The Grammar of English Grammars Part 172

RULE II.--GREATER PAUSES.

When the semicolon has been introduced, or when it must be used in a subsequent member, and a still greater pause is required within the period, the colon should be employed: as, "Princes have courtiers, and merchants have partners; the voluptuous have companions, and the wicked have accomplices: none but the virtuous can have friends."--"Unless the truth of our religion be granted, a Christian must be the greatest monster in nature: he must at the same time be eminently wise, and notoriously foolish; a wise man in his practice, and a fool in his belief: his reasoning powers must be deranged by a constant delirium, while his conduct never swerves from the path of propriety."--_Principles of Eloquence_, p.

80.

"A decent competence we fully taste; It strikes our sense, and gives a constant feast: More we perceive by dint of thought alone; The rich must labour to possess their own."--_Young_.

RULE III.--INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

A quotation introduced without a close dependence on a verb or a conjunction, is generally preceded by the colon; as, "In his last moments, he uttered these words: 'I fall a sacrifice to sloth and luxury.'"--"At this the king hastily retorted: 'No put-offs, my lord; answer me presently.'"--_Churchill's Gram._, p. 367. "The father addressed himself to them to this effect: 'O my sons, behold the power of unity!'"-- _Rippingham's Art of Speaking_, p. 85.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.--ERRORS CONCERNING THE COLON.

UNDER RULE I.--ADDITIONAL REMARKS.

"_Of_ is a preposition, it expresses the relation between _fear_ and _Lord_."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 133.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the additional remark in this sentence is not sufficiently separated from the main clause, by the comma after the word _preposition_. But, according to Rule 1st for the Colon, "When the preceding clause is complete in itself, but is followed by some additional remark or ill.u.s.tration, especially if no conjunction is used, the colon is generally and properly inserted." Therefore, the colon should here be subst.i.tuted for the comma.]

"Wealth and poverty are both temptations to man; _that_ tends to excite pride, _this_ discontentment."--_Id., ib._, p. 93; see also _Lennie's Gram._, p. 81; _Murray's_, 56; _Ingersoll's_ 61; _Alger's_, 25; _Merchant's_, 44; _Hart's_, 137; _et al_. "Religion raises men above themselves, irreligion sinks them beneath the brutes; _this_ binds them down to a poor pitiable speck of perishable earth, _that_ opens for them a prospect in the skies."--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 98; _Lennie's Gram._, p.

81. "Love not idleness, it destroys many."--_Ingersoll's Gram._, p. 71.

"Children, obey your parents; honour thy father and mother, is the first commandment with promise."--_Bullions, Pract. Lessons_, p. 88. "Thou art my hiding place, and my s.h.i.+eld, I hope in thy promises."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p. 56. "The sun shall not smite me by day nor the moon by night.

The Lord will preserve from evil. He will save my soul.--BIBLE."--_Ib._, p.

57. "Here Greece is a.s.signed the highest place in the cla.s.s of objects among which she is numbered--the nations of antiquity--she is one of them."--_Lennie's Gram._, p. 79.

"From short (as usual) and disturb'd repose I wake; how happy they who wake no more!"--_Hallock's Gram._, p. 216.

UNDER RULE II.--GREATER PAUSES.

"A taste _of_ a thing, implies actual enjoyment of it; but a taste for it, implies only capacity for enjoyment; as, 'When we have had a true taste of the pleasures of virtue, we can have no relish _for_ those of vice.'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._, p. 147.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the pause after _enjoyment_ is marked only by a semicolon. But, according to Rule 2d for the Colon, "When the semicolon has been introduced, or when it must be used in a subsequent member, and a still greater pause is required within the period, the colon should be employed." Therefore, the second semicolon here should be changed to a colon.]

