RULE V.

QUOTATIONS AND EXTRACTS.

A colon should be placed before an example, a quotation, a speech, or a narrative, which is formally introduced, or which is capable of being separated into members or clauses; as,

The air was sweet and plaintive; and the words, literally translated, were these: "The winds roared, and the rains fell; when the poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree."

REMARK 1.- - Many writers put after the colon a dash, which may be used for the sake of distinguishing more clearly the quotation from the introductory matter; as, "The words ... were these: "The winds roared,' &c." REMARK 2. When a quotation is short, the comma will be sufficient; as, "The apostle John says, 'God is love."" See page 27. REMARK 3.- When a quotation or remark is introduced by the connective and explanatory word as or namely, a semicolon before and a comma after it, either with or without the dash, is preferable to the colon; as, "I purchased the following articles; namely, Tea, sugar, coffee, and raisins." The reason is, that the connection between the introductory remark and the example or the articles enumerated is rendered stronger by the use of the particle.

REMARK 4.A quotation, composed of a considerable number of sentences, is usually commenced by a new paragraph.

EXERCISES.

Write the following sentences, and insert the colons in their proper places:

I admire this sublime passage "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." It was a wise maxim of the Duke of Newcastle "I do one thing at a time.". -The philosopher Malebranche makes this curious remark "It is possible that some creatures may think half an hour as long as we do a thousand years, or look upon that space of duration which we call a minute, as an hour, a week, a month, or a whole age."-The following just observation is made by Cowley "It is a hard and mice subject for a man to speak of himself: it grates upon his own heart to say any thing of disparagement, and the reader's ears to hear any thing of praise from him."Silvio Pellico, in his excellent work on the Duties of Men, says "To love our country with truly elevated feeling, we ought to begin by supplying it, in ourselves, with citizens of whom that country need not feel ashamed."-That celebrated physician who studied nature

with such unwearied application, in his book upon the structure of the human body, often expresses his admiration in these words "Who is worthy to praise the wisdom and power of the Creator?"— All our conduct towards men should be influenced by this important precept "Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you."

RULE VI.

THE CHANTING SERVICE IN THE LITURGY.

A mark similar to a colon is inserted in every verse of the Psalms used in the "Book of Common Prayer," and in other works of a like nature; as,

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

REMARK. - This point does not, however, represent a grammatical pause, but is inserted for the use of choirs, where the Psalms, and other portions of the Liturgy, are chanted, and serves only to divide the verse into two parts.

RULE VII.

TERMS IN THE RULE OF THREE.

In arithmetical works, the terms in the Rule of Three are set off by colons. Thus, instead of the expression, "As 5 cwt. is to 126 cwt. so is 1,170d. to 29,484d." we have the following:

As 5 cwt. 126 cwt.: 1,170d.: 29,484d.

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REMARK 1. Some of the rules, on the proper application of the colon and the dash, ought to be rejected in works where their observance would occasion ambiguity; as in books of arithmetic, where colons are used for proportion, and where the dash is inserted as a mark for subtraction. Should these marks frequently occur, it may not be improper to substitute a semicolon where the construction requires the grammatical colon or the dash.

REMARK 2. — In works printed prior to this century, the colon was sometimes used to denote abbreviation; and, even at the present day, it is occasionally so employed in writing. This mode of punctuation, however, may be justly regarded as erroneous; the period being almost universally preferred as the mark denoting the contraction of words.

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THE PERIOD.

The PERIOD, or Full Point [.], serves to indicate the end of a sentence which is assertive in its nature, and independent of any following sentence.

RULE I.

COMPLETE AND INDEPENDENT SENTENCES.

When a sentence is complete in sense, and neither connected in construction with what follows, nor of an interrogatory or an exclamatory nature, its termination is marked with a period; as,

Life is short.- Cultivate the love of truth.

Exception.

A full point may be admitted between two sentences, though they are closely connected in sense by a particle, when either of them can be divided into parts more simple, and separated from one another by a semicolon or a colon; as,

There is no one of ever so little understanding in what belongs to a human constitution, who knows not, that without action, motion, and employment, the body languishes and is oppressed: its nourishment runs to disease; the spirits, employed abroad, help to consume the parts within; and nature, as it were, preys upon herself. For, although an inclination to ease, and moderate rest from action, be as natural and useful to us, as the inclination we have towards sleep; yet an excessive love of rest, and a contracted aversion to employment, must be a disease in the mind, equal to that of a lethargy in the body.

