OBS. 2.--In order to have a right understanding of the letters, it is

necessary to enumerate, as accurately as we can, the elementary _sounds_ of

the language; and to attend carefully to the manner in which these sounds

are enunciated, as well as to the characters by which they are represented.

The most unconcerned observer cannot but perceive that there are certain

differences in the sounds, as well as in the shapes, of the letters; and

yet under what heads they ought severally to be classed, or how many of

them will fall under some particular name, it may occasionally puzzle a

philosopher to tell. The student must consider what is proposed or asked,

use his own senses, and judge for himself. With our lower-case alphabet

before him, he can tell by his own eye, which are the long letters, and

which the short ones; so let him learn by his own ear, which are the

vowels, and which, the consonants. The processes are alike simple; and, if

he be neither blind nor deaf, he can do both about equally well. Thus he

may know for a certainty, that _a_ is a short letter, and _b_ a long one;

the former a vowel, the latter a consonant: and so of others. Yet as he may

doubt whether _t_ is a long letter or a short one, so he may be puzzled to

say whether _w_ and _y_, as heard in _we_ and _ye_, are vowels or

consonants: but neither of these difficulties should impair his confidence

in any of his other decisions. If he attain by observation and practice a

clear and perfect pronunciation of the letters, he will be able to class

them for himself with as much accuracy as he will find in books.

OBS. 3.--Grammarians have generally agreed that every letter is either a

vowel or a consonant; and also that there are among the latter some

semivowels, some mutes, some aspirates, some liquids, some sharps, some

flats, some labials, some dentals, some nasals, some palatals, and perhaps

yet other species; but in enumerating the letters which belong to these

several classes, they disagree so much as to make it no easy matter to

ascertain what particular classification is best supported by their

authority. I have adopted what I conceive to be the best authorized, and at

the same time the most intelligible. He that dislikes the scheme, may do

better, if he can. But let him with modesty determine what sort of

discoveries may render our ancient authorities questionable. Aristotle,

three hundred and thirty years before Christ, divided the Greek letters

into _vowels, semivowels_, and _mutes_, and declared that no syllable could

be formed without a vowel. In the opinion of some neoterics, it has been

reserved to our age, to detect the fallacy of this. But I would fain

believe that the Stagirite knew as well what he was saying, as did Dr.

James Rush, when, in 1827, he declared the doctrine of vowels and

consonants to be "a misrepresentation." The latter philosopher resolves the

letters into "_tonics, subtonics_, and _atonics_;" and avers that

"consonants alone may form syllables." Indeed, I cannot but think the

ancient doctrine better. For, to say that "consonants alone may form

syllables," is as much as to say that consonants are not consonants, but

vowels! To be consistent, the attempters of this reformation should never

speak of vowels or consonants, semivowels or mutes; because they judge the

terms inappropriate, and the classification absurd. They should therefore

adhere strictly to their "tonics, subtonics, and atonics;" which classes,

though apparently the same as vowels, semivowels, and mutes, are better

adapted to their new and peculiar division of these elements. Thus, by

reforming both language and philosophy at once, they may make what they

will of either!

OBS. 4.--Some teach that _w_ and _y_ are always vowels: conceiving the

former to be equivalent to _oo_, and the latter to _i_ or _e_. Dr. Lowth

says, "_Y_ is always a vowel," and "_W_ is either a vowel or a diphthong."

Dr. Webster supposes _w_ to be always "a vowel, a simple sound;" but admits

that, "At the beginning of words, _y_ is called an _articulation_ or

_consonant_, and _with some propriety perhaps_, as it brings the root of

the tongue in close contact with the lower part of the palate, and nearly

in the position to which the close _g_ brings it."--_American Dict.,

Octavo_. But I follow Wallis, Brightland, Johnson, Walker, Murray,

Worcester, and others, in considering both of them sometimes vowels and

sometimes consonants. They are consonants at the beginning of words in

English, because their sounds take the article _a_, and not _an_, before

them; as, _a wall, a yard_, and not, _an wall, an yard_. But _oo_ or the

sound of _e_, requires _an_, and not _a_; as, _an eel, an oozy bog_.[94] At

the end of a syllable we know they are vowels; but at the beginning, they

are so squeezed in their pronunciation, as to follow a vowel without any

hiatus, or difficulty of utterance; as, "_O worthy youth! so young, so

wise!_"

OBS. 5.--Murray's rule, "_W_ and _y_ are consonants when they begin a word

or syllable, but in every other situation they are vowels," which is found

in Comly's book, _Kirkham's_, Merchant's, Ingersoll's, Fisk's. Hart's,

Hiley's, Alger's, Bullions's, Pond's, S. Putnam's, Weld's, and in sundry

other grammars, is favourable to my doctrine, but too badly conceived to be

quoted here as authority. It _undesignedly_ makes _w_ a consonant in

_wine_, and a vowel in _twine_; and _y_ a consonant when it _forms_ a

syllable, as in _dewy_: for a letter that _forms_ a syllable, "begins" it.

But _Kirkham_ has lately learned his letters anew; and, supposing he had

Dr. Rush on his side, has philosophically taken their names for their

sounds. He now calls _y_ a "_diphthong_." But he is wrong here by his own

showing: he should rather have called it a _triphthong_. He says, "By

pronouncing in a very deliberate and perfectly natural manner, the letter

_y_, (which is a _diphthong_,) the _unpractised_ student will perceive,

that the sound produced, is compound; being formed, at its opening, of the

obscure sound of _oo_ as heard in _oo_-ze, which sound rapidly slides into

that of _i_, and then advances to that of _ee_ as heard in _e_-ve, _and_ on

which it gradually passes off into silence."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 75.

Thus the "unpractised student" is taught that _b-y_ spells _bwy_; or, if

pronounced "very deliberately, _boo-i-ee_!" Nay, this grammatist makes _b_,

not a labial mute, as Walker, Webster, Cobb, and others, have called it,

but a nasal subtonic, or semivowel. He delights in protracting its

"guttural murmur;" perhaps, in assuming its name for its sound; and, having

proved, that "consonants are capable of forming syllables," finds no

difficulty in mouthing this little monosyllable _by_ into _b-oo-i-ee!_ In

this way, it is the easiest thing in the world, for such a man to outface

Aristotle, or any other divider of the letters; for he _makes_ the sounds

by which he judges. "Boy," says the teacher of Kirkham's Elocution,

"describe the protracted sound of _y_."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p. 110. The

pupil may answer, "That letter, sir, has no longer or more complex sound,

than what is heard in the word _eye_, or in the vowel _i_; but the book

which I study, describes it otherwise. I know not whether I can make you

understand it, but I will _tr-oo-i-ee_." If the word _try_, which the

author uses as an example, does not exhibit his "protracted sound of _y_,"

there is no word that does: the sound is a mere fiction, originating in

strange ignorance.

OBS. 6.--In the large print above, I have explained the principal classes

of the letters, but not all that are spoken of in books. It is proper to

inform the learner that the _sharp_ consonants are _t_, and all others

after which our contracted preterits and participles require that _d_

should be sounded like _t_; as in the words faced, reached, stuffed,

laughed, triumphed, croaked, cracked, houghed, reaped, nipped, piqued,

missed, wished, earthed, betrothed, fixed. The _flat_ or _smooth_

consonants are _d_, and all others with which the proper sound of _d_ may

be united; as in the words, daubed, judged, hugged, thronged, sealed,

filled, aimed, crammed, pained, planned, feared, marred, soothed, loved,

dozed, buzzed. The _labials_ are those consonants which are articulated

chiefly by the lips; among which, Dr. Webster reckons _b, f, m, p_, and

_v_. But Dr. Rush says, _b_ and _m_ are nasals, the latter, "purely nasal."

[95] The _dentals_ are those consonants which are referred to the teeth;

the _nasals_ are those which are affected by the nose; and the _palatals_

are those which compress the palate, as _k_ and hard _g_. But these

last-named classes are not of much importance; nor have I thought it worth

while to notice _minutely_ the opinions of writers respecting the others,

as whether _h_ is a semivowel, or a mute, or neither.

OBS. 7.--The Cherokee alphabet, which was invented in 1821, by See-quo-yah,

or George Guess, an ingenious but wholly illiterate Indian, contains

eighty-five letters, or characters. But the sounds of the language are much

fewer than ours; for the characters represent, not simple tones and

articulations, but _syllabic sounds_, and this number is said to be

sufficient to denote them all. But the different syllabic sounds in our

language amount to some thousands. I suppose, from the account, that

_See-quo-yah_ writes his name, in his own language, with three letters; and

that characters so used, would not require, and probably would not admit,

such a division as that of vowels and consonants. One of the Cherokees, in

a letter to the American Lyceum, states, that a knowledge of this mode of

writing is so easily acquired, that one who understands and speaks the

language, "can learn to read in a day; and, indeed," continues the writer,

"I have known some to acquire the art in a single evening. It is only

necessary to learn the different sounds of the characters, to be enabled to

read at once. In the English language, we must not only first learn the

letters, but to spell, before reading; but in Cherokee, all that is

required, is, to learn the letters; for they have _syllabic sounds_, and by

connecting different ones together, a word is formed: in which there is no

art. All who understand the language can do so, and both read and write, so

soon as they can learn to trace with their fingers the forms of the

characters. I suppose that more than one half of the Cherokees can read

their own language, and are thereby enabled to acquire much valuable

information, with which they otherwise would never have been blessed."--_W.