"The Indicative mood simply declares a thing; as, He _loves_; He is _loved_; Or, it asks a question; as, _Lovest_ thou me?"--_Id., ib._, p. 35; _Pract. Lessons_, p. 43; _Lennie's Gr._, p. 20. "The Indicative Mood simply indicates or declares a thing: as, 'He _loves_, he is _loved_:' or it asks a question: as, 'Does he love?' 'Is he loved?'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 63; 12mo, p. 63. "The Imperfect (or Past) tense represents an action or event indefinitely as past; as, Caesar _came_, and _saw_, and _conquered_; or it represents the action definitely as unfinished and continuing at a certain time, now entirely past; as, My father _was coming_ home when I met him."--_Bullions, P. L._, p. 45; _E. Gr._, 39. "Some nouns have no plural; as, _gold, silver, wisdom, health_; others have no singular; as, _ashes, shears, tongs_; others are alike in both numbers; as, _sheep, deer, means, news_"--_Day's School Gram._, p. 15. "The same verb may be transitive in one sense, and intransitive in another; thus, in the sentence, 'He believes my story,' _believes_ is transitive; but in this phrase, 'He believes in G.o.d,' it is intransitive."--_Butler's Gram._, p.

61. "Let the divisions be _distinct_; one part should not include another, but each should have its proper place, and be of importance in that place, and all the parts well fitted together and united, should present a whole."--_Goldsbury's C. S. Gram._, p. 91. "In the use of the transitive verb there are always _three_ things implied,--the _actor_, the _act_, and the _object_ acted upon. In the use of the intransitive there are only _two_--the _subject_ or thing spoken of, and the _state_, or _action_ attributed to it."--_Bullions, E. Gram._

"Why labours reason? instinct were as well; Instinct far better; what can choose, can err."

--_Brit. Poets_, Vol. viii.

UNDER RULE III.--INDEPENDENT QUOTATIONS.

"The sentence may run thus; 'He is related to the same person, and is governed by him.'"--_Hart's Gram._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the semicolon is here inserted, in an unusual manner, before a quotation not closely dependent. But, according to Rule 3d for the Colon, "A quotation introduced without a close dependence on a verb or a conjunction, is generally preceded by the colon." Therefore, the colon should be here preferred.]

"Always remember this ancient proverb, 'Know thyself.'"--_Hallock's Gram._ "Consider this sentence. The boy runs swiftly."--_Frazee's Gram._, Stereotype Ed. 1st Ed. "The comparative is used thus; 'Greece was more polished than any _other_ nation of antiquity.' The same idea is expressed by the superlative when the word _other_ is left out. Thus, 'Greece was the most polished nation of antiquity'"--_Bullions, E. Gram._ see _Lennie's Gram._ "Burke, in his speech on the Carnatic war, makes the following allusion to the well known fable of Cadmus's sowing dragon's teeth;--'Every day you are fatigued and disgusted with this cant, the Carnatic is a country that will soon recover, and become instantly as prosperous as ever. They think they are talking to innocents, who believe that by the sowing of dragon's teeth, men may come up ready grown and ready made.'"--_Hiley's Gram._, see also _Hart's_.

"For sects he car'd not, 'they are not of us, Nor need we, brethren, their concerns discuss.'"--_Crabbe_.

"Habit with him was all the test of truth, 'It must be right: I've done it from my youth.'

Questions he answered in as brief a way, 'It must be wrong--it was of yesterday.'"--_Id., Borough_.

MIXED EXAMPLES OF ERROR.

