wise men the greatest pleasure?" Turning on his heel, the sage replied, "To get rid of fools.'

Formal enumerations of particulars, and direct quotations, when introduced by such phrases as in these words, as follows, the following, namely, this, these, thus, etc., are properly preceded by a colon. "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." "Lord Bacon has summed up the whole matter in the following words: 'A little philosophy inclineth men's minds to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds to religion.'" "The human family is composed of five races: first, the Caucasian; second, the Mongolian; third, the," etc.

"All were attentive to the godlike man,

When from his lofty couch he thus began:

'Great queen,'" etc.-Dryden.

When the quotation, or other matter, begins a new paragraph, the colon is, by many writers, followed with a dash; as "The cloth being removed, the President rose and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are,' etc.

The colon is used to mark the greater breaks in sentences when the lesser breaks are marked by semicolons. "You have called yourself an atom in the universe; you have said that you are but an insect in the solar blaze: is your present pride consistent with these professions?" “A clause is either independent or dependent: independent, if it forms an assertion by itself; dependent, if it enters into some other clause with the value of a part of speech." A colon is sometimes used instead of a period to separate

two short sentences that are closely connected.

Never

flatter people: leave that to such as mean to betray them." "Some things we can, and others we can not do: we can walk, but we can not fly."

THE PERIOD.-Complete sentences are always followed either by a period, or by an exclamation or an interrogation point.*

The period is also used after abbreviations; as, R. D. Van Nostrand, St. Louis, Mo.; Jno. B. Morris, M. D., F. R. S., London, Eng.; Jas. W. Wallack, Jr., New York City, N. Y.; Jas. B. Roberts, Elocutionist, Phila., Pa.

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INTERROGATION POINT.-This point is used after questions put by the writer, and after questions reported directly. "What can I do for you?" "Where are you going?" "What do you say?' cried the General." "The child still lives?" It should not be used when the question is reported indirectly. He asked me where I was going." "The Judge asked the witness if he believed the man to be guilty."

EXCLAMATION POINT.-This mark is placed after interjections, after sentences and clauses of sentences of passionate import, and after solemn invocations and addresses. "Zounds! the man's in earnest." "Pshaw! what can we do?" "Bah! what's that to me?" "Indeed! then I must look to it." 'Look, my lord, it comes!" "Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!" "O heat, dry up my brains!" "Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia !" "While in this part of the country, I once more revisited-and, alas, with what melancholy presentiments !—the home of my youth." "O rose of May!" "Oh, from this time forth, my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth!" "O heavens! die two months ago, and not forgotten yet?"

* The only exception to this rule is the occasional use of the colon to separate two short sentences that are closely connected.

Night, sable goddess! from her ebon throne,
In rayless majesty now stretches forth

Her leaden scepter o'er a slumbering world.
Silence, how dead! and darkness, how profound!"
Young.

Hail, holy light! offspring of heaven just born!"

"But thou, O Hope! with eyes so fair,

Milton.

What was thy delighted measure?"-Collins.

It will be observed that the interjection O is an exception to the rule: it is often followed by a comma, but never by an exclamation point.

An exclamation point sometimes gives the same words quite another meaning. The difference between "What's that?" and "What's that!" is obvious.

THE DASH.-Cobbett did not favor the use of this mark, as we see from the following: "Let me caution you against the use of what, by some, is called the dash. The dash is a stroke along the line; thus, 'I am rich—I was poor-I shall be poor again.' This is wild work indeed! Who is to know what is intended by these dashes? Those who [that] have thought proper, like Mr. Lindley Murray, to place the dash among the grammatical points, ought to give us some rule relative to its different longitudinal dimensions in different cases. The inch, the three-quarter inch, the half inch, the quarter inch: these would be something determinate; but 'the dash,' without measure, must be a perilous thing for the young grammarian to handle. In short, 'the dash' is a cover for ignorance as to the use of points, and it can answer no other purpose."

This is one of the few instances in which Cobbett was wrong. The dash is the proper point with which to mark an unexpected or emphatic pause, or a sudden break or

transition. It is very often preceded by another point. "And Huitzilopochtli-a sweet name to roll under one's tongue-for how many years has this venerable war-god blinked in the noonday sun!" "Crowds gathered about the newspaper bulletins, recalling the feverish scenes that occurred when the President's life was thought to be hanging by a thread. 'Wouldn't it be too bad,' said one, ‘if, after all- no, I won't allow myself to think of it." >" "Was there ever-▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ but I scorn to boast." "You are-——— no, I'll not tell you what you are."

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'He suffered-but his pangs are o'er ;

Enjoyed-but his delights are fled;

Had friends-his friends are now no more;

And foes-his foes are dead."-Montgomery. "Greece, Carthage, Rome-where are they?" "He chastens;-but he chastens to save."

Dashes are much used where parentheses were formerly employed. "In the days of Tweed the expression to divide fair-forcible, if not grammatical-acquired much currency." "In truth, the character of the great chief was depicted two thousand five hundred years before his birth, and depicted -such is the power of genius-in colors which [that] will be fresh as many years after his death." "To render the Constitution perpetual-which God grant it may be !—it is necessary that its benefits should be practically felt by all parts of the country."

PARENTHESIS.-This mark is comparatively little used nowadays. The dash is preferred, probably because it disfigures the page less. The office of the parenthesis is to isolate a phrase that is merely incidental, and that might be omitted without detriment to the grammatical construction.

"Know then this truth (enough for man to know),
Virtue alone is happiness below."-Pope.

"The bliss of man (could pride that blessing find)

Is not to act or think beyond mankind."

BRACKETS are used principally to inclose words improperly omitted by the writer, or words introduced for the purpose of explanation or to correct an error. Brackets are often used in this book to correct errors.

THE APOSTROPHE.-This point is used to denote the omission of letters and sometimes of figures; as, Jan'y, '81; I've for I have; you'll for you will; 'tis for it is; don't for do not; can't for can not; it was in the year '93; the spirit of '76; it was in the years 1812, '13, and '14.

Also to denote the possessive case; as, Brown's house; the king's command; Moses's staff; for conscience' sake; the boys' garden.

Also with s to denote the plural of letters, figures, and signs; as, Cross your t's, dot you i's, and mind your p's and q's; make your 5's better, and take out the x's.

CAPITALS.-A capital letter should begin every sentence, every line of verse, and every direct quotation.

All names of the Deity, of Jesus Christ, of the Trinity, and of the Virgin Mary must begin with a capital. Pronouns are usually capitalized when they refer to the Deity.

Proper names, and nouns and adjectives formed from proper names, names of streets, of the months, of the days of the week, and of the holidays, are capitalized.

Titles of nobility and of high office, when used to designate particular persons, are capitalized; as, The Earl of Dunraven; the Mayor of Boston; the Baron replied; the Cardinal presided.

THE PARAGRAPH.-In writing for the press, the division of matter into paragraphs is often quite arbitrary; in letterwriting, on the contrary, the several topics treated of should, as a rule, be isolated by paragraphic divisions. These di