S. Coodey_, 1831.

OBS. 8.--From the foregoing account, it would appear that the Cherokee

language is a very peculiar one: its words must either be very few, or the

proportion of polysyllables very great. The characters used in China and

Japan, stand severally for _words_; and their number is said to be not less

than seventy thousand; so that the study of a whole life is scarcely

sufficient to make a man thoroughly master of them. Syllabic writing is

represented by Dr. Blair as a great improvement upon the Chinese method,

and yet as being far inferior to that which is properly _alphabetic_, like

ours. "The first step, in this new progress," says he, "was the invention

of an alphabet of syllables, which probably preceded the invention of an

alphabet of letters, among some of the ancient nations; and which is said

to be retained to this day, in Ethiopia, and some countries of India. By

fixing upon a particular mark, or character, for every syllable in the

language, the number of characters, necessary to be used in writing, was

reduced within a much smaller compass than the number of words in the

language. Still, however, the number of characters was great; and must have

continued to render both reading and writing very laborious arts. Till, at

last, some happy genius arose, and tracing the sounds made by the human

voice, to their most simple elements, reduced them to a very few _vowels

and consonants_; and, by affixing to each of these, the signs which we now

call letters, taught men how, by their combinations, to put in writing all

the different words, or combinations of sound, which they employed in

speech. By being reduced to this simplicity, the art of writing was brought

to its highest state of perfection; and, in this state, we now enjoy it in

all the countries of Europe."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, Lect. VII, p. 68.

OBS. 9.--All certain knowledge of the sounds given to the letters by Moses

and the prophets having been long ago lost, a strange dispute has arisen,

and been carried on for centuries, concerning this question, "Whether the

Hebrew letters are, or are not, _all consonants_:" the vowels being

supposed by some to be suppressed and understood; and not written, except

by _points_ of comparatively late invention. The discussion of such a

question does not properly belong to English grammar; but, on account of

its curiosity, as well as of its analogy to some of our present disputes, I

mention it. Dr. Charles Wilson says, "After we have sufficiently known the

figures and names of the letters, the next step is, to learn to enunciate

or to pronounce them, so as to produce articulate sounds. On this subject,

which appears at first sight very plain and simple, numberless contentions

and varieties of opinion meet us at the threshold. From the earliest period

of the invention of written characters to represent human language, however

more or less remote that time may be, it seems absolutely certain, that the

distinction of letters into _vowels and consonants_ must have obtained. All

the speculations of the Greek grammarians assume this as a first

principle." Again: "I beg leave only to premise this observation, that I

absolutely and unequivocally deny the position, that all the letters of the

Hebrew alphabet are consonants; and, after the most careful and minute

inquiry, give it as my opinion, that of the twenty-two letters of which the

Hebrew alphabet consists, five are vowels and seventeen are consonants. The

five vowels by name are, Aleph, He, Vau, Yod, and Ain."--_Wilson's Heb.

Gram._, pp. 6 and 8.

III. POWERS OF THE LETTERS.

The powers of the letters are properly those elementary sounds which their

figures are used to represent; but letters formed into words, are capable

of communicating thought independently of sound. The simple elementary

sounds of any language are few, commonly not more than _thirty-six_;[96]

but they may be variously _combined_, so as to form words innumerable.

Different vowel sounds, or vocal elements, are produced by opening the

mouth differently, and placing the tongue in a peculiar manner for each;

but the voice may vary in loudness, pitch, or time, and still utter the

same vowel power.

The _vowel sounds_ which form the basis of the English language, and which

ought therefore to be perfectly familiar to every one who speaks it, are

those which are heard at the beginning of the words, _ate, at, ah, all,

eel, ell, isle, ill, old, on, ooze, use, us_, and that of _u_ in _bull_.

In the formation of syllables, some of these fourteen primary sounds may be

joined together, as in _ay, oil, out, owl_; and all of them may be preceded

or followed by certain motions and positions of the lips and tongue, which

will severally convert them into other terms in speech. Thus the same

essential sounds may be changed into a new series of words by an _f_; as,

_fate, fat, far, fall, feel, fell, file, fill, fold, fond, fool, fuse,

fuss, full_. Again, into as many more with a _p_; as, _pate, pat, par,

pall, peel, pell, pile, pill, pole, pond, pool, pule, purl, pull_. Each of

the vowel sounds may be variously expressed by letters. About half of them

are sometimes words: the rest are seldom, if ever, used alone even to form

syllables. But the reader may easily learn to utter them all, separately,

according to the foregoing series. Let us note them as plainly as possible:

eigh, ~a, ah, awe, =eh, ~e, eye, ~i, oh, ~o, oo, yew, ~u, û. Thus the eight

long sounds, _eigh, ah, awe, eh, eye, oh, ooh, yew_, are, or may be, words;

but the six less vocal, called the short vowel sounds, as in _at, et, it,

ot, ut, put_, are commonly heard only in connexion with consonants; except

the first, which is perhaps the most frequent sound of the vowel A or

_a_--a sound sometimes given to the word _a_, perhaps most generally; as in

the phrase, "twice _~a_ day."

The simple _consonant sounds_ in English are twenty-two: they are marked by

_b, d, f, g hard, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, sh, t, th sharp, th flat, v,

w, y, z_, and _zh_. But _zh_ is written only to show the sound of other

letters; as of _s_ in _pleasure_, or _z_ in _azure_.

All these sounds are heard distinctly in the following words: _buy, die,

fie, guy, high, kie, lie, my, nigh, eying, pie, rye, sigh, shy, tie, thigh,

thy, vie, we, ye, zebra, seizure_. Again: most of them may be repeated in

the same word, if not in the same syllable; as in _bibber, diddle, fifty,

giggle, high-hung, cackle, lily, mimic, ninny, singing, pippin, mirror,

hissest, flesh-brush, tittle, thinketh, thither, vivid, witwal, union,[97]

dizzies, vision_.

With us, the consonants J and X represent, not simple, but complex sounds:

hence they are never doubled. J is equivalent to _dzh_; and X, either to

_ks_ or to _gz_. The former ends no English word, and the latter begins

none. To the initial X of foreign words, we always give the simple sound of

Z; as in _Xerxes, xebec_.

The consonants C and Q have no sounds peculiar to themselves. Q has always

the power of _k_. C is hard, like _k_, before _a, o_, and _u_; and soft,

like _s_, before _e, i_, and _y_: thus the syllables, _ca, ce, ci, co, cu,

cy_, are pronounced, _ka, se, si, ko, ku, sy_. _S_ before _c_ preserves the

former sound, but coalesces with the latter; hence the syllables, _sca,

sce, sci, sco, scu, scy_, are sounded, _ska, se, si, sko, sku, sy_. _Ce_

and _ci_ have sometimes the sound of _sh_; as in _ocean, social_. _Ch_

commonly represents the compound sound of _tsh_; as in _church_.

G, as well as C, has different sounds before different vowels. G is always

hard, or guttural, before _a, o_, and _u_; and generally soft, like _j_,

before _e, i_, or _y_: thus the syllables, _ga, ge, gi, go, gu, gy_, are

pronounced _ga, je, ji, go, gu, jy_.

The possible combinations and mutations of the twenty-six letters of our

alphabet, are many millions of millions. But those clusters which are

unpronounceable, are useless. Of such as may be easily uttered, there are

more than enough for all the purposes of useful writing, or the recording

of speech.

Thus it is, that from principles so few and simple as about six or seven

and thirty plain elementary sounds, represented by characters still fewer,

we derive such a variety of oral and written signs, as may suffice to

explain or record all the sentiments and transactions of all men in all

ages.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--A knowledge of sounds can be acquired, in the first

instance, only by the ear. No description of the manner of their

production, or of the differences which distinguish them, can be at all

intelligible to him who has not already, by the sense of hearing, acquired

a knowledge of both. What I here say of the sounds of the letters, must of

course be addressed to those persons only who are able both to speak and to

read English. Why then attempt instruction by a method which both ignorance

and knowledge on the part of the pupil, must alike render useless? I have

supposed some readers to have such an acquaintance with the powers of the

letters, as is but loose and imperfect; sufficient for the accurate

pronunciation of some words or syllables, but leaving them liable to

mistakes in others; extending perhaps to all the sounds of the language,

but not to a ready analysis or enumeration of them. Such persons may profit

by a written description of the powers of the letters, though no such

description can equal the clear impression of the living voice. Teachers,

too, whose business it is to aid the articulation of the young, and, by a

patient inculcation of elementary principles, to lay the foundation of an

accurate pronunciation, may derive some assistance from any notation of

these principles, which will help their memory, or that of the learner. The

connexion between letters and sounds is altogether _arbitrary_; but a few

positions, being assumed and made known, in respect to some characters,

become easy standards for further instruction in respect to others of

similar sound.

