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RULE V.

Lists of Words, Phrases, and Numbers.

A semicolon is put before as, to wit, namely, and other words of a similar import, when they precede an example or a specification of particulars, or subjects enumerated; and also, in lists, between phrases or words, single or in pairs, if but slightly connected with one another.

EXAMPLES.

1. To Greece we are indebted for the three principal orders of architecture; namely, the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian.

2. Many words are differently spelled in English; as, "Inquire, enquire; jail, gaol; sceptic, skeptic."

3. De Quincey's Philosophical Writers, 2 vols. Vol. 1. Hamilton; Mackintosh; Kant; Herder; Richter; Lessing. Vol. 2. Bentley; Parr.

REMARKS.

a. In the first and second examples, a semicolon is put before "namely," "as," to exhibit more clearly the particulars which these words serve to introduce. Between the phrases or coupled words of the second example, and the single names in the third, the same point is inserted to show that they are quite distinct one from the other; in the latter case, each writer constituting a separate subject in the work which treats of them.

b. When as, namely, that is, &c., with the terms after them, are used parenthetically, they should be preceded only by a comma; as, "The word 'reck,' that is, care, denotes a stretching of the mind." "Of the three cardinal virtues, namely, faith, hope, and charity, the greatest is charity." (See pp. 34, 40.)

ORAL EXERCISE.

Say why semicolons are used in the following sentences:

The inseparable preposition pre is derived from the Latin præ; as in "prefix, prejudice, predetermine."

Some men distinguish the period of the world into four ages; viz., the golden age, the silver age, the brazen age, and the iron age.

Logicians say that the operations of the mind are three; namely, 1. Simple apprehension; 2. Judgment; 3. Discourse, or reasoning. Our duties to individuals are classed under four heads; viz., as arising from affinity; friendship; benefits received; contract.

Find the increase in the population from 1790 to 1800; to 1810; 1820; 1830; 1840; 1850; from 1800 to 1810; 1810 to 1850.

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The COLON [ ] is used in composition between parts less connected than those which are divided by a semicolon, but not so independent as separate and complete sentences.*

RULE I.

Two Clauses not joined by a Conjunction.

A colon should be put after a clause which is complete in itself, but followed, without a conjunction, by some remark, inference, or illustration.

EXAMPLES.

1. Virtue is too lovely and useful to be immured in a cell: the world is her sphere of action.

2. Nor was the religion of the Greek drama a mere form: it was full of truth, spirit, and power.

3. In business there is something more than barter, exchange, price, payment: there is a sacred faith of man in man.

REMARK S.

a. The chief difference between this rule and that on p. 68 is, that the semicolon is used between two clauses when they are united by a conjunction, and the colon when the particle is omitted. Thus,

Avoid affectation; for it is a contemptible weakness
Avoid affectation: it is a contemptible weakness.

b. When the conjunction is omitted between clauses having only one verb, a semicolon is preferable, because, by the ellipsis of the verb, the portions of the sentence are dependent in their construction, and are more closely allied; as, "The path of truth is a plain and safe path; that of falsehood, a perplexing maze." (See p. 61.)

*TO THE TEACHER. Some grammarians have expressed a wish to discard the use of the colon, and others have ventured even to expel it from their systems of punctuation. But, though in former times it was common to employ this point where the semicolon or the period might have been more serviceable, the teacher will perceive that there are in composition well-ascertained cases in which the insertion of the colon tends to bring out the ideas of a writer with greater facility.

c. Two clauses, of which the former raises the expectation of the latter, or which express a comparison or a contrast one with the other, but without the use of a connecting word, are subject to the rule; as, Anger is like rain: it breaks itself upon that on which it falls.” "Cowards die many times: the valiant never taste of death but once.'

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d. Conformably also to the rule, a colon is put after the adverbs yes, no, or after the vocative case when following them, if they are equivalent to a sentence answering a question previously asked or implied; as, "Will he pretend to say that this is an offensive war, a war of conquest? Yes: the gentleman has dared to make this assertion, and for reasons no less extraordinary than the assertion itself." These words are, indeed, often found with a mark of exclamation after them; but they are merely abbreviated, though forcible, modes of expressing approval or denial, and have the signification of the sentence, "I emphatically answer in the affirmative," or "in the negative."

e. When placed at the beginning of several sentences, to all of which they refer, the adverbial words again, once more, in conclusion, and the absolute phrases to proceed, to conclude, &c., which have the import of clauses, may be distinguished by a colon; as, "To sum up all: My friends, the time is short. We are as guests in a strange land, who tarry but one night. We wander up and down," &c.

ORAL EXERCISES.

