridan] who, in less than thirty years afterward, held senates enchained by his eloquence and audiences fascinated by his wit, was, by common consent both of parent and preceptor, pronounced a most impenetrable dunce.”—_Moore._

“It is clear that Addison’s serious attention, during his residence at the university, was almost entirely concentrated on Latin poetry.”—_Macaulay._

REMARKS.

1. A distinction should be made between parenthetical words and parenthetical expressions.

_a._ Parenthetical words can be omitted without destroying the
sense. See examples under Rule IV.

_b._ Parenthetical expressions obstruct the flow of the
sentence, but can not be omitted without either destroying the
sense, or changing the meaning intended to be conveyed. See
examples given above.

2. When parenthetical expressions are short, or closely connected with the rest of the sentence, it is better to omit punctuation marks.

3. Writers differ very much in omitting or using commas in parenthetical expressions. It is sometimes immaterial whether punctuation marks are used or not, but, in many cases, there are few rules so well adapted to bring out the meaning of the writer.

RULE VI. _Inverted Expressions._—Expressions which are not in their natural order, are frequently separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

EXAMPLES.

“In everything that relates to science, I am a whole Encyclopædia behind the rest of the world.”—_Lamb._

“In all unhappy marriages I have seen, the great cause of evil has proceeded from slight occasions.”—_Steele._

REMARKS.

1. The natural order of the first sentence is, I am a whole Encyclopædia behind the rest of the world in everything that relates to science.

2. When the inverted expression is closely connected with what follows, the commas should be omitted; as,—

“Of Addison’s childhood we know little.”—_Macaulay._

“That inward man I love that’s lined with virtue.”—_Beaumont and Fletcher._

RULE VII. _Short Quotations._—Short quotations should be separated from what precedes by a comma.

EXAMPLES.

The Italians say, “Good company in a journey makes the way to seem shorter.”

A writer in _Lippincott’s Magazine_ says, “It is the little courtesies that make up the sum of a happy home.”

Schiller has said, “Men’s words are ever bolder than their deeds.”

REMARKS.

1. An expression resembling a quotation should be preceded by a comma; as, “Therefore the question still returns, What is the First Principle of all things?”

2. Quotations and general statements introduced by _that_ are frequently preceded by a comma; as, “Tacitus says of Agricola, that he governed his family, which many find to be a harder task than to govern a province.”—_Arthur Helps._

3. When single words or a part of a sentence are quoted, a comma should not be used; as, “His wife was a domesticated, kind-hearted old soul, who had come with him ‘from the queen city of the world,’ which, it seemed, was Philadelphia.”—_Dickens._

4. Quotation divided. “A man could not set his foot down,” says Cortes, “unless on the corpse of an Indian.”—_Prescott._

5. When the quotation is a long one, it should be preceded by a colon.

RULE VIII. _Person or Thing Addressed._—The name of the person or thing addressed, together with its modifying words, should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“Now, Macaulay, when I am gone, you’ll be sorry that you never heard me speak.”—_Sydney Smith._

“Why, Romeo, art thou mad?”—_Shakespeare._

“My lords, we are called upon, as members of this house, as men, as Christians, to protest against such horrible barbarity!”—_Pitt._

REMARK.

When strong emotion is expressed, an exclamation point should be used; as, “O Hamlet! thou hast cleft my heart in twain.”—_Shakespeare._

RULE IX. _Participial Clauses._—Participial clauses, having no grammatical connection with the rest of the sentence, should be separated from what follows, and, if they do not commence a sentence, from what precedes, by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“Success being now hopeless, preparations were made for a retreat.”—_Alison._

“Such being their general idea of the gods, we can now easily understand the habitual tone of their feelings towards what was beautiful in nature.”—_Ruskin._

REMARK.

_Being_ or _having been_ is usually the sign of a participial clause.

RULE X. _Verb Omitted._—When a verb, previously used, is omitted, a comma usually takes its place.

EXAMPLES.

“Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.”—_Bacon._

“Chaucer painted persons; Spenser, qualities.”

REMARKS.

1. When the comma takes the place of an omitted verb, the main clauses or numbers should be separated by semicolons.

2. Sometimes a comma does not take the place of an omitted verb; as, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.”—_Bacon._

“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.”—_Bacon._

RULE XI. _Appositives._—A noun in apposition and its modifiers should be separated by commas from the rest of the sentence.

EXAMPLES.

“When death, the great Reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness we repent of but our severity.”—_George Eliot._

“The exploits of Mercury himself, the god of cunning, may be easily imagined to surpass everything achieved by profaner hands.”—_Leigh Hunt._

REMARKS.

1. An appositive is a word, placed by the side of some other word to explain or characterize it.

2. The comma should be omitted,—

_a._ When two nouns without modifiers are in apposition; as,
Cicero the orator was born near Arpinum. If the sentence was,
Cicero, the greatest of Roman orators, was born near Arpinum,
commas would be necessary.

_b._ When a noun and a pronoun are in apposition; as, Mercury
himself surpassed everything achieved by profaner hands.

_c._ When two pronouns are in apposition; as, He himself did
this.