"This would seem to say, 'I doubt nothing save one thing, namely, that he will fulfil his promise;' whereas, that is the very thing not doubted."--_Bullions, E. Gram._. "The common use of language requires that a distinction be made between _morals_ and _manners_, the former depend upon internal dispositions, the latter on outward and visible accomplishments."--_Beattie's Moral Science_. "Though I detest war in each particular fibre of my heart yet I honor the Heroes among our fathers who fought with b.l.o.o.d.y hand: Peacemakers in a savage way they were faithful to their light; the most inspired can be no more, and we, with greater light, do, it may be, far less."--_Parker's Idea of a Church_. "The Article _the_, like _a_, must have a substantive joined with it, whereas _that_, like _one_, may have it understood; thus, speaking of books, I may select one, and say, 'give me that;' but not, 'give me _the_;' 'give me _one_;' but not 'give me _a_.'"--_Bullions's E. Gram._. "The Present tense has three distinct forms--the _simple_; as, I read; the _emphatic_; as, I do read; and the _progressive_; as, I am reading'."--_Ib._. "The tenses in English are usually reckoned six. The _Present_, the _Imperfect_, the _Perfect_, the _Pluperfect_, the _Future_, and the _Future Perfect_."--_Ib._. "There are three participles, the Present or Active, the Perfect or Pa.s.sive, and the Compound Perfect; as, _loving, loved, having loved._"--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d Edition; _Alger's_; _Fisk's_; _Bacon's_. "The Participles are three, the Present, the Perfect, and the Compound Perfect; as, _loving, loved, having loved_."--_Hart's Gram._. "_Will_ is conjugated regularly, when it is a princ.i.p.al verb, as, present, I will, past, I willed, &c."--_Frazee's Gram._, Ster. Ed.; Old Ed. "And both sounds of _x_ are compound, one is that of _gz_, and the other, that of _ks_"--_Ib._, Ster.

Ed. "The man is happy: he is benevolent: he is useful."--_Cooper's Murray_; _Pl. and Pract. Gr._ "The p.r.o.noun stands instead of the noun; as, The man is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful.'"--_L. Murray's Gram._, 2d Ed. "A p.r.o.noun is a word used instead of a noun, to avoid the too frequent repet.i.tion of the same word: as, 'The man is happy,' '_he_ is benevolent,'

'_he_ is useful.'"--_Ib._. "A p.r.o.noun is a word, used in the room of a noun, or as a subst.i.tute for one or more words, as: the man is happy; _he_ is benevolent; _he_ is useful."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram., his Abridg.

of Mur._ "A common noun is the name of a sort, kind, or cla.s.s of beings, or things, as: animal; tree; insect; fish; fowl"--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._ "Nouns have three persons: the first; the second; and the third."--_Ib._

"(Eve) so saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit; she pluck'd, she ate Earth felt the wound: and nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works, gave signs of wo, That all was lost."--_Cooper's Pl. and Pr. Gram._

SECTION IV.--THE PERIOD.

The Period, or Full Stop, is used to mark an entire and independent sentence, whether simple or compound.

RULE I.--DISTINCT SENTENCES.

When a sentence, whether long or short, is complete in respect to sense, and independent in respect to construction, it should be marked with the period: as, "Every deviation from truth is criminal. Abhor a falsehood. Let your words be ingenuous. Sincerity possesses the most powerful charm."--"The force of a true individual is felt through every clause and part of a right book; the commas and dashes are alive with it."--_R. W.

Emerson_.

"By frequent trying, TROY was won.

All things, by trying, may be done."--_Lloyd_, p. 184.

RULE II.--ALLIED SENTENCES.

The period is often employed between two sentences which have a general connexion, expressed by a personal p.r.o.noun, a conjunction, or a conjunctive adverb: as, "The selfish man languishes in his narrow circle of pleasures.

_They_ are confined to what affects his own interests. _He_ is obliged to repeat the same gratifications, till they become insipid. _But_ the man of virtuous sensibility moves in a wider sphere of felicity."--_Blair_.

"And whether we shall meet again, I know not.

_Therefore_ our everlasting farewell take."--_Shak._, J. C.

RULE III.--ABBREVIATIONS.

The period is generally used after abbreviations, and very often to the exclusion of other points; but, as in this case it is not a constant sign of pause, other points may properly follow it, if the words written in full would demand them: as, A. D. for _Anno Domini_;--Pro tem. for _pro tempore_;--Ult. for _ultimo_;--i.e. for _id est_, that is;--Add., Spect, No. 285; i.e., _Addison, in the Spectator, Number 285th_.