OBS. 2.--The importance of being instructed at an early age, to pronounce

with distinctness and facility all the elementary sounds of one's native

language, has been so frequently urged, and is so obvious in itself, that

none but those who have been themselves neglected, will be likely to

disregard the claims of their children in this respect.[98] But surely an

accurate knowledge of the ordinary powers of the letters would be vastly

more common, were there not much hereditary negligence respecting the

manner in which these important rudiments are learned. The utterance of the

illiterate may exhibit wit and native talent, but it is always more or less

barbarous, because it is not aided by a knowledge of orthography. For

pronunciation and orthography, however they may seem, in our language

especially, to be often at variance, are certainly correlative: a true

knowledge of either tends to the preservation of both. Each of the letters

represents some one or more of the elementary sounds, exclusive of the

rest; and each of the elementary sounds, though several of them are

occasionally transferred, has some one or two letters to which it most

properly or most frequently belongs. But borrowed, as our language has

been, from a great variety of sources, to which it is desirable ever to

retain the means of tracing it, there is certainly much apparent lack of

correspondence between its oral and its written form. Still the

discrepancies are few, when compared with the instances of exact

conformity; and, if they are, as I suppose they are, unavoidable, it is as

useless to complain of the trouble they occasion, as it is to think of

forcing a reconciliation. The wranglers in this controversy, can never

agree among themselves, whether orthography shall conform to pronunciation,

or pronunciation to orthography. Nor does any one of them well know how our

language would either sound or look, were he himself appointed sole arbiter

of all variances between our spelling and our speech.

OBS. 3.--"Language," says Dr. Rush, "was long ago analyzed into its

alphabetic elements. Wherever this analysis is known, the art of teaching

language has, with the best success, been conducted upon the rudimental

method." * * * "The art of reading consists in having all the vocal

elements under complete command, that they may be properly applied, for the

vivid and elegant delineation of the sense and sentiment of

discourse."--_Philosophy of the Voice_, p. 346. Again, of "the

pronunciation of the alphabetic elements," he says, "The least deviation

_from the assumed standard_ converts the listener into the critic; and I am

surely speaking within bounds when I say, that for every miscalled element

in discourse, ten succeeding words are lost to the greater part of an

audience."--_Ibid._, p. 350. These quotations plainly imply both the

practicability and the importance of teaching the pronunciation of our

language analytically by means of its present orthography, and agreeably to

the standard assumed by the grammarians. The first of them affirms that it

has been done, "with the best success," according to some ancient method of

dividing the letters and explaining their sounds. And yet, both before and

afterwards, we find this same author complaining of our alphabet and its

subdivisions, as if sense or philosophy must utterly repudiate both; and of

our orthography, as if a ploughman might teach us to spell better: and, at

the same time, he speaks of softening his censure through modesty. "The

deficiencies, redundancies, and confusion, of the system of alphabetic

characters in this language, prevent the adoption of its subdivisions in

this essay."--_Ib._, p. 52. Of the specific sounds given to the letters, he

says, "The first of these matters is under the rule of every body, and

therefore is very properly to be excluded from the discussions of that

philosophy which desires to be effectual in its instruction. How can we

hope to establish a system of elemental pronunciation in a language, when

great masters in criticism condemn at once every attempt, in so simple and

useful a labour as the correction of its orthography!"--P. 256. Again: "I

_deprecate noticing_ the faults of speakers, in the pronunciation of the

alphabetic elements. It is better for criticism to be modest on this point,

till it has the sense or independence to make our alphabet and its uses,

look more like the work of what is called--wise and transcendent humanity:

till the pardonable variety of pronunciation, and the _true spelling by

the vulgar_, have satirized into reformation that pen-craft which keeps up

the troubles of orthography for no other purpose, as one can divine, than

to boast of a very questionable merit as a criterion of education."--_Ib._,

p. 383.

OBS. 4.--How far these views are compatible, the reader will judge. And it

is hoped he will excuse the length of the extracts, from a consideration of

the fact, that a great master of the "pen-craft" here ridiculed, a noted

stickler for needless Kays and Ues, now commonly rejected, while he boasts

that his grammar, which he mostly copied from Murray's, is teaching the old

explanation of the alphabetic elements to "more than one hundred thousand

children and youth," is also vending under his own name an abstract of the

new scheme of "_tonicks, subtonicks_, and _atonicks_;" and, in one breath,

bestowing superlative praise on both, in order, as it would seem, to

monopolize all inconsistency. "Among those who have successfully laboured

in the philological field, _Mr. Lindley Murray_ stands forth in bold

relief, as undeniably at the head of the list."--_Kirkham's Elocution_, p.

12. "The modern candidate for oratorical fame, stands on very different,

and far more advantageous, ground, than that occupied by the young and

aspiring Athenian; especially since a _correct analysis of the vocal

organs_, and a faithful record of their operations, have been given to the

world by _Dr. James Rush_, of Philadelphia--a name that will _outlive_ the

unquarried marble of our mountains."--_Ibid._, p. 29. "But what is to be

said when presumption pushes itself into the front ranks of elocution, and

thoughtless friends undertake to support it? The fraud must go on, till

presumption quarrels, as often happens, with its own friends, or with

itself, and thus dissolves the spell of its merits."--_Rush, on the Voice_,

p. 405.

OBS. 5.--The question respecting the _number_ of simple or elementary

sounds in our language, presents a remarkable puzzle: and it is idle, if

not ridiculous, for any man to declaim about the imperfection of our

alphabet and orthography, who does not show himself able to solve it. All

these sounds may easily be written in a plain sentence of three or four

lines upon almost any subject; and every one who can read, is familiar with

them all, and with all the letters. Now it is either easy _to count_ them,

or it is difficult. If difficult, wherein does the difficulty lie? and how

shall he who knows not what and how many they are, think himself capable of

reforming our system of their alphabetic signs? If easy, why do so few

pretend to know their number? and of those who do pretend to this

knowledge, why are there so few that agree? A certain verse in the seventh

chapter of Ezra, has been said to contain all the letters. It however

contains no _j_; and, with respect to the sounds, it lacks that of _f_,

that of _th sharp_, and that of _u_ in _bull_. I will suggest a few

additional words for these; and then both all the letters, and all the

sounds, of the English language, will be found in the example; and most of

them, many times over: "'And I, even I, Artaxerxes, the king, do make a

decree to all the treasurers' who 'are beyond the river, that whatsoever

Ezra the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require

of you, it be done speedily' and faithfully, according to that which he

shall enjoin." Some letters, and some sounds, are here used much more

frequently than others; but, on an average, we have, in this short passage,

each sound five times, and each letter eight. How often, then, does a man

speak all the elements of his language, who reads well but one hour!

OBS. 6.--Of the number of elementary sounds in our language, different

orthoëpists report differently; because they cannot always agree among

themselves, wherein the identity or the simplicity, the sameness or the

singleness, even of well-known sounds, consists; or because, if each is

allowed to determine these points for himself, no one of them adheres

strictly to his own decision. They may also, each for himself, have some

peculiar way of utterance, which will confound some sounds which other men

distinguish, or distinguish some which other men confound. For, as a man

may write a very bad hand which shall still be legible, so he may utter

many sounds improperly and still be understood. One may, in this way, make

out a scheme of the alphabetic elements, which shall be true of his own

pronunciation, and yet have obvious faults when tried by the best usage of

English speech. It is desirable not to multiply these sounds beyond the

number which a correct and elegant pronunciation of the language obviously

requires. And what that number is, it seems to me not very difficult to

ascertain; at least, I think we may fix it with sufficient accuracy for all

practical purposes. But let it be remembered, that all who have hitherto

attempted the enumeration, have deviated more or less from their own

decisions concerning either the simplicity or the identity of sounds; but,

most commonly, it appears to have been thought expedient to admit some

exceptions concerning both. Thus the long or diphthongal sounds of _I_ and

_U_, are admitted by some, and excluded by others; the sound of _j_, or

soft _g_, is reckoned as simple by some, and rejected as compound by

others; so a part, if not all, of what are called the long and the short

vowels, as heard in _ale_ and _ell, arm_ and _am, all_ and _on, isle_ or

_eel_ and _ill, tone_ and _tun, pule_ or _pool_ and _pull_, have been

declared essentially the same by some, and essentially different by others.

Were we to recognize as elementary, no sounds but such as are

unquestionably simple in themselves, and indisputably different in quality

from all others, we should not have more sounds than letters: and this is a

proof that we have characters enough, though the sounds are perhaps badly

distributed among them.

OBS. 7.--I have enumerated _thirty-six_ well known sounds, which, in

compliance with general custom, and for convenience in teaching. I choose

to regard as the oral elements of our language. There may be found some

reputable authority for adding four or five more, and other authority as

reputable, for striking from the list seven or eight of those already

mentioned. For the sake of the general principle, which we always regard in

writing, a principle of universal grammar, _that there can be no

syllable without a vowel_, I am inclined to teach, with Brightland, Dr.