_d._ Between the parts of a person’s name; as, George William
Curtis.

3. In annexing titles to a person’s name, whether the titles are abbreviated or written in full, commas must be used; as, Richard Whately, D. D., Archbishop of Dublin.

RULE XII. _Words in Pairs._—Words in pairs should have a comma between each pair.

EXAMPLES.

“In all the characters, patriots and tyrants, haters and lovers, the frown and sneer of Harold were discernible in an instant.”—_Macaulay._

“Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable.”—_Webster._

RULE XIII. _Unconnected Words._—When two words, of the same part of speech, are not connected by a conjunction, a comma should be placed between them.

EXAMPLES.

“He had in himself a radiant, living spring of generous and manly action.”—_Burke._

“A still, small voice.”—_Kings._

“Where sits our sulky, sullen dame,
Gathering her brows like gathering storm,
Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.”—_Burns._

REMARKS.

1. When two nouns, the subjects of a verb, are not connected by a conjunction, a comma should be placed between the two words and also after the second; as, “Indignation, expostulation, were powerless upon him as a mist upon a rock.”—_Macdonald._

2. When two adjectives come together, the first qualifying the second adjective and also the noun, a comma should not be used; as, A beautiful white horse.

3. A word repeated for emphasis usually has a punctuation mark before and after it; as,—

“Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”—_Coleridge._

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.”—_John xiv. 12._

RULE XIV. _A Series of Words._—1. When a series of words, of the same part of speech, are connected by _and_, _or_, _nor_, they should not be separated from each other by punctuation marks.

“The fruits and flowers and shrubs sent forth grateful perfumes.”—_Irving._

Some writers place a comma before each _and_. This, however, is not necessary.

2. When a conjunction is used only with the last word in the series, a comma should be placed before the conjunction and between the other words.

The fruits, flowers, and shrubs sent forth grateful perfumes.

3. When the conjunctions are omitted, a comma should be placed between each word and also at the end of the series.

The fruits, flowers, shrubs, sent forth grateful perfumes.

REMARKS.

1. When the last word in the series precedes only a single word, the comma should be omitted; as, “A refined, thoughtful, warm-hearted, pure-souled Englishman.”

2. When two words or expressions are connected by _or_, the latter explaining the former, the explanatory word or expression should be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma or commas; as, “The love of variety, or curiosity of seeing new things, which is the same, or at least a sister passion to it, seems woven into the frame of every son and daughter of Adam.”—_Sterne._

RULE XV. _Phrases and Clauses._—Phrases and clauses, either with or without conjunctions, having a mutual relation to some other word in the sentence, should be separated from each other and from what follows by commas.

EXAMPLES.

“Purity of style, and an easy flow of numbers, are common to all Addison’s Latin poems.”—_Macaulay._

“The unbought grace of life, the chief defense of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise, is gone.”—_Burke._

“The little that is known, and the circumstance that little is known, must be considered as honorable to him.”—_Macaulay._

“Books that you can carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all.”—_Dr. Johnson._

REMARKS.

1. A phrase is one of the smaller divisions of a sentence, and consists of two or more words. Apart from the rest of the sentence, it is incomplete in meaning. It does not, like a clause, include a subject and a verb.

2. When two brief expressions are connected by a conjunction, it is better to omit punctuation marks; as, “Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue.”—_Izaak Walton._

3. When words and phrases form a series, a conjunction being used only with the last phrase, they should be separated from each other and from what follows by commas; as, “Virtue, merit, and everything that is praiseworthy, will be made the subject of ridicule and buffoonery.”—_Addison._

RULE XVI. _Logical Subject._—When the logical subject ends with a verb, or is separated into parts by commas, or is unusually long, a comma should be placed between the logical subject and the main verb.

EXAMPLES.

“This imaginary promise of divine aid thus mysteriously given, appeared to him at present in still greater progress of fulfillment.”—_Irving._

“The voice of praise, too, coming from those to whom we had thought ourselves unknown, has a magic about it that must be felt to be understood.”—_Charles Lever._

“Those who can put the best countenance upon the outrages of this nature which are offered them, are not without their secret anguish.”—_Addison._

REMARKS.

1. The logical subject consists of the name of the person or thing, of which something is affirmed, together with its modifying words. It is “the subject according to the real meaning or logic of the sentence.”

2. Some writers always place a comma before the verb, when its subject consists of many words.

RULE XVII. _Contrasted Expressions._—Contrasted expressions or comparisons should be separated by a comma.

EXAMPLES.

“Of the other two men, one was a species of giant, the other a sort of dwarf.”—_Hugo._

“The more I reflected upon it, the more important it appeared.”—_Goldsmith._

“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”—_Psalms._

“Master books, but do not let them master you. Read to live, not live to read.”—_Bulwer._

REMARKS.

