that he shall 'lie down with kings and emperors in death,' who in his lifetime never greatly coveted the society of such bedfellows?”—Lamb. 3. Sometimes a single word comprises the entire saying of another. When this is so, it should commence with a capital; as, “He shouted, 'Victory!'” 4. When examples are given as illustrations of some general principle, they naturally follow the same rule as quotations. If an entire sentence is given as an example, it should commence with a capital. When disconnected words are given, small letters may be used, unless the words themselves require capitals. RULE XII. Resolutions. In writing resolutions, the word immediately following Resolved, should commence with a capital. EXAMPLE. "Resolved, That the Declaration, passed on the fourth, be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style of 'The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America;' and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." REMARK. Resolved commences with a capital in resolutions, and a comma immediately precedes That. RULE XIII. Special Words.-Words used in a special sense, or of special importance, commence with capitals. EXAMPLES. "As nowadays we build monuments to great men, so in the Middle Ages they built shrines or chapels on the spots which saints had made holy." -Froude. "The Reformation broke the theological shackles in which men's minds were fettered."-Froude. "That Popularity is alone valuable and enduring which follows you, not that which you run after." -Lord Mansfield. REMARK. Although it is the universal custom to capitalize a word when used in a special sense to mark an important period or event in history, there is another class of words to which writers assign a special importance, the capitalization of which must necessarily be left to the judgment and taste of each writer. It should, however, be remembered that an injudicious or too frequent use of capitals lessens their value and force, and disfigures a written or printed page. RULE XIV. Words Personified.-When things without life are represented as persons, they may commence with capitals. EXAMPLE. "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 spirits young and in full vigor. With such people the gray head is but the impression of the old fel. low's hand in giving them a blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life."-Dickens. REMARK. Care should be taken not to carry this rule to an excess. Unless the personification is vivid and emphatic, use smali letters; as,— "Many a daylight dawned and darkened, Many a night shook off the daylight As the pine shakes off the snow-flakes From the midnight of its branches."-Longfellow. RULE XV. I and O.—The pronoun I and the interjection O should always be written with capitals. EXAMPLES. "True faith, I tell thee, Must ever be the dearest friend to man: His nature prompts him to assert its rights.”—Schiller. "As wise as when I went to school."— Goethe. “O day! O day! O day! O hateful day! Never was seen so black a day as this."-Shakespeare. RULE XVI. References.—In referring to passages in books, numbers are sometimes represented by capital letters. EXAMPLES. Irving's "Life of Washington," vol. III. p. 77. Mommsen's "History of Rome," vol. IV. p. 18. REMARKS. 1. Some commence volume and chapter with a capital, but this is not the usual custom. 2. The volume, chapter, and page may be given, but the volume and page are sufficient. 3. In referring to passages in the Bible, the chapter and verse are given; as Luke, chap. ix. 15. It is the usual custom to omit the word chapter, the letters representing the chapter; and the number, the verse; as, "It may be fit to remember that Moses, Lev. xi. 9, Deut. xiv. 9, appointed fish to be the chief diet of the best com.monwealth that ever yet was."-Izaak Walton. RULE XVII. Divisions of a Statement.-When a general statement is divided into separate and distinct parts, it is better to commence each division with a capital, even when they do not form complete sentences, and are not separated from each other by a period. This is especially the case when the divisions are numbered. EXAMPLE. "The history of the normal development of the individual has its counterpart in the history or humanity. There is, 1. The age of popular and unconscious morality; 2. The transitional, skeptical, or sophistical age; and 3. The philosophic or conscious age of morality." REMARKS. 1. 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; as,— I am, dear Mother, Your dutiful son, Sam. Johnson. |