Johnson, L. Murray, and others, that, in English, as in French, there is

given to the vowel _e_ a certain very obscure sound which approaches, but

amounts not to an absolute suppression, though it is commonly so regarded

by the writers of dictionaries. It may be exemplified in the words _oven,

shovel, able_;[99] or in the unemphatic article _the_ before a consonant,

as in the sentence, "Take the nearest:" we do not hear it as "_thee

nearest_," nor as "_then carest_," but more obscurely. There is also a

feeble sound of _i_ or _y_ unaccented, which is equivalent to _ee_ uttered

feebly, as in the word _diversity_. This is the most common sound of _i_

and of _y_. The vulgar are apt to let it fall into the more obscure sound

of short _u_. As elegance of utterance depends much upon the preservation

of this sound from such obtuseness, perhaps Walker and others have done

well to mark it as _e_ in _me_; though some suppose it to be peculiar, and

others identify it with the short _i_ in _fit_. Thirdly, a distinction is

made by some writers, between the vowel sounds heard in _hate_ and _bear_,

which Sheridan and Walker consider to be the same. The apparent difference

may perhaps result from the following consonant _r_, which is apt to affect

the sound of the vowel which precedes it. Such words as _bear, care, dare,

careful, parent_, are very liable to be corrupted in pronunciation, by too

broad a sound of the _a_; and, as the multiplication of needless

distinctions should be avoided, I do not approve of adding an other sound

to a vowel which has already quite too many. Worcester, however, in his new

Dictionary, and Wells, in his new Grammar, give to the vowel A _six_ or

_seven_ sounds in lieu of _four_; and Dr. Mandeville, in his Course of

Reading, says, "_A_ has _eight_ sounds."--P. 9.

OBS. 8.--Sheridan made the elements of his oratory _twenty-eight_. Jones

followed him implicitly, and adopted the same number.[100] Walker

recognized several more, but I know not whether he has anywhere told us

_how many there are_. Lindley Murray enumerates _thirty-six_, and the same

thirty-six that are given in the main text above. The eight sounds not

counted by Sheridan are these: 1. The Italian _a_, as in _far, father_,

which he reckoned but a lengthening of the _a_ in _hat_; 2. The short _o_,

as in _hot_, which he supposed to be but a shortening of the _a_ in _hall_;

3. The diphthongal _i_, as in _isle_, which he thought but a quicker union

of the sounds of the diphthong _oi_, but which, in my opinion, is rather a

very quick union of the sounds _ah_ and _ee_ into _ay, I_;[101] 4. The long

_u_, which is acknowledged to be equal to _yu_ or _yew_, though perhaps a

little different from _you_ or _yoo_,[102] the sound given it by Walker; 5.

The _u_ heard in _pull_, which he considered but a shortening of _oo_; 6.

The consonant _w_, which he conceived to be always a vowel, and equivalent

to _oo_; 7. The consonant _y_, which he made equal to a short _ee_; 8. The

consonant _h_, which he declared to be no letter, but a mere breathing, In

all other respects, his scheme of the alphabetic elements agrees with that

which is adopted in this work, and which is now most commonly taught.

OBS. 9.--The effect of _Quantity_ in the prolation of the vowels, is a

matter with which every reader ought to be experimentally acquainted.

_Quantity_ is simply the _time_ of utterance, whether long or short. It is

commonly spoken of with reference to _syllables_, because it belongs

severally to all the distinct or numerable impulses of the voice, and to

these only; but, as vowels or diphthongs may be uttered alone, the notion

of quantity is of course as applicable to them, as to any of the more

complex sounds in which consonants are joined with them. All sounds imply

time; because they are the transient effects of certain percussions which

temporarily agitate the air, an element that tends to silence. When mighty

winds have swept over sea and land, and the voice of the _Ocean_ is raised,

he speaks to the towering cliffs in the deep tones of a _long_ quantity;

the rolling billows, as they meet the shore, pronounce the long-drawn

syllables of his majestic elocution. But see him again in gentler mood;

stand upon the beach and listen to the rippling of his more frequent waves:

he will teach you _short_ quantity, as well as long. In common parlance, to

avoid tediousness, to save time, and to adapt language to circumstances, we

usually utter words with great rapidity, and in comparatively short

quantity. But in oratory, and sometimes in ordinary reading, those sounds

which are best fitted to fill and gratify the ear, should be sensibly

protracted, especially in emphatic words; and even the shortest syllable,

must be so lengthened as to be uttered with perfect clearness: otherwise

the performance will be judged defective.

OBS. 10.--Some of the vowels are usually uttered in longer time than

others; but whether the former are naturally long, and the latter naturally

short, may be doubted: the common opinion is, that they are. But one author

at least denies it; and says, "We must explode the pretended natural

epithets _short_ and _long_ given to our vowels, independent on accent: and

we must observe that our silent _e_ final lengthens not its syllable,

unless the preceding vowel be accented."--_Mackintosh's Essay on E. Gram._,

p. 232. The distinction of long and short vowels which has generally

obtained, and the correspondences which some writers have laboured to

establish between them, have always been to me sources of much

embarrassment. It would appear, that in one or two instances, sounds that

differ only in length, or time, are commonly recognized as different

elements; and that grammarians and orthoëpists, perceiving this, have

attempted to carry out the analogy, and to find among what they call the

long vowels a parent sound for each of the short ones. In doing this, they

have either neglected to consult the ear, or have not chosen to abide by

its verdict. I suppose the vowels heard in _pull_ and _pool_ would be

necessarily identified, if the former were protracted or the latter

shortened; and perhaps there would be a like coalescence of those heard in

_of_ and _all_, were they tried in the same way, though I am not sure of

it. In protracting the _e_ in _met_, and the _i_ in _ship_, ignorance or

carelessness might perhaps, with the help of our orthoëpists, convert the

former word into _mate_ and the latter into _sheep_; and, as this would

breed confusion in the language, the avoiding of the similarity may perhaps

be a sufficient reason for confining these two sounds of _e_ and _i_, to

that short quantity in which they cannot be mistaken. But to suppose, as

some do, that the protraction of _u_ in _tun_ would identify it with the

_o_ in _tone_, surpasses any notion I have of what stupidity may

misconceive. With one or two exceptions, therefore, it appears to me that

each of the pure vowel sounds is of such a nature, that it may be readily

recognized by its own peculiar quality or tone, though it be made as long

or as short as it is possible for any sound of the human voice to be. It is

manifest that each of the vowel sounds heard in _ate, at, arm, all, eel,

old, ooze, us_, may be protracted to the entire extent of a full breath

slowly expended, and still be precisely the same one simple sound;[103]

and, on the contrary, that all but one may be shortened to the very minimum

of vocality, and still be severally known without danger of mistake. The

prolation of a pure vowel places the organs of utterance in that particular

position which the sound of the letter requires, and then _holds them

unmoved_ till we have given to it all the length we choose.

OBS. 11.--In treating of the quantity and quality of the vowels, Walker

says, "The first distinction of sound that seems to obtrude itself upon us

when we utter the vowels, is a long and a short sound, according to the

greater or less duration of time taken up in pronouncing them. This

distinction is so obvious as to have been adopted in all languages, and is

that to which we annex _clearer ideas than to any other_; and though the

short sounds of some vowels have not in our language been classed with

sufficient accuracy with their parent long ones, yet this has bred but

little confusion, as vowels long and short are always sufficiently

distinguishable."--_Principles_, No. 63. Again: "But though the terms long

and short, as applied to vowels, are pretty generally understood, an

accurate ear will easily perceive that these terms do not always mean the

long and short sounds of the respective vowels to which they are applied;

for, if we choose to be directed by the ear, in denominating vowels long or

short, we must certainly give these appellations to those sounds only which

have _exactly the same radical tone_, and differ only in the long or short

emission of that tone."--_Ib._, No. 66. He then proceeds to state his

opinion that the vowel sounds heard in the following words are thus

correspondent: _tame, them; car, carry; wall, want; dawn, gone; theme, him;

tone_, nearly _tun; pool, pull_. As to the long sounds of _i_ or _y_, and

of _u_, these two being diphthongal, he supposes the short sound of each to

be no other than the short sound of its latter element _ee_ or _oo_. Now to

me most of this is exceedingly unsatisfactory; and I have shown why.

OBS. 12.--If men's notions of the length and shortness of vowels are the

clearest ideas they have in relation to the elements of speech, how comes

it to pass that of all the disputable points in grammar, this is the most

perplexed with contrarieties of opinion? In coming before the world as an

author, no man intends to place himself clearly in the wrong; yet, on the

simple powers of the letters, we have volumes of irreconcilable doctrines.

A great connoisseur in things of this sort, who professes to have been long

"in the habit of listening to sounds of every description, and that with

more than ordinary attention," declares in a recent and expensive work,

that "in every language we find the vowels _incorrectly classed_"; and, in

order to give to "the simple elements of English utterance" a better

explanation than others have furnished, he devotes to a new analysis of our

alphabet the ample space of twenty octavo pages, besides having several

chapters on subjects connected with it. And what do his twenty pages amount

to? I will give the substance of them in ten lines, and the reader may

judge. He does not tell us _how many_ elementary sounds there are; but,

professing to arrange the vowels, long and short, "in the order in which

they are naturally found," as well as to show of the consonants that the

mutes and liquids form correspondents in regular pairs, he presents a

scheme which I abbreviate as follows. VOWELS: 1. _A_, as in _=all_ and

_wh~at_, or _o_, as in _orifice_ and _n~ot_; 2. _U--=urn_ and _h~ut_, or

_l=ove_ and _c~ome_; 3. _O--v=ote_ and _ech~o_; 4. _A--=ah_ and _h~at_; 5.