1. When the comparison is short and the words closely connected, the comma may be omitted.

2. When _so—that_, _so—as_, _rather—than_, _more—than_, connect expressions, the comma is usually omitted; as, “Ingratitude never so thoroughly pierces the human heart as when it proceeds from those in whose behalf we have been guilty of transgression.”—_Fielding._

When, however, the expressions themselves are divided into smaller parts by commas, or are unusually long, they should be separated by a comma; as,—

“So over-violent, or over-civil,
That every man with him was God or Devil.”—_Dryden._

3. When two short expressions are united by _as_ or _than_, a comma should not be used; as,—

“He knew what’s what, and that’s as high
As metaphysic wit can fly.”—_Butler._

When, however, the expressions are long, it is better to use a comma; as, “I have no more pleasure in hearing a man attempting wit and failing, than in seeing a man trying to leap over a ditch and tumbling into it.”—_Dr. Johnson._

4. When the first expression is negative and the other affirmative, a comma should be placed between the expressions and before the negative word, if it does not commence a sentence; as, “The world generally gives its admiration, not to the man who does what nobody else even attempts to do, but to the man who does best what multitudes do well.”—_Macaulay._

If, however, a finite verb immediately precedes the negative word, the comma should be omitted; as, “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”—_Confucius._

RULE XVIII. _Numeral Figures._—Arabic numbers should be separated into periods of three figures each, commencing at the right.

EXAMPLE.

2,509,909,456.

REMARK.

Dates should not be separated into periods; as, 1877.

RULE XIX. _Expressions at the End of Sentences._—It is frequently necessary, at the end of a sentence, to separate an expression beginning with a preposition from the rest of the sentence, in order to avoid ambiguity.

EXAMPLES.

“He trudged along, unknowing what he sought,
And whistled as he went, for want of thought.”—_Dryden._

“Angling is always to be considered as a stick and a string, with a fly at one end and a fool at the other.”—_Swift._

GENERAL REMARK.

A comma should always be used, when it aids in bringing out the meaning of the writer, or in avoiding ambiguity.

THE SEMICOLON.

RULE I. _Long Sentences._—When the smaller divisions of sentences are separated by commas, the main divisions should be separated by semicolons.

EXAMPLES.

“Sheridan, Pitt, and Fox all drank hard and worked hard; they were all great in the councils of the nation, but not one could rule his own household.”—_London Athenæum._

“Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong;
Was every thing by starts, and nothing long.”—_Dryden._

“Nor is it always in the most distinguished achievements that men’s virtues or vices may be best discerned; but very often an action of small note, a short saying, or a jest, shall distinguish a person’s real character more than the greatest sieges, or the most important battles.”—_Plutarch._

RULE II. _Expressions Complete in Themselves._—Short expressions, complete in themselves but slightly connected in meaning, may be separated by semicolons.

EXAMPLES.

“We do not want precepts so much as patterns; an example is the softest and least invidious way of commanding.”—_Pliny._

“It is a beautiful thing to model a statue and give it life; to mould an intelligence and instil truth therein is still more beautiful.”—_Hugo._

“There are on every subject a few leading and fixed ideas; their tracks may be traced by your own genius as well as by reading.”—_Sheridan._

REMARK.

When _as_ introduces an example, a semicolon should be placed before and a comma after it.

RULE III. _Series of Expressions._—When several clauses follow each other in succession, having a common dependence on some part of the sentence, they should be separated from each other by semicolons, and from the clause on which they depend, by a comma.

EXAMPLE.

“If such men will make a firm and solemn pause, and meditate dispassionately on its importance; if they will contemplate it in all its attributes, and trace it to all its consequences, they will not hesitate to part with trivial objections to a constitution, the rejection of which would, in all probability, put a final period to the Union.”—_Hamilton._

REMARK.

Commas may be used instead of semicolons, when the clauses are short; as, “When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited, nothing is valuable in speech farther than it is connected with high intellectual and moral endowments.”—_Webster._

GENERAL REMARK.

When the members of a sentence seem to be loosely connected, they are frequently separated by semicolons.

EXAMPLES.

“Honest name is goodly; but he that hunteth only for that, is like him that hath rather seem warm than be warm.”—_Sir Thomas Wyatt._

“Some blemishes may undoubtedly be detected in his character; but the more carefully it is examined, the more will it appear sound in the noble parts.”—_Macaulay._

Some writers use commas in the examples given above in preference to semicolons, and usage varies so much among our best writers that it is impossible to lay down a general rule that will be applicable in all cases. If it is desirable to indicate a somewhat close connection between the members of a sentence, a comma should be used; if the connection is slight, it is better to use a semicolon.

THE COLON.

RULE I. _Long Sentences._—When the smaller divisions of sentences are separated by semicolons, the main divisions should be separated by a colon.

EXAMPLES.

“Emulation is a dangerous passion to encourage, in some points, in young men; it is so linked with envy: if you reproach your son for not surpassing his school-fellows, he will hate those who are before him.”—_Sheridan._

“A man over ninety is a great comfort to all his elderly neighbors: he is a picket-guard at the extreme outpost; and the young folks of sixty and seventy feel that the enemy must get by him before he can come near the camp.”—_O. W. Holmes._

RULE II. _A Quotation._—A colon should precede a long quotation. If, however, the quotation is short, it is better to use a comma.

EXAMPLES.

