Page:The grammar of English grammars.djvu/798

 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."&mdash;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."&mdash;Young.

RULE III.&mdash;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.'"&mdash;"At this the king hastily retorted: 'No put-offs, my lord; answer me presently.'"&mdash;Churchill's Gram., p. 367. "The father addressed himself to them to this effect: 'O my sons, behold the power of unity!'"&mdash; Rippingham's Art of Speaking, p. 85.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.
FALSE PUNCTUATION.&mdash;ERRORS CONCERNING THE COLON.

UNDER RULE I.&mdash;ADDITIONAL REMARKS.
"Of is a preposition, it expresses the relation between fear and Lord."&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 133.

[.&mdash;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 illustration, especially if no conjunction is used, the colon is generally and properly inserted." Therefore, the colon should here be substituted for the comma.]

"Wealth and poverty are both temptations to man; that tends to excite pride, this discontentment."&mdash;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."&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 98; Lennie's Gram., p. 81. "Love not idleness, it destroys many."&mdash;Ingersoll's Gram., p. 71. "Children, obey your parents; honour thy father and mother, is the first commandment with promise."&mdash;''Bullions, Pract. Lessons'', p. 88. "Thou art my hiding place, and my shield, I hope in thy promises."&mdash;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.&mdash;."&mdash;Ib., p. 57. "Here Greece is assigned the highest place in the class of objects among which she is numbered&mdash;the nations of antiquity&mdash;she is one of them."&mdash;Lennie's Gram., p. 79. "From short (as usual) and disturb'd repose   I wake; how happy they who wake no more!"&mdash;Hallock's Gram., p. 216.

UNDER RULE II.&mdash;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.'"&mdash;Bullions, E. Gram., p. 147.

[.&mdash;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?"&mdash;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?'"&mdash;L. Murray's Gram., 8vo, p. 63; 12mo, p. 63. "The Imperfect (or Past) tense represents an action or event indefinitely as past; as, Cæsar 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."&mdash;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"&mdash;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 God,' it is intransitive."&mdash;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."&mdash;Goldsbury's C. S. Gram., p. 91. "In the use of the transitive verb there are always three things implied,&mdash;the actor, the act, and the object acted upon. In the use of the intransitive