_A--h=azy_, no short sound; 6. _E--=e=el_ and _it_; 7. _E--m=ercy_ and

_m~et_; 8. _O--pr=ove_ and _ad~o_; 9. _OO--t=o=ol_ and _f~o~ot_; 10.

_W--vo=w_ and _la~w_; 11. _Y_--(like the first _e_--) _s=yntax_ and

_dut~y_. DIPHTHONGS: 1. _I_--as _ah-ee_; 2. _U_--as _ee-oo_; 3. _OU_--as

_au-oo_. CONSONANTS: 1. Mutes,--_c_ or _s, f, h, k_ or _q, p, t, th sharp,

sh_; 2. Liquids,--_l_, which has no corresponding mute, and _z, v, r, ng,

m, n, th flat_ and _j_, which severally correspond to the eight mutes in

their order; 3. Subliquids,--_g hard, b_, and _d_. See "Music of Nature,"

by _William Gardiner_, p. 480, and after.

OBS. 13.--Dr. Rush comes to the explanation of the powers of the letters as

the confident first revealer of nature's management and wisdom; and hopes

to have laid the foundation of a system of instruction in reading and

oratory, which, if adopted and perfected, "will beget a similarity of

opinion and practice," and "be found to possess an excellence which must

grow into sure and irreversible favour."--_Phil. of the Voice_, p. 404. "We

have been willing," he says, "_to believe, on faith alone_, that nature is

wise in the contrivance of speech. Let us now show, by our works of

analysis, how she manages the _simple elements_ of the voice, in the

production of their unbounded combinations."--_Ibid._, p. 44. Again: "Every

one, with peculiar self-satisfaction, thinks he reads well, and yet all

read differently: there is, however, _but one mode_ of reading

well."--_Ib._, p. 403. That one mode, some say, his philosophy alone

teaches. Of that, others may judge. I shall only notice here what seems to

be his fundamental position, that, on all the vocal elements of language,

nature has stamped duplicity. To establish this extraordinary doctrine, he

first attempts to prove, that "the letter _a_, as heard in the word _day_,"

combines two distinguishable yet inseparable sounds; that it is a compound

of what he calls, with reference to vowels and syllables in general, "the

radical and the vanishing movement of the voice,"--a single and indivisible

element in which "two sounds are heard continuously successive," the sounds

of _a_ and _e_ as in _ale_ and _eve_. He does not know that some

grammarians have contended that _ay_ in _day_ is a proper diphthong, in

which both the vowels are heard; but, so pronouncing it himself, infers

from the experiment, that there is no simpler sound of the vowel a. If this

inference is not wrong, the word _shape_ is to be pronounced _sha-epe_;

and, in like manner, a multitude of other words will acquire a new element

not commonly heard in them.

OBS. 14.--But the doctrine stops not here. The philosopher examines, in

some similar way, the other simple vowel sounds, and finds a beginning and

an end, a base and an apex, a radical and a vanishing movement, to them

all; and imagines a sufficient warrant from nature to divide them all "into

two parts," and to convert most of them into diphthongs, as well as to

include all diphthongs with them, as being altogether as simple and

elementary. Thus he begins with confounding all distinction between

diphthongs and simple vowels; except that which he makes for himself when

he admits "the radical and the vanish," the first half of a sound and the

last, to have no difference in quality. This admission is made with respect

to the vowels heard in _ooze, eel, err, end_, and _in_, which he calls, not

diphthongs, but "monothongs." But in the _a_ of _ale_, he hears _=a'-ee_;

in that of _an, ~a'-~e_; (that is, the short _a_ followed by something of

the sound of _e_ in _err_;) in that of _art, ah'~-e_; in that of _all,

awe'-~e_; in the _i_ of _isle, =i'-ee_; in the _o_ of _old, =o'-oo_; in the

proper diphthong _ou, ou'-oo_; in the _oy_ of _boy_, he knows not what.

After his explanation of these mysteries, he says, "The seven radical

sounds with their vanishes, which have been described, include, as far as I

can perceive, all the elementary diphthongs of the English

language."--_Ib._, p. 60. But all the sounds of the vowel _u_, whether

diphthongal or simple, are excluded from his list, unless he means to

represent one of them by the _e_ in _err_; and the complex vowel sound

heard in _voice_ and _boy_, is confessedly omitted on account of a doubt

whether it consists of two sounds or of three! The elements which he

enumerates are thirty-five; but if _oi_ is not a triphthong, they are to be

thirty-six. Twelve are called "_Tonics_; and are heard in the usual sound

of the separated _Italics_, in the following words: _A_-ll, _a_-rt, _a_-n,

_a_-le, _ou_-r, _i_-sle, _o_-ld, _ee_-l, _oo_-ze, _e_-rr, _e_-nd,

_i_-n,"--_Ib._, p. 53. Fourteen are called "_Subtonics_; and are marked by

the separated Italics, in the following words: _B_-ow, _d_-are, _g_-ive,

_v_-ile, _z_-one, _y_-e, _w_-o, _th_-en, a-_z_-ure, si-_ng_, _l_-ove,

_m_-ay, _n_-ot, _r_-oe."--_Ib._, p. 54. Nine are called "_Atonics_; they

are heard in the words, U-_p_, ou-_t_, ar-_k_, i-_f_, ye-_s, h_-e,

_wh_-eat, _th_-in, pu-_sh_."--_Ib._, p. 56. My opinion of this scheme of

the alphabet the reader will have anticipated.

IV. FORMS OF THE LETTERS.

In printed books of the English language, the Roman characters are

generally employed; sometimes, the _Italic_; and occasionally, the [Font

change: Old English]: but in handwriting, [Font change: Script letters] are

used, the forms of which are peculiarly adapted to the pen.

Characters of different sorts or sizes should never be _needlessly mixed_;

because facility of reading, as well as the beauty of a book, depends much

upon the regularity of its letters.

In the ordinary forms of the Roman letters, every thick stroke that slants,

slants from the left to the right downwards, except the middle stroke in Z;

and every thin stroke that slants, slants from the left to the right

upwards.

Italics are chiefly used to distinguish emphatic or remarkable words: in

the Bible, they show what words were supplied by the translators.

In manuscripts, a single line drawn under a word is meant for Italics; a

double line, for small capitals; a triple line, for full capitals.

In every kind of type or character, the letters have severally _two forms_,

by which they are distinguished as _capitals_ and _small letters_. Small

letters constitute the body of every work; and capitals are used for the

sake of eminence and distinction. The titles of books, and the heads of

their principal divisions, are printed wholly in capitals. Showbills,

painted signs, and short inscriptions, commonly appear best in full

capitals. Some of these are so copied in books; as, "I found an altar

with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD."--_Acts_, xvii, 23. "And they

set up over his head, his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF

THE JEWS."--_Matt._, xxvii, 37.

RULES FOR THE USE OF CAPITALS.

RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

When particular books are mentioned by their names, the chief words in

their titles begin with capitals, and the other letters are small; as,

"Pope's Essay on Man"--"the Book of Common Prayer"--"the Scriptures of the

Old and New Testaments." [104]

RULE II.--FIRST WORDS.

The first word of every distinct sentence, or of any clause separately

numbered or paragraphed, should begin with a capital; as, "Rejoice

evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the

will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise

not prophesyings. Prove all things: hold fast that which is good."--_1

Thess._, v, 16--21.

"14. He has given his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

15. _For_ quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

16. _For_ protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for murders:

17. _For_ cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

18. _For_ imposing taxes on us without our consent:" &c.

_Declaration of American Independence._

RULE III.--OF THE DEITY.

All names of the Deity, and sometimes their emphatic substitutes, should

begin with capitals; as, "God, Jehovah, the Almighty, the Supreme Being,

Divine Providence, the Messiah, the Comforter, the Father, the Son, the

Holy Spirit, the Lord of Sabaoth."

"The hope of my spirit turns trembling to Thee."--_Moore_.

RULE IV.--PROPER NAMES.

Proper names, of every description, should always begin with capitals; as,

"Saul of Tarsus, Simon Peter, Judas Iscariot, England, London, the Strand,

the Thames, the Pyrenees, the Vatican, the Greeks, the Argo and the

Argonauts."

RULE V.--OF TITLES.

Titles of office or honour, and epithets of distinction, applied to

persons, begin usually with capitals; as, "His Majesty William the Fourth,

Chief Justice Marshall, Sir Matthew Hale, Dr. Johnson, the Rev. Dr.

Chalmers, Lewis the Bold, Charles the Second, James the Less, St.

Bartholomew, Pliny the Younger, Noah Webster, Jun., Esq."

RULE VI.--ONE CAPITAL.