Socrates recommended to one of his disciples the following prayer: “O Jupiter, give us those things which are good for us, whether they are such things as we pray for, or such things as we do not pray for; and remove from us those things which are hurtful, though they are such things as we pray for.”

When the Earl of Dudley took leave of Sydney Smith, on going from London to Yorkshire, he said: “You have been laughing at me constantly, Sydney, for the last seven years, and yet, in all that time, you never said a single thing to me that I wished unsaid.”

REMARK.

1. When the quotation is long, or it begins a new paragraph, a dash is frequently placed after the colon.

2. When a direct quotation is introduced into the middle of a sentence, a comma should be used; as, “He was surprised, but replied, ‘I am not the king, he is there,’ pointing at the same time to a different part of the hall.”—_Lingard._

RULE III. _Enumeration of Particulars._—A colon should precede an enumeration of particulars, when they are formally introduced by _thus_, _following_, _as follows_, _this_, _these_, _&c._

EXAMPLES.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”—_Jefferson._

“The penalty is graduated thus: the mildest, confiscation; the moderate, closing the shop; the severest, exposure.”—_Lippincott’s Magazine._

REMARKS.

1. When the particulars are preceded by a colon, they are usually separated from each other by semicolons, as in the examples given above.

2. If the particulars are not introduced by _thus_, _following_, &c., they should be preceded by a semicolon; as, “Grammar is divided into four parts; Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.”

3. When the particulars are preceded by a semicolon, they are usually separated from each other by commas.

4. Sometimes a comma and dash are used instead of a semicolon; as, “Grammar is divided into four parts,—Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.”

GENERAL REMARK.

The colon is used by some writers to separate short expressions that are complete in themselves, but slightly connected in meaning.

EXAMPLES.

“But men are men: the best sometimes forget.”—_Shakespeare._

“It [the Seine] is the wash-tub and summer bath-tub of its citizens; it was the birthplace of Paris, and it is too often the grave of her children.”—_Lippincott’s Magazine._

If a conjunction is used, it is better to use a semicolon; as,—

“She cannot separate her name from his without lessening it; for it is equally incrusted with his greatness as with his faults.”—_Lamartine._

She cannot separate her name from his without lessening it: it is equally incrusted with his greatness as with his faults.

The colon is not as commonly used as formerly. A semicolon would be preferred by very many writers in all sentences similar to the examples given above. See Rule II. p. 23.

THE PERIOD.

RULE I. _Complete Sentences._—A period should be placed at the end of a sentence, when it is complete in meaning and construction, and is declarative or imperative in its nature.

EXAMPLES.

“Swift boasted that he was never known to steal a hint.”—_Macaulay._

“But evil is wrought by want of thought,
As well as want of heart.”—_Hood._

“It is a great evil not to be able to bear an evil.”—_Bion._

REMARK.

A period should always be placed after the title of an essay, oration, after a signature, an address of a person, &c.

RULE II. _Abbreviations._—A period should be used after every abbreviation.

EXAMPLES.

Dr. Samuel A. Jones. Mr. C. R. Miller. Mrs. T. S. Applegate. Miss Hattie E. Knapp.

Esq., Esquire.
Jan., January.
Mich., Michigan.
Hon., Honorable.
Pro tem., for the time being.
Ans., Answer.
D. D., Doctor of Divinity.
B. C., before Christ.
Rev., Reverend.
P., page; pp., pages.
Pres., President.
Rec. Sec., Recording Secretary.
N. Y., New York.
A. D., in the year of our Lord.
A. M., Master of Arts.
M. C., Member of Congress.
No., in number, number.
Co., County.
&c. or etc., and so forth.

REMARKS.

1. It should be remembered that the period thus used, simply indicates an abbreviation, and that punctuation marks are to be used, in addition to the period, when required. When a word, written in full, requires a punctuation mark after it, the same punctuation mark should be used after the word, when it is abbreviated; as, Adrian, Michigan, January 5, 1877; Adrian, Mich., Jan. 5, 1877.

2. Some proper names are not abbreviations, and consequently a period should not be used; as, Ben Jonson, Fred Knapp. When Ben. stands for Benjamin, and Fred. for Frederick, a period should be used.

3. When numerals are represented by the letters of the alphabet, periods are placed after them; as, Gen. vii. 1, 7, 8.

4. In numbering pages, no mark should be placed after 1, 2, 3, 4, &c.

5. When a letter, used as an abbreviation, is doubled to indicate the plural, the period should be placed after the last letter; as, pp. for pages, LL. D. for Doctor of Laws.

6. In abbreviating words, sometimes the first letters are used, sometimes the first and last, and sometimes the first and some letter near the middle of the word; as, Ala. for Alabama, Chas. for Charles, Wm. for William, MS. for manuscript.

7. A list of abbreviations will be found at the close of any good dictionary.

INTERROGATION POINT.

RULE I. _Direct Question._—A direct question must be followed by an interrogation point.

EXAMPLES.

“Who ever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?”—_Milton._

“Are you good men and true?”—_Shakespeare._

EXCLAMATION POINT.

