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A GUIDE FOR ALL,

WHO WISH TO

SPEAK AND WRITE CORRECTLY,

&c., &c., &c.

RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITALS AND
ITALICS.

THE following classes of words should commence

with capital letters:

1. The first word of a sentence.

2. The first word of every line in poetry. 3. The first word of a direct quotation.

Examples:-And Nathan said unto David, "Thou art the man."-Remember this ancient maxim: "Know thyself."

An indirect quotation may be introduced without the use of a capital.

Example :-It is recorded of him, who "spake three thousand proverbs," that "his songs were a thousand and five."

4. Words used as names of the Deity.

Examples:-"Our Father, who art in Heaven." -"Remember now thy Creator, in the days of thy youth."

"And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer.

Before all temples, the upright heart and pure."

Milton.

5. Proper names and honorary titles.

Examples: "The City of London.' '—" The Honorable Henry Erskine:"-" Sir Matthew Hale." 6. Common nouns personified.

Examples.

If Pain comes into a heart, he is quickly followed by Pleasure; and if Pleasure enters, you may be sure that Pain is not far off." -Addison.

"And Discipline at length,

O'erlooked and unemployed, fell sick and died;
Then Study languished, Emulation slept,
And Virtue fled."-Cowper.

7. Every important word in a phrase used as a title.

Examples:-"Hume's History of England:""Virtue the only true Source of Nobility:"—"The Board of Trade."- -"The French Revolution." The pronoun I and the interjection O should also be written in capitals.

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Examples: Must I endure all this?""Come forth, O ye children of gladness, come!" Most adjectives, derived from proper names, should commence with capitals.

Examples :-"A Grecian education was considered necessary to form the Roman orator, poet, or artist.""The Copernican system is that which is held to be the true system of the world." A personal pronoun referring to the Deity, is often commenced with a capital.

Examples:-"All that we possess is God's, and we are under obligation to use it all as He wills."

"Will He not hear thee

Who the young ravens heareth from their nest? Will He not guard thy rest?"-Hemans.

There are also numerous cases in which words may commence either with capitals or small letters, according to the taste of the writer.

Short detached pieces of writing are often composed entirely of capitals. [For examples, see titlepages, heads of chapters and sections, monumental inscriptions, cards, &c.]

Italic letters are those which stand inclining, This sentence is printed in Italics.

When an author wishes to distinguish any particular word or phrase for the sake of emphasis, or for any other purpose, it is generally printed in Italics.

Examples:-"If we regard enunciation and pronunciation as the mechanical part of elocution -infection, emphasis, and pausing, may be designated as its intellectual part."—Russell. "To be perfectly polite, one must have great presence of mind, with a delicate and quick sense of propriety." Mrs. Chapone.

Sentences of special importance are often printed entirely in Italics.

When a particular word, phrase, or sentence is designed to be made still more conspicuous than it would be, if expressed in Italics, it is printed in small capitals.

Examples:-"OBSERVATION and EXPERIMENT constitute the basis of the science of Mechanics."

"To the numerous class of young men who are mainly dependent on their own resources for know

ledge, or respectability, one of the most important councils of wisdom, which can be addressed, is STUDY YOUR OWN CHARACTER AND PROSPECTS." When a word or phrase in an Italic sentence is to be distinguished from the rest, it should be printed in Roman letters. If it is particularly important, it may be expressed in capitals.

Examples:-" The grand clue to all syntactical parsing is the sense."-" HYDROSTATICS is that branch of Natural Philosophy which treats of the mechanical properties and agencies of LIQUIDS.""To find the surface of a REGULAR SOLID."

When a word is used merely as a word, it should generally be printed in Italics.

Examples:-"The adjective same is often used as a substitute.""Who is applied to persons, and which to animals and inanimate things." Words and phrases introduced into English writings from foreign languages, are generally expressed in Italics.

Example:-"An adjournment sine die is an adjournment without fixing the time for resuming business."

In the common English version of the Scriptures. Italics are used to indicate those words, which are not found in the original.

Examples:-"After two days was the feast of the passover:" in the original, "After two days was the passover." ·." "There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest:"-in the original, "There are yet four months, and the harvest cometh."

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