Those compound proper names which by analogy incline to a union of their

parts without a hyphen, should be so written, and have but one capital: as,

"Eastport, Eastville, Westborough, Westfield, Westtown, Whitehall,

Whitechurch, Whitehaven, Whiteplains, Mountmellick, Mountpleasant,

Germantown, Germanflats, Blackrock, Redhook, Kinderhook, Newfoundland,

Statenland, Newcastle, Northcastle, Southbridge, Fairhaven, Dekalb,

Deruyter, Lafayette, Macpherson."

RULE VII.--TWO CAPITALS.

The compounding of a name under one capital should be avoided when the

general analogy of other similar terms suggests a separation under two; as,

"The chief mountains of Ross-shire are Ben Chat, _Benchasker_, Ben Golich,

Ben Nore, Ben Foskarg, and Ben Wyvis."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 311.

Write _Ben Chasker_. So, when the word _East, West, North_, or _South_, as

part of a name, denotes relative position, or when the word _New_

distinguishes a place by contrast, we have generally separate words and two

capitals; as, "East Greenwich, West Greenwich, North Bridgewater, South

Bridgewater, New Jersey, New Hampshire."

RULE VIII.--COMPOUNDS.

When any adjective or common noun is made a distinct part of a compound

proper name, it ought to begin with a capital; as, "The United States, the

Argentine Republic, the Peak of Teneriffe, the Blue Ridge, the Little

Pedee, Long Island, Jersey City, Lower Canada, Green Bay, Gretna Green,

Land's End, the Gold Coast."

RULE IX.--APPOSITION.

When a common and a proper name are associated merely to explain each

other, it is in general sufficient, if the proper name begin with a

capital, and the appellative, with a small letter; as, "The prophet Elisha,

Matthew the publican, the brook Cherith, the river Euphrates, the Ohio

river, Warren county, Flatbush village, New York city."

RULE X.--PERSONIFICATIONS.

The name of an object personified, when it conveys an idea strictly

individual, should begin with a capital; as, "Upon this, _Fancy_ began

again to bestir herself."--_Addison_. "Come, gentle _Spring_, ethereal

mildness, come."--_Thomson_.

RULE XI.--DERIVATIVES.

Words derived from proper names, and having direct reference to particular

persons, places, sects, or nations, should begin with capitals; as,

"Platonic, Newtonian, Greek, or Grecian, Romish, or Roman, Italic, or

Italian, German, or Germanic, Swedish, Turkish, Chinese, Genoese, French,

Dutch, Scotch, Welsh:" so, perhaps, "to Platonize, Grecize, Romanize,

Italicize, Latinize, or Frenchify."

RULE XII.--OF I AND O.

The words _I_ and _O_ should always be capitals; as, "Praise the Lord, O

Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion."--_Psalm_ cxlvii. "O wretched man that I

am!"--"For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not;

but what I hate, that do I."--_Rom._, vii, 24 and 15.

RULE XIII.--OF POETRY.

Every line in poetry, except what is regarded as making but one verse with

the line preceding, should begin with a capital; as,

"Our sons their fathers' failing language see,

And such as Chaucer is, shall Dryden be."--_Pope_.

Of the exception, some editions of the Psalms in Metre are full of

examples; as,

"Happy the man whose tender care

relieves the poor distress'd!

When troubles compass him around,

the Lord shall give him rest."

_Psalms with Com. Prayer, N. Y._, 1819, Ps. xli.

RULE XIV.--OF EXAMPLES.

The first word of a full example, of a distinct speech, or of a direct

quotation, should begin with a capital; as, "Remember this maxim: 'Know

thyself.'"--"Virgil says, 'Labour conquers all things.'"--"Jesus answered

them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?"--_John_, x, 34.

"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not

steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy

mother."--_Luke_, xviii, 20.

RULE XV.--CHIEF WORDS.

Other words of particular importance, and such as denote the principal

subjects treated of, may be distinguished by capitals; and names subscribed

frequently have capitals throughout: as, "In its application to the

Executive, with reference to the Legislative branch of the Government, the

same rule of action should make the President ever anxious to avoid the

exercise of any discretionary authority which can be regulated by

Congress."--ANDREW JACKSON, 1835.

RULE XVI.--NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or reason for

their use: a century ago books were disfigured by their frequency; as,

"Many a Noble _Genius_ is lost for want of _Education_. Which wou'd then be

Much More Liberal. As it was when the _Church_ Enjoy'd her _Possessions_.

And _Learning_ was, in the _Dark Ages_, Preserv'd almost only among the

_Clergy_."--CHARLES LESLIE, 1700; _Divine Right of Tythes_, p. 228.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The letters of the alphabet, read by their names, are equivalent

to words. They are a sort of universal signs, by which we may mark and

particularize objects of any sort, named or nameless; as, "To say,

therefore, that while A and B are both quadrangular, A is more or less

quadrangular than B, is absurd."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 50. Hence they are

used in the sciences as symbols of an infinite variety of things or ideas,

being construed both substantively and adjectively; as, "In ascending from

the note C to D, the interval is equal to an inch; and from D to E, the

same."--_Music of Nature_, p. 293. "We have only to imagine the G clef

placed below it."--_Ib._ Any of their forms may be used for such purposes,

but the custom of each science determines our choice. Thus Algebra employs

small Italics; Music, Roman capitals; Geometry, for the most part, the

same; Astronomy, Greek characters; and Grammar, in some part or other,

every sort. Examples: "Then comes _answer_ like an ABC book."--_Beauties of

Shakspeare_, p. 97. "Then comes _question_ like an _a, b, c_,

book.--_Shakspeare_." See A, B, C, in _Johnson's quarto Dict._

Better:--"like an _A-Bee-Cee_ book."

"For A, his magic pen evokes an O,

And turns the tide of Europe on the foe."--_Young_.

OBS. 2.--A lavish use of capitals defeats the very purpose for which the

letters were distinguished in rank; and carelessness in respect to the

rules which govern them, may sometimes misrepresent the writer's meaning.

On many occasions, however, their use or disuse is arbitrary, and must be

left to the judgement and taste of authors and printers. Instances of this

kind will, for the most part, concern _chief words_, and come under the

fifteenth rule above. In this grammar, the number of rules is increased;

but the foregoing are still perhaps too few to establish an accurate

uniformity. They will however tend to this desirable result; and if doubts

arise in their application, the difficulties will be in particular examples

only, and not in the general principles of the rules. For instance: In 1

Chron., xxix, 10th, some of our Bibles say, "Blessed be thou, LORD God of

Israel our father, for ever and ever." Others say, "Blessed be thou, LORD

God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever." And others, "Blessed be

thou, LORD God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever." The last is wrong,

either in the capital F, or for lack of a comma after _Israel_. The others

differ in meaning; because they construe the word _father_, or _Father_,

differently. Which is right I know not. The first agrees with the Latin

Vulgate, and the second, with the Greek text of the Septuagint; which two

famous versions here disagree, without ambiguity in either.[105]

OBS. 3.--The innumerable discrepancies in respect to capitals, which, to a

greater or less extent, disgrace the very best editions of our most popular

books, are a sufficient evidence of the want of better directions on this

point. In amending the rules for this purpose, I have not been able

entirely to satisfy myself; and therefore must needs fail to satisfy the

very critical reader. But the public shall have the best instructions I can

give. On Rule 1st, concerning _Books_, it may be observed, that when

particular books or writings are mentioned by other terms than their real

titles, the principle of the rule does not apply. Thus, one may call

Paradise Lost, "Milton's _great poem_;" or the Diversions of Purley, "the

_etymological investigations_ of Horne Tooke." So it is written in the

Bible, "And there was delivered unto him _the book of the prophet_

Esaias."--_Luke_, iv, 17. Because the name of Esaias, or Isaiah, seems to

be the only proper title of his book.

OBS. 4.--On Rule 2d, concerning _First Words_, it may be observed, that the

using of other points than the period, to separate sentences that are

totally distinct in sense, as is sometimes practised in quoting, is no

reason for the omission of capitals at the beginning of such sentences;

but, rather, an obvious reason for their use. Our grammarians frequently

manufacture a parcel of puerile examples, and, with the formality of

apparent quotation, throw them together in the following manner: "He is

above disguise;" "we serve under a good master;" "he rules over a willing

people;" "we should do nothing beneath our character."--_Murray's Gram._,

p. 118. These sentences, and all others so related, should, unquestionably,

begin with capitals. Of themselves, they are distinct enough to be

separated by the period and a dash. With examples of one's own making, the

quotation points may be used or not, as the writer pleases; but not on

their insertion or omission, nor even on the quality of the separating

point, depends in all cases the propriety or impropriety of using initial

capitals. For example: "The Future Tense is the form of the verb which

denotes future time; as, John _will come_, you shall go, they will learn,

the sun will rise to-morrow, he will return next week."--_Frazee's Improved

Gram._, p. 38; _Old Edition_, 35. To say nothing of the punctuation here

used, it is certain that the initial words, _you, they, the_, and _he_,

should have commenced with capitals.