RULE I. _Strong Emotion._—The exclamation point is used after expressions denoting strong emotion.

EXAMPLES.

“Discipline of mind! say rather starvation, confinement, torture, annihilation.”—_Macaulay._

“My valor is certainly going! it is sneaking off! I feel it oozing out, as it were, at the palms of my hands.”—_Sheridan._

“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is
To have a thankless child!”—_Shakespeare._

REMARK.

To express an unusual degree of emotion, more than one exclamation point may be used.

RULE II. _Interjections._—All interjections except _O_ may be followed by an exclamation point.

EXAMPLES.

“But, alas! to make me
The fixed figure of the time, for scorn
To point his slow unmoving finger at.”—_Shakespeare._

“Oh! blessed temper, whose unclouded ray
Can make to-morrow cheerful as to-day.”—_Pope._

“O thou invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no name to be known by, let us call thee devil!”—_Shakespeare._

REMARKS.

1. When the connection between the interjection and what follows is very close, it is sometimes better to put the exclamation point at the end of the sentence; as,—

“Oh for that ancient spirit
Which curbed the Senate’s will!”—_Macaulay._

2. When it is desirable to express strong feeling through-out an entire sentence, the exclamation point should be placed at the end; as,—

“Ho, trumpets, sound a war-note!
Ho, lictors, clear the way!”—_Macaulay._

RULE III. _Address._—Expressions of address, when emphatic, may be followed by an exclamation point.

EXAMPLES.

“Lord! what music hast thou provided for the saints in heaven, when thou affordest bad men such music [music of the nightingale] on earth.”—_Izaak Walton._

“Hail, candle-light! without disparagement to sun or moon, the kindest luminary of the three.”—_Lamb._

“Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.”—_Goldsmith._

“Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy.”—_Byron._

THE DASH.

RULE I. _Broken Sentences._—When a sentence is broken off abruptly, or there is an unexpected change in the sentiment, or hesitation is to be indicated, a dash should be used.

EXAMPLES.

_Prince._—“I tell you what, my cousin Buckingham,—”

_Buck._—“What, my gracious lord?”—_Shakespeare._

“I only feel—Farewell—Farewell!”—_Byron._

“You will think me foolish;—but—but—may it not be that some invisible angel has been attracted by the simplicity and good faith with which our children set about their undertaking? May he not have spent an hour of his immortality in playing with those dear little souls?”—_Hawthorne._

“Men will wrangle for religion; write for it; fight for it; die for it; anything but—_live for it_.”—_Colton._

RULE II. _Concluding Clause._—When several expressions follow each other in succession, having a common dependence on the concluding part of the sentence, a dash is frequently placed before the clause on which they depend.

EXAMPLES.

“If you think it a crime in this writer that his language has not been braided and festooned as elegantly as it might be; that he has not pinched the miserable plaits of his phraseology, nor placed his patches and feathers with that correctness of millinery which became him,—then find a civil and obliging verdict against the printer!”—_Curran._

“To foster industry, to promote union, to cherish religious peace,—these were the honest purposes of Lord Baltimore during his long supremacy.”—_Bancroft._

REMARKS.

1. A dash is sometimes used to give prominence or emphasis to an emphatic conclusion; as, “Fortune, friends, kindred, home,—all were gone.”—_Prescott._

2. When such words as _namely_, _that is_, &c., are omitted, a dash is sometimes used; as, “Many actions, like the Rhone, have two sources,—one pure, and the other impure.”—_Hare._

3. When a word or an expression is repeated for emphasis, a dash should be placed before it; as, “It is this, I conjure Your Lordships, for your honor, for the honor of the nation, for the honor of human nature, now intrusted to your care,—it is this duty that the Commons of England, speaking through us, claims at your hands.”—_Sheridan._

RULE III. _Subjects._—When the subject of a general statement, or the subject of a quotation, is in the same paragraph with the subject-matter, a dash should separate the subject from what follows.

EXAMPLES.

The Bible.—“A person who professes to be a critic in the niceties of the English language ought to have the Bible at his fingers’ ends.”—_Macaulay._

Letter-Writing.—“Common interests are necessary to give permanent stability to epistolary connections. We may love a man dearly, and yet find no time to write ten lines to him.”—_From the German of Rudolph Lindau._

REMARKS.

1. A subject is a word or expression about which some statement is made.

2. A dash should be placed between a quotation and the author from whom the quotation is taken.

3. When a question and an answer are in the same paragraph, a dash is frequently inserted between the two; as, “Saw you my lord?”—“No, lady.”

4. When _as_, _thus_, _as follows_, &c., introduce an example or a quotation, a dash should be placed after the comma or colon, if what follows commences a new paragraph; as,—

“All we possess, and use not on the road,
Adds to the burden we must bear.”—_Goethe._

RULE IV. _Letters or Figures Omitted._—When letters or figures are omitted, a dash should be used to indicate the omission.

EXAMPLES.

“Why, to comfort me, must Alice W⸺n be a goblin?”—_Lamb._

Mark xi. 1-10. Gen. v. 3-9.

REMARK.

3-9 is equivalent to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

GENERAL REMARK.

