essentially of one origin, one nature, kindled from one divine flame; and are all tending to one centre, one happiness. This great truth, to us the greatest of truths, which lies at the foundation of all religion and of all hope, seems to me not only sustained by proofs which satisfy the reason, but to be one of the deep instincts of our nature. In whatever way, and in whatever century, the Homeric poems might be created and fashioned, they place before us a time when the heroic age was on the decline, or had perhaps already gone by. For there are two different worlds which both exist together in the compositions of Homer, the world of marvels and tradition, which still, however, appears to be near and lively before the eyes of the poet; and the living circumstances and present concerns of the world, which produced the poet himself. EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Insert periods in their respective places, and substitute capitals for small letters at the beginning of the sentences. — The character of Washington is among the most cherished contemplations of my life it is a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining, without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent light it is associated and blended with all our reflections on those things which are near and dear to us. Truly good books are more than mines to those who can understand them they are the breathings of the great souls of past times genius is not embalmed in them, as is sometimes said, but lives in them perpetually but we need not many books to answer the great ends of reading a few are better than many; and a little time, given to a faithful study of the few, will be enough to quicken thought and enrich the mind. We stand on the threshold of a new age, which is preparing to recognize new influences the ancient divinities of violence and wrong are retreating to their kindred darkness the sun of our moral universe is entering a new ecliptic, no longer deformed by images of animal rage, but beaming with the mild radiance of those heavenly signs, Faith, Hope, and Charity the age of chivalry has gone: an age of humanity has come the horse, which gave the name to the first, now yields to man the foremost place in serving him, in doing him good, in contributing to his welfare and elevation, there are fields of bloodless triumph nobler far than any in which warriors ever conquered here are spaces of labor wide as the world, lofty as heaven. Headings, Subheads, Phrases in Titlepages, &c. A period is put after a heading or a subhead, indi- 1. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. INTRODUCTION. 2. To Mr. Solomon Piper. Dear Sir, We hereby acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 25th instant, addressed to our society, in which you are pleased, for reasons assigned, to present an organ to be placed in our new meeting-house for the purpose of aiding in public worship. Be pleased, dear sir, to accept the thanks DUBLIN, Feb. 28, 1853. 3. The First-class Standard Reader, for Public and Private Schools. By Epes Mill (John Stuart). A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive. Third Christmas with the Poets; a Collection of Songs, Carols, and Descriptive REMARKS. a. No point should be attached to the name of any article or subject which is followed, as in the first example, by leaders, or several points serving to lead the eye to a term or figure put at the end of the line, and completing the sense. b. When the subjects of a chapter or section, specified in a heading or in the contents or index of a book, are distinct, they should be separated by a period; but, if closely connected in sense, they are more appropriately marked by a minor point, according to the degree of connection subsisting between them; as, "Chap. II. America. Discovery and Settlement: Columbus, Americus, Cabot, &c. Conquest of Mexico: Cortez, Pizarro, &c." c. When the names in signatures are followed each by an explanatory term, the full point should be placed after the latter; as, JAMES MARSHALL, President. TIMOTHY TOMPKINS, Treasurer. JOHN THOMSON, } Committee. RULE III. Names, Titles, and other Words, abbreviated. The period must be used after every abbreviated word. EXAMPLES. 1. The age of MSS. is, in some instances, known by dates inserted in them. 2. Dr. H. Marsh, F.R.S., &c., Bishop of Peterborough; b. 1757, d. 1839. 8. The Plays of Wm. Shakspeare are sometimes printed from the text of Geo. Stevens, Esq., and Edw. Malone, Esq. REMARK S. a. When an abbreviated word ends a sentence, only one period is used to show the omission of the letters, and the termination of the sentence; but any other poiut required by the construction should be inserted after the period, as exemplified above in the abbreviations "F.R.S., &c.," and the "Esq." which appears after the name of George Stevens. In such lists of words, however, as contain many abbreviations, the period only may be used, if no obscurity, or doubtfulness of meaning, would be produced by the omission of the grammatical point. See p. 151, Remark c. b. In books printed at Edinburgh, the period is omitted after an abbreviated word which retains the last letter; as, "Dr Combe; Mr Buckingham." But this does not seem to be a sufficient reason for deviating from general usage. c. Some printers use the apostrophe to indicate an ellipsis of intermediate letters in words which are fully pronounced; as, “Cha's; W❜m," -a style of pointing that should never be resorted to, except in abbreviations of long and unusual words, and where saving of space is essential, as in headings to columns of figure-work. d. 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, "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 period is unnecessary. é. Such words as 1st, 2dly, 12mo, 8vo, 8°, are not, strictly speaking, abbreviations; for the figures represent the first letters of each word. The period, therefore, should not be used, unless any of these terms come at the end of a sentence. When several subjects are specified, or when particular days of a month or various sizes of books are often mentioned, words of this form are perhaps unobjectionable; but, in the usual kinds of composition, it would be better to write them in full; as, "The command of the army was given in 1796 to Napoleon Bonaparte, then in the twenty-seventh year of his age." f. When the letters of the alphabet (A, B, C; a, b, c, &c.) are employed as significant signs, or for the purpose of reference, it is better to point them, not as abbreviations, but as ordinary words, in accordance with the construction of the sentences in which they occur; as, "The dominical letters for 1776 were G, F: therefore the first Sunday in January was the 7th of the month. Then, A representing the 7th January, D would represent the 7th February; D, the 7th March; G, the 7th April; B, the 7th May; E, the 7th June; and G, the 7th July." When placed at the beginning of a line, they are treated as subcaptions or sideheads, which, agreeably to Rule II., p. 147, require to be followed by a period, and which, in the Italic form, are so used throughout the present work. g. Proper names, when shortened and meant so to be pronounced, should not, except at the end of a sentence, be written or printed with a full point; as, "On the poet's tombstone were inscribed the words, 'O rare Ben Jonson!'"' h. Lists of abbreviated words will be given in Appendix, No. 1V. RULE IV. Marks or Figures used instead of Words. When either marks or Arabic figures are substituted for words, the period should not be used, except at the end of a sentence; but the full point is inserted before decimals, and between pounds and shillings. EXAMPLES. * 1. He borrows $5,000, and agrees to pay interest at 6 per cent per annum. 2. As an illustration of our remarks, see § 2, ¶ 10, notes and †. 3.8+9+7X 13 - 5 + 10 X 6 — 25 X 2 ÷ 5 + 21 — 174. 4. £1. 10s. 6d. sterling is equivalent to $6.78, United-States money. REMARK S. a. Marks and figures are considered as representative signs, not abbreviations. Hence the propriety of the rule. b. When figures are put in a tabular or columnar form, periods are not inserted; but, when they occur in regularly constructed sentences or in dates or headings, that point should be used which would be adopted if they were written in words. RULE V. Letters used for Figures or Words. When numerals are written in characters of the alphabet, instead of words or Arabic figures, it is usual to insert periods after them in all situations; and, when employed as dates, to separate by periods the portions into which they are divided when audibly read. EXAMPLES. 1. In proof of his position, the learned divine referred to Gen. vi. 12, 18. Ps. lxv. 2; lxxviii. 39. Acts ii. 17. 1 Cor. i. 29. 2. In the titlepages of books and in inscriptions, dates are sometimes put in capitals, instead of figures; as, M.DCCC.LV. for 1855. |