W. J. Cocker

“ Letter-Forms. INTRODUCTION.
In writing letters, or in preparing anything for the press, care should be taken to write a plain, readable hand. Many a valuable position has been lost because of poor penmanship, and many worthy productions have been thrown into the waste-basket, because they have been poorly written. Men of distinction can afford to write a poor hand, to the inconvenience of friends, and the trouble of printers, but, as a general rule, a poor writer labors under a great disadvantage. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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.
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“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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The advice sometimes given to allow the printer to make all corrections, since he is more likely to know what corrections are necessary, is destructive to a clear presentation of what another has written. The printer may understand better than the writer the mechanical part of his work, but “mind reading” has not yet reached such perfection that the compositor can tell, in all instances, what meaning the writer really wishes to convey, and a misconception on the part of the printer may be the means of changing the sense of a whole paragraph. ”

“ When Sir, Gentlemen, Friend, Father, &c., are used as introductory words, they should always commence with a capital, as a mark of respect. In greeting friends or relatives, do not belittle them with small letters.
3. When dear, respected, honored, and words of a like character, are not the first words of the salutation, they [91] should commence with a small letter; as, My dear Sir, My respected Friend. If they commence the salutation, capitals should be used; as, Dear Father, Respected Friend.
Punctuation.—A comma should be placed after the salutation, and a dash may also be used. ”

“ Ye who listen with credulity to the whispers of fancy, and pursue with eagerness the phantoms of hope; who expect that age will perform the promises of youth, and that the deficiencies of the present day will be supplied by the morrow, attend to the history of Rasselas, prince of Abyssinia. ”

“ Great care should be taken not to perplex the mind with too many rules before the necessity is created for their use. The great difficulty in the study of punctuation has been that many rules are committed to memory before the need of their use has arisen, so that the mind is perplexed and bewildered instead of enlightened. ”

“ 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 ”

“ It is frequently asserted that even good writers differ so much in their use of punctuation marks that it is impossible to lay down any general rules, and that it is better for each one to consult his own taste and judgment. ”

“ 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 [9] received from those, who, bewitched by his fascinating society, worshiped him nightly in his favorite temple at Button’s.”—Macaulay. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The address is usually printed, so that no mistake can be made. In all cases, even when an addressed envelope is not required, when a favor is asked from an acquaintance or a friend, and an answer is desired, a postage stamp should always be inclosed. It is certainly an unpardonable presumption to ask even a friend to [78] write a letter for a particular purpose, and expect him to pay for its proper delivery. ”

“ 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 ”

“ When several letters in a word are not in their proper order, either draw a line through the word and rewrite it in the margin, or draw a line under or through the letters, and write them in their proper order. ”

“ This may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that the rules are wanting in clearness, and are not sufficiently illustrated by examples. The aim of this volume is to remedy, in some measure, these evils, and to secure more attention to what ought to be a prominent part of school instruction. The evils of bad punctuation are really more serious than the evils of bad spelling, and no student can be said to have learned to read well, much less to write well, who has not studied punctuation intelligently. ”

“ When each division commences with a capital and is also numbered, they will be more readily recognized and understood.
2. Some writers number the divisions, but do not commence them with capitals; as, “The teaching of composition requires, (1) a cultivation of thought; and (2) a cultivation of the faculty of expression.” It is better to commence each division with a capital.
3. When a sentence is broken off to commence a new line, in order to give special prominence to a statement, or to attract attention, a capital should be used ”

“ 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. ”

“ It is the custom with many proof-readers to draw a line from the mistake in the proof to the correction in the margin. This should always be done when the mistakes are numerous, or the lines crowded together. ”

“ Father Time is not always a hard parent, and though he tarries for none of his children, he often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and [68] spirits young and in full vigor. ”

“ Most business men, and all professional men, have occasion, more or less, to have something printed for their own use, or to write something for the public press, so that a correct knowledge of some of the simpler marks used by proof-readers, in making corrections and additions, seems imperative. ”

“ If the person writing a letter to a stranger, occupies a responsible or official position, he should give this in connection with his signature, so that the person to whom the letter is written, may have some means of knowing how much attention to give to the letter. ”

“ With equal reason it might be said that inasmuch as good speakers, and even lexicographers, differ in the pronunciation of words, therefore each speaker should make his own taste and judgment the standard for correct pronunciation. ”

“ Some expect the printer to dress up in proper form their half expressed, poorly written, and badly punctuated sentences, and if their hieroglyphics and abbreviations are not deciphered to suit their unreasonable expectations, they rail against incompetent printers and blundering proof-readers. ”

“ It is a somewhat interesting fact that the use and value of capitals has been subject to a rise and fall in the literary market, written productions during some centuries abounding in them, while in other centuries they have, in a great measure, been discarded, and have become comparative strangers in English composition. ”

“ Serious misunderstandings have arisen between business men, in consequence of the omission or incorrect use of punctuation marks, and expensive lawsuits have originated in the careless punctuation of legal instruments. ”

“ Salutations to Young Ladies.—Owing to the fact that we have no word corresponding to Sir that can be used in addressing young ladies, there is sometimes an uncertainty as to the proper salutation to be used. Although Madame may refer to a married or an unmarried lady, it is not an appropriate word with which to address a young lady. ”

“ If the address is written at the close of the letter, the introductory words should commence on a line with the body of the letter, that is, with the marginal line; as,—
Dear Manning,—
Rest you merry in your own opinion. Opinion is a species of property; and though I am always desirous to share with my friend to a certain extent, I shall ever like to keep some tenets, and some property, properly my own. ”

“ 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.
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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. ”

“ King of kings, Lord of lords, Son of man, Father of lights, Father of spirits, God of hosts, Father of mercies, Prince of life, Prince of kings, and expressions of a similar character, should only commence with a capital. ”

“ The better plan is for the pupil, at the very outset, to punctuate what he himself has composed, and in his effort to bring out his own meaning clearly, he will, with the aid of a few rules, almost intuitively fall into the habit of punctuating correctly. ”

“ Great care should always be taken to give in the heading, not only the city, but also the state. If the letter should be sent to the Dead Letter Office, the heading will properly indicate the place to which the letter is to be returned. ”

“ 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. ”