The dash is frequently used to give prominence or emphasis to an expression.

EXAMPLES.

“In the quiet air, there was a sound of distant singing,—shepherd voices.”—_Dickens._

“Wealth has its temptations,—so has power.”—_Robertson._

“The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rains may enter,—but the king of England cannot enter! all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement.”—_Pitt._

RULE V. _Parenthesis._—Two dashes are sometimes used instead of the usual marks of parenthesis.

EXAMPLES.

“A yellow claw—the very same that had clawed together so much wealth—poked itself out of the coach window, and dropt some copper coins upon the ground.”—_Hawthorne._

“Jackson—the omniscient Jackson he was called—was of this period. He had the reputation of possessing more multifarious knowledge than any man of his time.”—_Lamb._

REMARKS.

1. When the sentence, without the parenthesis, would require a comma where the dashes are used, each dash should be preceded by a comma; as, “See that aged couple,—a sad sight, truly,—John Proctor, and his wife Elizabeth.”—_Hawthorne._

2. If the parenthetical expression is a question or expresses emotion, an interrogation or an exclamation point should be placed before the second dash; as, “The laurel of the hero—alas for humanity that it should be so!—grows best on the battle field.”

MARKS OF PARENTHESIS.

RULE I. _Parenthesis._—When an expression breaks the connection between the different parts of a sentence, and might be omitted without affecting the sense or the construction, it should be inclosed in parenthetical marks.

EXAMPLES.

“Of all sound of all bells (bells, the music nighest bordering heaven) most solemn and touching is the peal which rings out the Old Year.”—_Lamb._

“The tuneful Nine (so sacred legends tell)
First waked their heavenly lyre these scenes to tell!”—_Campbell._

“Their intellectual wardrobe (to confess fairly) has few whole pieces in it.”—_Lamb._

REMARKS.

1. When parenthetical marks are used, it is sometimes necessary to use additional marks.

_a._ When the sentence, without the parenthesis, requires a
punctuation mark where the parenthetical marks are used, the
punctuation mark should be placed after the last mark of the
parenthesis; as,—

“Know then this truth (enough for man to know),
‘Virtue alone is happiness below.’”—_Pope._

_b._ Sometimes the parenthesis requires a punctuation mark
before the last mark of the parenthesis; as, “Spill not the
morning (the quintessence of the day!) in recreations.”—_Thomas
Fuller._

_c._ When a punctuation mark immediately precedes the last
mark of the parenthesis, and a punctuation mark is also needed
where the parenthetical marks are used, it should be placed
before the first mark of the parenthesis; as, “F. was the
most gentlemanly of oilmen. He had two Latin words almost
constantly in his mouth, (how odd sounds Latin from an oilman’s
lips!) which my better knowledge since has enabled me to
correct.”—_Lamb._

2. An interrogation point inclosed in parenthetical marks (?) implies that an assertion is doubtful.

3. An exclamation point inclosed within parenthetical marks (!) expresses irony or contempt.

4. Parenthetical marks are not as frequently used as formerly, the comma and dash being often preferred.

BRACKETS.

RULE I. _Quoted Passage._—When words are inserted by another into a quoted passage, either to correct a mistake or explain the meaning, they should be inclosed in brackets.

EXAMPLES.

“A variety of pleasing objects meet [meets] the eye.”

“‘My dear lady,’ returned the schoolmaster [Mr. Graham], ‘when I have on good grounds made up my mind to a thing, I always feel as if I had promised God to do it; and indeed it amounts to the same thing very nearly. Such a resolve, then, is not to be unmade, except on equally good grounds with those upon which it was made.’”—_George Macdonald._

REMARKS.

1. Punctuation marks are sometimes required, when the brackets are used. The same remarks apply to the brackets that apply to parenthetical marks.

2. In reporting speeches, brackets are used, when words are introduced by the reporter which do not form a part of the speech; as,—

“We would have our Union to be a union of hearts, and we would have our Constitution obeyed, not merely because of force that compels obedience, but obeyed because the people love the principles of the Constitution [long continued applause], and to-day, if I am called to the work to which Abraham Lincoln was called sixteen years ago, it is under brighter skies and more favorable auspices. [Applause.] I do hope, I do fervently believe, that, by the aid of divine Providence, we may do something in this day of peace, by works of peace, towards re-establishing, in the hearts of our countrymen, a real, a hearty attachment to the Constitution as it is, and to the Union as it is. [Long continued applause].”—PRESIDENT HAYES.—_Chicago Tribune._

3. Parenthetical marks are frequently used instead of brackets.

QUOTATION MARKS.

RULE I. _Direct Quotation._—When the exact words of another are given, they should be inclosed in quotation marks.

EXAMPLES.

“He had the longest tongue and the shortest temper of any man, high or low, I ever met with.”—_Wilkie Collins._

Prescott, in his “Conquest of Mexico,” tells us that intemperance among the Aztecs “was punished in the young with death, and in older persons with loss of rank and confiscation of property.”

REMARKS.

1. When the exact words of another are not given, quotation marks should not be used; as,—

Longfellow says,—

“Deeds are better things than words are.”