OBS. 5.--On Rule 3d, concerning _Names of Deity_, it may be observed, that

the words _Lord_ and _God_ take the nature of proper names, only when they

are used in reference to the Eternal Divinity. The former, as a title of

honour to men, is usually written with a capital; but, as a common

appellative, with a small letter. The latter, when used with reference to

any fabulous deity, or when made plural to speak of many, should seldom, if

ever, begin with a capital; for we do not write with a capital any common

name which we do not mean to honour: as, "Though there be that are called

_gods_, whether in heaven or in earth--as there be _gods_ many, and _lords_

many."--_1 Cor._, viii, 5. But a diversity of design or conception in

respect to this kind of distinction, has produced great diversity

concerning capitals, not only in original writings, but also in reprints

and quotations, not excepting even the sacred books. Example: "The Lord is

a great God, and a great King above all _Gods_."--_Gurney's Essays_, p. 88.

Perhaps the writer here exalts the inferior beings called gods, that he may

honour the one true God the more; but the Bible, in four editions to which

I have turned, gives the word _gods_ no capital. See _Psalms_, xcv, 3. The

word _Heaven_ put for God, begins with a capital; but when taken literally,

it commonly begins with a small letter. Several nouns occasionally

connected with names of the Deity, are written with a very puzzling

diversity: as, "The Lord of _Sabaoth_;"--"The Lord God of _hosts_;"--"The

God of _armies_;"--"The Father of _goodness_;"--"The Giver of all

_good_;"--"The Lord, the righteous _Judge_." All these, and many more like

them, are found sometimes with a capital, and sometimes without. _Sabaoth_,

being a foreign word, and used only in this particular connexion, usually

takes a capital; but the equivalent English words do not seem to require

it. For "_Judge_," in the last example, I would use a capital; for "_good_"

and "_goodness_," in the preceding ones, the small letter: the one is an

eminent name, the others are mere attributes. Alger writes, "_the Son of

Man_," with two capitals; others, perhaps more properly, "_the Son of

man_," with one--wherever that phrase occurs in the New Testament. But, in

some editions, it has no capital at all.

OBS. 6.--On Rule 4th, concerning _Proper Names_, it may be observed, that

the application of this principle supposes the learner to be able to

distinguish between proper names and common appellatives. Of the difference

between these two classes of words, almost every child that can speak, must

have formed some idea. I once noticed that a very little boy, who knew no

better than to call a pigeon a turkey because the creature had feathers,

was sufficiently master of this distinction, to call many individuals by

their several names, and to apply the common words, _man, woman, boy,

girl_, &c., with that generality which belongs to them. There is,

therefore, some very plain ground for this rule. But not all is plain, and

I will not veil the cause of embarrassment. It is only an act of imposture,

to pretend that grammar _is easy_, in stead of making it so. Innumerable

instances occur, in which the following assertion is by no means true: "The

distinction between a common and a proper noun is _very

obvious_."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p 32. Nor do the remarks of this author, or

those of any other that I am acquainted with, remove any part of the

difficulty. We are told by this gentleman, (in language incorrigibly bad,)

that, "_Nouns_ which denote the genus, species, or variety of beings or

things, are always common; as, _tree_, the genus; _oak, ash, chestnut,

poplar_, different species; and _red oak, white oak, black oak_,

varieties."--_Ib._, p. 32. Now, as it requires _but one noun_ to denote

either a genus or a species, I know not how to conceive of _those_ "_nouns_

which denote _the genus_ of things," except as of other confusion and

nonsense; and, as for the three varieties of oak, there are surely no

"_nouns_" here to denote them, unless he will have _red, white_, and

_black_ to be nouns. But what shall we say of--"the Red sea, the White sea,

the Black sea;" or, with two capitals, "Red Sea, White Sea, Black Sea," and

a thousand other similar terms, which are neither proper names unless they

are written with capitals, nor written with capitals unless they are first

judged to be proper names? The simple phrase, "the united states," has

nothing of the nature of a proper name; but what is the character of the

term, when written with two capitals, "the United States?" If we contend

that it is not then a proper name, we make our country anonymous. And what

shall we say to those grammarians who contend, that "_Heaven, Hell, Earth,

Sun_, and _Moon_, are proper names;" and that, as such, they should be

written with capitals? See _Churchill's Gram._, p. 380.

OBS. 7.--It would seem that most, if not all, proper names had originally

some common signification, and that very many of our ordinary words and

phrases have been converted into proper names, merely by being applied to

particular persons, places, or objects, and receiving the distinction of

capitals. How many of the oceans, seas, lakes, capes, islands, mountains,

states, counties, streets, institutions, buildings, and other things, which

we constantly particularize, have no other proper names than such as are

thus formed, and such as are still perhaps, in many instances, essentially

appellative! The difficulties respecting these will be further noticed

below. A proper noun is the name of some particular individual, group, or

people; as, _Adam, Boston_, the _Hudson_, the _Azores_, the _Andes_, the

_Romans_, the _Jews_, the _Jesuits_, the _Cherokees_. This is as good a

definition as I can give of a proper noun or name. Thus we commonly

distinguish the names of particular persons, places, nations, tribes, or

sects, with capitals. Yet we name the sun, the moon, the equator, and many

other particular objects, without a capital; for the word the may give a

particular meaning to a common noun, without converting it into a proper

name: but if we say _Sol_, for the sun, or _Luna_, for the moon, we write

it with a capital. With some apparent inconsistency, we commonly write the

word _Gentiles_ with a capital, but _pagans, heathens_, and _negroes_,

without: thus custom has marked these names with degradation. The names of

the days of the week, and those of the months, however expressed, appear to

me to partake of the nature of proper names, and to require capitals: as,

_Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday_; or, as

the Friends denominate them, _Firstday, Secondday, Thirdday, Fourthday,

Fifthday, Sixthday, Seventhday_. So, if they will not use _January,

February_, &c., they should write as proper names their _Firstmonth,

Secondmonth_, &c. The Hebrew names for the months, were also proper nouns:

to wit, Abib, Zif, Sivan, Thamuz, Ab, Elul, Tisri, Marchesvan, Chisleu,

Tebeth, Shebat, Adar; the year, with the ancient Jews, beginning, as ours

once did, in March.

OBS. 8.--On Rule 5th, concerning _Titles of Honour_, it may be observed,

that names of office or rank, however high, do not require capitals merely

as such; for, when we use them alone in their ordinary sense, or simply

place them in apposition with proper names, without intending any

particular honour, we begin them with a small letter: as, "the emperor

Augustus;"--"our mighty sovereign, Abbas Carascan;"--"David the

king;"--"Tidal king of nations;"--"Bonner, bishop of London;"--"The sons of

Eliphaz, the first-born you of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho,

duke Kenaz, duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek."--_Gen._, xxxvi, 15.

So, sometimes, in addresses in which even the greatest respect is intended

to be shown: as, "O _sir_, we came indeed down at the first time to buy

food."--_Gen._, xliii, 20. "O my _lord_, let thy servant, I pray thee,

speak a word in my _lord's_ ears."--_Gen._, xliv, 18. The Bible, which

makes small account of worldly honours, seldom uses capitals under this

rule; but, in some editions, we find "Nehemiah the _Tirshatha_," and "Herod

the _Tetrarch_," each with a needless capital. Murray, in whose

illustrations the word _king_ occurs early one hundred times, seldom

honours his Majesty with a capital; and, what is more, in all this mawkish

mentioning of royalty, nothing is said of it _that is worth knowing_.

Examples: "The _king_ and the queen had put on their robes."--_Murray's

Gram._, p. 154. "The _king_, with his life-guard, has just passed through

the village."--_Ib._, 150. "The _king_ of Great Britain's

dominions."--_Ib._, 45. "On a sudden appeared the _king_."--_Ib._, 146.

"Long live the _King_!"--_Ib._, 146. "On which side soever the _king_ cast

his eyes."--_Ib._, 156. "It is the _king_ of Great Britain's."--_Ib._, 176.

"He desired to be their _king_."--_Ib._, 181. "They desired him to be their

_king_."--_Ib._, 181. "He caused himself to be proclaimed _king_."--_Ib._,

182. These examples, and thousands more as simple and worthless, are among

the pretended quotations by which this excellent man, thought "to promote

the cause of virtue, as well as of learning!"

OBS. 9.--On Rule 6th, concerning _One Capital for Compounds_, I would

observe, that perhaps there is nothing more puzzling in grammar, than to

find out, amidst all the diversity of random writing, and wild guess-work

in printing, the true way in which the compound names of places should be

written. For example: What in Greek was "_ho Areios Pagos_," the _Martial

Hill_, occurs twice in the New Testament: once, in the accusative case,

"_ton Areion Pagan_," which is rendered _Areopagus_; and once, in the

genitive, "_tou Areiou Pagou_," which, in different copies of the English

Bible is made _Mars' Hill, Mars' hill, Mars'-hill, Marshill, Mars Hill_,

and perhaps _Mars hill_. But if _Mars_ must needs be put in the possessive

case, (which I doubt,) they are all wrong: for then it should be _Mars's

Hill_; as the name _Campus Martins_ is rendered "_Mars's Field_," in

Collier's Life of Marcus Antoninus. We often use nouns adjectively; and

_Areios_ is an adjective: I would therefore write this name _Mars Hill_, as

we write _Bunker Hill_. Again: _Whitehaven_ and _Fairhaven_ are commonly

written with single capitals; but, of six or seven _towns_ called

_Newhaven_ or _New Haven_, some have the name in one word and some in two.