REMARK.

There are many instances, particularly in the Bible, of not only sentences, but paragraphs and chapters, beginning with the conjunction and, and other connecting particles; as, " And he arose, and came to his father. But, when he was yet a great way off," &c.

EXERCISES.

Write and point the following sentences :—

Truth is the basis of every virtue It is the voice of reason Let its precepts be religiously obeyed Never transgress its limits Every deviation from truth is criminal Abhor a falsehood Let your words be ingenuous Sincerity possesses the most powerful charm It acquires the veneration of mankind Its path is security and peace It is acceptable to the Deity.-Knowledge is not only pleasant but useful and honourable The liberal student will therefore endeavour to collect ideas on the subjects which can enrich the understanding Languages and a taste for elegant letters will form but a small part of his literary objects He will dedicate a great portion of his time to the sciences properly so denominated He will search for knowledge not only in books but in the exchange the manufactory the world at large From these various sources he will collect food for the mind on which he will afterwards ruminate. The sun with all its attendant planets is but a very little part of the grand machine of the universe every star though in appearance no bigger than the diamond that glitters upon a lady's ring is really a vast globe like the sun in size and in glory no less spacious no less luminous than the radiant source of day So that every star is not barely a world but the centre of a magnificent system has a retinue of worlds irradiated by its beams and revolving round its attractive influence all which are lost to our sight in unmeasurable wilds of ether. Legitimate reasoning is impossible without severe thinking and thinking is neither an easy nor an amusing employment The reader who would follow a close reasoner to the summit and absolute principle of any one important subject has chosen a chamois-hunter for his guide Our guide will indeed take us the shortest way will save us many a wearisome and perilous wandering and warn us of many a mock road that had formerly led himself to the brink of chasms and precipices or at least in an idle circle to the spot from whence he started But he cannot carry us on his shoulders we must strain our own sinews as he has strained his and make firm footing on the naked rock for ourselves by the blood of toil from our own feet. The benefits of conversation greatly depend on the previous attainments of those who are supposed either to communicate knowledge or to receive it If therefore instruction be neglected conversation will grow trifling if perverted dangerous.

RULE II.

ABBREVIATIONS.

The period must be used after every abbreviated word; as,

MS. signifying manuscript; N.B. nota bene; Esq. esquire; F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal Society; &c. et ceteri, et ceteræ, or et cetera, as applied respectively to males, females, and things.

REMARK 1. By some punctuators, the period is omitted after those contracted words which retain the last letter; as, "Mr Addison; Mrs Barbauld." Analogy, however, and reputable usage in a vast majority of cases, are alike opposed to the omission of this mark.

REMARK 2. When it happens that an abbreviated word ends a sentence, only one period is employed to show the omission of the letters, and the termination of the sentence. When the construction of the sentence requires a comma after the abbreviation, it is also omitted; as the conjunction of the two points-for instance, in the address, "Sir Thomas Potter, Knt., Buile Hill"-is offensive to the eye, and but seldom requisite to bring out the sense of a passage. To avoid ambiguity, however, the comma may be necessary in a few instances, particularly when abbreviated expressions follow as a series; as, "The Rev. James Thompson, LL.D., D.D." But, in all instances where the construction will admit of a semicolon or a colon, they are to be preferred, because more easily coalescing with the full point; as, "The Rev. Hugh Blair, D.D.; F.R.S., E."

Exception. Words derived from a foreign language, and introduced into the English, may be written or printed without the period, when they are uniformly used as contractions, and pronounced accordingly; as,

REMARK.

Two per cent is but small interest.

Here, cent, the abbreviation of the Latin centum, being now an English word, and pronounced as such, the dot is not requisite.

EXERCISES.

Write the following sentences, and point the abbreviated words :Young as he was, the gentleman earned the approbation of his friends, and at length became MD FRS FAS. - The accident happened at half-past nine, a m; and the person died at ten o'clock, pm. Constantine the Great was advanced to the sole dominion of the Roman world, AD 325, and soon after openly professed the Christian faith. — William Boyce was in 1749 honoured with the degree of Mus Doc by the university of Cambridge.