Longfellow somewhere says that deeds are better than words.

2. When words are quoted from a foreign language, they should be printed in italics, and the quotation marks omitted; as, “They have their good glebe lands _in manu_, and care not much to rake into title deeds.”—_Lamb._

3. When words are to be italicized, a straight mark should be drawn underneath the words.

4. When a quotation is followed by a comma, semicolon, colon, or period, the punctuation mark should be placed within the quotation marks; as, “Mr. M’Adam writes sometimes with genuine humor, and an occasional entirely original simile shows evidence of the possession of what phrenologists call the faculty of ‘comparison;’ but the charm of the book is its rare perspicacity.”—_Harper’s Magazine._

5. When a quotation is followed by an exclamation or an interrogation point, the punctuation mark should be placed within the quotation marks, if it forms a part of the quotation; as, “I feel almost like groaning, when a young mother shows me some marvel of embroidery or machine-stitching, saying triumphantly, ‘There, I did every stitch of that myself!’”—_Scribner’s Monthly._

6. When a quotation is followed by an exclamation or an interrogation point, the punctuation mark should be placed outside of the quotation marks, if it belongs to the whole sentence and not to the quotation; as, “We wonder what Handel would have said to Mozart’s scoring of ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’!”—_Atlantic Monthly._ “Why cannot we hear, for instance, the wonderful curioso, ‘He gave his back to the smiters,’ that forms the second part of the air, ‘He was despised,’ and the duet for contralto and tenor, ‘O death where is thy sting’?”—_Atlantic Monthly._

RULE II. _Titles of Books._—Titles of books are generally inclosed in quotation marks.

EXAMPLES.

Morris’s “Story of Sigurd.”—_Scribner’s Monthly._

“The Mikado’s Empire.”—_N. A. Review._

“Daniel Deronda.”—_Contemporary Review._

The Rev. W. W. Capes’s history of “The Early Roman Empire.”—_Appleton’s Journal._

REMARKS.

1. The names of magazines and papers are generally printed in italics; as, _The Atlantic_, _N. Y. Nation_, _Fraser’s Magazine_, _Appleton’s Journal_, _Nature_, _Popular Science Monthly_.

2. In examining _The Atlantic_, _Nation_, _Scribner’s Monthly_, _Harper’s_, _Appleton’s Magazine_, _Lippincott’s_, _Popular Science Monthly_, _Galaxy_, _Eclectic_, _N. A. Review_, _New Englander_, _London Quarterly_, _British Quarterly_, _Westminster Review_, _Edinburgh Review_, _Contemporary Review_, _The Fortnightly Review_, we find that thirteen of these use quotation marks, and four use italics, in referring to the titles of books; eleven use italics, and six use quotation marks, in referring to magazines and papers.

RULE III. _A Quotation within a Quotation._—When there is a quotation within a quotation, single marks should be used in addition to double marks.

EXAMPLES.

“Who was the blundering idiot who said that ‘fine words butter no parsnips.’ Half the parsnips of society are served and rendered palatable with no other sauce.”—_Thackeray._

“There is a small but ancient fraternity, known as the Order of Gentlemen. It is a grand old order. A poet has said that Christ founded it; that he was ‘the first true gentleman that ever lived.’”—_Winthrop._

REMARKS.

1. Sometimes the quotation within a quotation has a word or phrase that is quoted. The word or phrase must be inclosed in double marks.

2. In quoting Scripture, it is customary to place only double marks at the beginning and end of the quotation; as, “And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.”—_Mark i. 41._

RULE IV. _Paragraphs._—When several paragraphs are quoted in succession, double marks should be placed at the beginning of each paragraph, and at the end of the entire quotation.

EXAMPLE.

“The children woke. The little girl was the first to open her eyes.

“The waking of children is like the unclosing of flowers, a perfume seems to exhale from those fresh young souls. Georgette, twenty months old, the youngest of the three, who was still a nursing baby in the month of May, raised her little head, sat up in her cradle, looked at her feet, and began to chatter.

“A ray of morning fell across her crib; it would have been difficult to decide which was the rosiest, Georgette’s foot or Aurora.”—_Hugo._

REMARKS.

1. A paragraph usually consists of several sentences. It begins on a new line, and is distinguished by a blank space on the left, at the commencement of the paragraph.

2. When parts of a quotation are omitted, use several stars to indicate the omission (* * * *), or place double marks at the beginning and end of each detached part of the quotation.

THE APOSTROPHE.

RULE I. _Letters Omitted._—The apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of a letter or letters.

EXAMPLES.

“O Marcia, O my sister, still there’s hope!”—_Addison._

“Thou knowest ’tis common; all, that live, must die,
Passing through nature to eternity.”—_Shakespeare._

REMARK.

The apostrophe is made like a comma, but is placed above the line.

RULE II. _Possession._—The apostrophe is used to denote possession.

EXAMPLES.

Taine’s “English Literature.” Rawlinson’s “Ancient Monarchies.”

REMARKS.