After reciting the Definition of the colon, mention why that point is inserted in the following sentences:

Harbor no malice in thy heart: it will be a viper in thy bosom.
Do not insult a poor man: his misery entitles him to pity.
Never flatter the people: leave that to such as mean to betray them.
Endeavor to excel: much may be accomplished by perseverance.
Study to acquire the habit of thinking: no study is more important.
Reading is but an instrument: education is to teach its best use.
The word must be spoken: we want more justice, and less charity.
It is a miserable thing to live in suspense: it is the life of a spider.

A human heart throbs beneath the beggar's gabardine: it is no more than this that stirs with its beating the prince's mantle.

The present life is not wholly prosaic, precise, tame, and finite: to the gifted eye, it abounds in the poetic.

It is unworthy of one great people to think falsely of another: it is unjust, and therefore unworthy.

All reasoning is retrospect: it consists in the application of facts and principles previously known.

Nothing is denied to well-directed labor: nothing is ever to be attained without it.

EXERCISES TO BE WRITTEN.

Let colons be inserted between the clauses of these sentences, in accordance with the Rule or the Remarks (pp. 79, 80):

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The silence of nature is more impressive, would we understand it, than any speech could be it expresses what no speech can utter.

Satire should not be like a saw, but a sword it should cut, and not mangle.

The philosophies of antiquity addressed themselves to the intellect the simple words of Jesus lay hold of the heart.

Contemporaries appreciate the man, rather than his merit posterity will regard the merit, rather than the man.

The actions of men are like the index of a book they point out what is most remarkable in them.

Character is like stock in trade the more of it a man possesses, the greater his facilities for making additions to it.

Men are often warned against old prejudices I would rather warn them against new conceits.

The greatness of a gift cannot be determined by its absolute amount it can be truly ascertained only by a moral standard.

It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow-necked bottles the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out.

For the training of goodness, the ancient reliance was on the right discipline of habit and affection the modern is rather on illumination of understanding.

But no the Union cannot be dissolved its fortunes are too brilliant to be marred; its destinies, too powerful to be resisted. (Rule, and Remarks d, b.)

There is a true eloquence, which you cannot too much honor it calls into vigorous exercise both the understanding and the heart of the hearer.

As the pupil is often obliged to bend all his faculties to the task before him, and tears sometimes fall on the page he is studying; SO it is in the school of God's providence there are hard lessons in it.

This is certain nothing can be done without a recurrence, before every thing else, to strict justice in all the departments of human intercourse.

Strive to be a simple, honest, faithful man whatever hidden talent you possess will then come forth in its genuineness, and exert all its power.

Are these to be conquered by all Europe united? No, sir no united nation can be, that has the spirit to resolve not to be conquered. (Remark d.)

The prophet gives the incentives to action the philosopher supplies matter for reflection. One recurs to the heart and the conscience as his medium of influence the other addresses himself to pure intellect.

RULE II.

Conjoined Members of Sentences.

When a sentence consists of two members which are united by a conjunction or an adverb, and either of the members is divisible into clauses separated by semicolons, a colon should be used before the connecting word.

EXAMPLES.

1. As we perceive the shadow to have moved along the dial, but did not see it moving; and it appears that the grass has grown, though nobody ever saw it grow: so the advances we make in knowledge, as they consist of such minute steps, are perceivable only by the distance.

2. Without the capacity of suffering, we might have been what the world, in its common language, terms happy; the passive subjects of a series of agreeable sensations: but we could not have had the delights of conscience; we could not have felt what it is to be magnanimous, to have the toil and the combat and the victory.

REMARKS.

a. These sentences are obviously divisible each into two portions. But, as they are susceptible of being subdivided into smaller parts, some of which should be separated by the semicolon, according to the rule on page 71; so, by reason of the principle that a remoter connection requires a point indicating a greater separation, the colon is introduced between the members; namely, before the connecting words "so" and "but."

b. In a long sentence, crowded with distinct clauses, of which several are united by conjunctions, it is better to insert a period than a colon between the two members, or largest portions; as in the following passage from Sir Humphrey Davy: "I envy no quality of mind or intellect in others, be it genius, power, wit, or fancy; but, if I could choose what would be most delightful, and I believe most useful, to me, I should prefer a firm religious belief to every other blessing. For it makes life a discipline of goodness; creates new hopes when all earthly hopes vanish; and throws over the decay, the destruction, of existence, the most gorgeous of all lights; awakens life even in death, and from corruption and decay calls up beauty and divinity; makes an instrument of fortune, and shame the ladder of ascent to paradise; and, far above all combinations of earthly hopes, calls up the most delightful visions of palms and amaranths, the gardens of the blest, the security of everlasting joys, where the sensualist and the sceptic view only gloom, decay, annihilation, and despair."

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