1. The apostrophe and _s_ should be used with nouns in the singular, even when the word ends in _s_ or _x_; as,—

“Dickens’s Works.”—_Appleton’s Journal._
“Cox’s General History of Greece.”—_Harper’s Magazine._
“Evans’s observations.”—_Edinburgh Review._
“Mr. Hayes’s responsibility.”—_N. Y. Nation._

In addition to the periodicals given above, _The Atlantic_, _Scribner’s Monthly_, _Lippincott’s Magazine_, _Popular Science Monthly_, _Galaxy_, _N. A. Review_, _London Quarterly_, _British Quarterly_, _Fortnightly Review_, use the additional _s_. The _Westminster_ omits the additional _s_. In the _Contemporary_ and _Edinburgh Review_, the _s_ is used by some writers and omitted by others.

2. In the plural of nouns, the apostrophe and _s_ are used to denote possession, when the word does not end in _s_; as, men’s deeds. If the word ends in _s_, the apostrophe only is used; as, my neighbors’ house.

3. The apostrophe should not be used before _s_ in ours, yours, hers, theirs, its.

THE HYPHEN.

RULE I. _Compound Words._—The hyphen is used to connect the parts of a compound word.

EXAMPLES.

“My household-gods plant a terrible fixed foot, and are not to be rooted up without blood.”—_Lamb._

“The breezy call of incense-breathing morn.”—_Gray._

REMARKS.

1. A compound word is formed by placing together two simple words.

2. Sometimes several words are connected together by hyphens; as, “He had a lively touch-and-go-away with him, very pleasant and engaging I admit.”—_Wilkie Collins._

3. When a compound word comes into very general use, the hyphen is sometimes omitted; as, railroad, steamboat, bookstore.

4. To-day, to-night, to-morrow, should always be written with a hyphen.

5. When there is any doubt whether two words should be united by a hyphen or written as one word, some standard dictionary should be consulted. It will, however, be found that even dictionaries differ somewhat in the use and omission of the hyphen in compound words. In order to preserve some uniformity in spelling and in the formation of compound words, every writer should make either Webster or Worcester the final authority.

RULE II. _Prefixes._—When a prefix ends in a vowel, and the word to which it is joined commences with a vowel, they should be separated by a hyphen.

EXAMPLES.

Re-admit, co-ordinate, pre-existence, pre-eminent.

REMARKS.

1. A prefix is a letter, syllable, or word, placed before some word, thus forming a new word.

2. If, instead of two vowels, a vowel and a consonant come together, the prefix and the word to which it is joined should usually be written as one word; as, rewrite, predetermine.

3. Vice-president, and most words with _vice_ as a prefix, should be written with a hyphen.

4. Some writers use the diæresis instead of the hyphen. With prefixes it is better to use the hyphen, but in other words containing two vowels that do not form a diphthong, the diæresis should be used; as, Zoölogy.

RULE III. _Division of Words._—When it is necessary to write part of a word at the end of a line and part at the beginning of the next line, the division should be made at the end of a syllable, and the parts should be connected by a hyphen, at the end of the line.

EXAMPLE.

“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a sub-
ject ourselves, or we know where we can find in-
formation upon it.”—_Dr. Johnson._

REMARKS.

1. It is better to divide a word as near the middle as possible.

2. When two words one at the end of a line and the other at the commencement of the following line, are separated by a punctuation mark, it should be placed at the end of the line, and never at the beginning.

MISCELLANEOUS MARKS.

I. _Two Commas_ (”) indicate that the word under which they are placed is to be repeated.

Charles Harrison, Adrian, Mich.
Clinton Hardy, ” ”

II. _The Caret_ (^) indicates that something is written above the line that forms a part of the sentence. It is only used in writing.

III. _Marks of Ellipsis_ (—, ....., * * * * *) indicate the omission of letters, words, or sentences.

1. “I was the true descendant of those old W—s.”—_Lamb._

2. “I have a belief of my own, ... that by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don’t quite know what it is, ... we are a part of a divine power against evil, widening the skirts of light, and making the struggle with darkness narrower.”—_George Eliot._

Four words are omitted where the first dots are, and five where the second are.

3. “My lov’d, my honour’d, much respected friend!
* * * * * * * * *
To you I sing, in simple Scottish lays,
The lowly train in life’s sequester’d scene,
The native feeling strong, the guileless ways;
What Aiken in his cottage would have been.”—_Burns._

In the above, three lines are omitted.

IV. _Leaders_ (......) are used to indicate a connection between words at the beginning of the line and what is at the end of the line.

Winnowed Wheat..................._Nellie R. Luck._
Dreams, a Poem..................._Octa E. Wise._

V. In writing, one line drawn under a word indicates that it is to be printed in italics; two lines, in small capitals; three lines, in capitals.

VI. _Marks of Reference_ are used to refer to notes at the bottom of the page, or to remarks in the margin. They are the following:—

The Star (*), the Dagger (†), the Double Dagger (‡), the Section (§), Parallel Lines (‖), the Paragraph (¶).

The above marks are given in the order in which they are used.

The Paragraph (¶) is also used, in written compositions, to denote that what follows should commence a new line.