_Haven_ means a _harbour_, and the words, _New Haven_, written separately,

would naturally be understood of a harbour: the close compound is obviously

more suitable for the name of a city or town. In England, compounds of this

kind are more used than in America; and in both countries the tendency of

common usage seems to be, to contract and consolidate such terms. Hence the

British counties are almost all named by compounds ending with the word

_shire_; as, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire,

Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, &c. But the best books we

have, are full of discrepancies and errors in respect to names, whether

foreign or domestic; as, "_Ulswater_ is somewhat smaller. The handsomest is

_Derwentwater_."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 212. "_Ulswater_, a lake of England,"

&c. "_Derwent-Water_, a lake in Cumberland," &c.--_Univ. Gazetteer_,

"_Ulleswater_, lake, Eng. situated partly in Westmoreland,"

&c.--_Worcester's Gaz._ "_Derwent Water_, lake, Eng. in

Cumberland."--_Ibid._ These words, I suppose, should be written _Ullswater_

and _Derwentwater_.

OBS. 10.--An affix, or termination, differs from a distinct word; and is

commonly understood otherwise, though it may consist of the same letters

and have the same sound. Thus, if I were to write _Stow Bridge_, it would

be understood of a _bridge_; if _Stowbridge_, of a _town_: or the latter

might even be the name of a _family_. So _Belleisle_ is the proper name of

a _strait_; and _Belle Isle_ of several different _islands_ in France and

America. Upon this plain distinction, and the manifest inconvenience of any

violation of so clear an analogy of the language, depends the propriety of

most of the corrections which I shall offer under Rule 6th. But if the

inhabitants of any place choose to call their town a creek, a river, a

harbour, or a bridge, and to think it officious in other men to pretend to

know better, they may do as they please. If between them and their

correctors there lie a mutual charge of misnomer, it is for the literary

world to determine who is right. Important names are sometimes acquired by

mere accident. Those which are totally inappropriate, no reasonable design

can have bestowed. Thus a fancied resemblance between the island of

Aquidneck, in Narraganset Bay, and that of Rhodes, in the Ægean Sea, has

at length given to a _state_, or _republic_, which lies _chiefly on the

main land_, the absurd name of _Rhode Island_; so that now, to distinguish

Aquidneck itself, geographers resort to the strange phrase, "_the Island of

Rhode Island_."--_Balbi_. The official title of this little republic, is,

"_the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations_." But this name is

not only too long for popular use, but it is doubtful in its construction

and meaning. It is capable of being understood in four different ways. 1. A

stranger to the fact, would not learn from this phrase, that the

"Providence Plantations" are included in the "State of Rhode Island," but

would naturally infer the contrary. 2. The phrase, "Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations," may be supposed to mean "Rhode Island

[Plantations] and Providence Plantations." 3. It may be understood to mean

"Rhode Island and Providence [i.e., two] Plantations." 4. It may be taken

for "Rhode Island" [i.e., as an island,] and the "Providence Plantations."

Which, now, of all these did Charles the Second mean, when he gave the

colony this name, with his charter, in 1663? It happened that he meant the

last; but I doubt whether any man in the state, except perhaps some learned

lawyer, can _parse_ the phrase, with any certainty of its true construction

and meaning. This old title can never be used, except in law. To write the

popular name "_Rhodeisland_," as Dr. Webster has it in his American

Spelling-Book, p. 121, would be some improvement upon it; but to make it

_Rhodeland_, or simply _Rhode_, would be much more appropriate. As for

_Rhode Island_, it ought to mean nothing but the island; and it is, in

fact, _an abuse of language_ to apply it otherwise. In one of his parsing

lessons, Sanborn gives us for good English the following tautology: "_Rhode

Island_ derived its name from the _island of Rhode Island_."--_Analytical

Gram._, p. 37. Think of that sentence!

OBS. 11.--On Rules 7th and 8th, concerning _Two Capitals for Compounds_, I

would observe, with a general reference to those _compound terms_ which

designate particular places or things, that it is often no easy matter to

determine, either from custom or from analogy, whether such common words as

may happen to be embraced in them, are to be accounted parts of compound

proper names and written with capitals, or to be regarded as appellatives,

requiring small letters according to Rule 9th. Again the question may be,

whether they ought not to be joined to the foregoing word, according to

Rule 6th. Let the numerous examples under these four rules be duly

considered: for usage, in respect to each of them, is diverse; so much so,

that we not unfrequently find it contradictory, in the very same page,

paragraph, or even sentence. Perhaps we may reach some principles of

uniformity and consistency, by observing the several different kinds of

phrases thus used. 1. We often add an adjective to an old proper name to

make a new one, or to serve the purpose of distinction: as, Now York, New

Orleans, New England, New Bedford; North America, South America; Upper

Canada, Lower Canada; Great Pedee, Little Pedee; East Cambridge, West

Cambridge; Troy, West Troy. All names of this class require two capitals:

except a few which are joined together; as _Northampton_, which is

sometimes more analogically written _North Hampton_. 2. We often use the

possessive case with some common noun after it; as, Behring's Straits,

Baffin's Bay, Cook's Inlet, Van Diemen's Land, Martha's Vineyard, Sacket's

Harbour, Glenn's Falls. Names of this class generally have more than one

capital; and perhaps all of them should be written so, except such as

coalesce; as, Gravesend, Moorestown, the Crowsnest. 3. We sometimes use two

common nouns with _of_ between them; as, the Cape of Good Hope, the Isle of

Man, the Isles of Shoals, the Lake of the Woods, the Mountains of the Moon.

Such nouns are usually written with more than one capital. I would

therefore write "the Mount of Olives" in this manner, though it is not

commonly found so in the Bible. 4. We often use an adjective and a common

noun; as, the Yellow sea, the Indian ocean, the White hills, Crooked lake,

the Red river; or, with two capitals, the Yellow Sea, the Indian Ocean, the

White Hills, Crooked Lake, the Red River. In this class of names the

adjective is the distinctive word, and always has a capital; respecting the

other term, usage is divided, but seems rather to favour two capitals. 5.

We frequently put an appellative, or common noun, before or after a proper

name; as, New York city, Washington street, Plymouth county, Greenwich

village. "The Carondelet canal extends from the city of New Orleans to the

bayou St. John, connecting lake Pontchartrain with the Mississippi

river."--_Balbi's Geog._ This is apposition. In phrases of this kind, the

common noun often has a capital, but it seldom absolutely requires it; and

in general a small letter is more correct, except in some few instances in

which the common noun is regarded as a permanent part of the name; as in

_Washington City, Jersey City_. The words _Mount, Cape, Lake_, and _Bay_,

are now generally written with capitals when connected with their proper

names; as, Mount Hope, Cape Cod, Lake Erie, Casco Bay. But they are not

always so written, even in modern books; and in the Bible we read of "mount

Horeb, mount Sinai, mount Zion, mount Olivet," and many others, always with

a single capital.

OBS. 12.--In modern compound names, the hyphen is now less frequently used

than it was a few years ago. They seldom, if ever, need it, unless they are

employed as adjectives; and then there is a manifest propriety in inserting

it. Thus the phrase, "the New London Bridge," can be understood only of a

new bridge in London; and if we intend by it a bridge in New London, we

must say, "the New-London Bridge." So "the New York Directory" is not

properly a directory for New York, but a new directory for York. I have

seen several books with titles which, for this reason, were evidently

erroneous. With respect to the ancient Scripture names, of this class, we

find, in different editions of the Bible, as well as in other books, many

discrepancies. The reader may see a very fair specimen of them, by

comparing together the last two vocabularies of Walker's Key. He will there

meet with an abundance of examples like these: "Uz'zen Shérah,

Uzzen-shérah; Talitha Cúmi, Talithacúmi; Náthan Mélech, Nathan'-melech;

A'bel Mehólath, Abel-mehólah; Házel Elpóni, Hazelepóni; Az'noth Tábor,

Asnoth-tábor; Báal Ham'on, Baal-hámon; Hámon Gog, Ham'ongog; Báal Zébub,

Bäal'zebub; Shéthar Boz'näi, Shether-boz'näi; Meródach Bal'adan,

Merodach-bal'adan." All these glaring inconsistencies, and many more, has

Dr. Webster restereotyped from Walker, in his octavo Dictionary! I see no

more need of the hyphen in such names, than in those of modern times. They

ought, in some instances, to be joined together without it; and, in others,

to be written separately, with double capitals. But special regard should

be had to the ancient text. The phrase, "Talitha, cumi,"--i. e., "Damsel,

arise,"--is found in some Bibles, "Talitha-cumi;" but this form of it is no

more correct than either of those quoted above. See _Mark_, v, 41st, in

_Griesbach's Greek Testament_, where a comma divides this expression.

OBS. 13.--On Rule 10th, concerning _Personifications_, it may be well to

observe, that not every noun which is the name of an object personified,

must begin with a capital, but only such as have a resemblance to _proper

nouns_; for the word _person_ itself, or _persons_, or any other common

noun denoting persons or a person, demands no such distinction. And proper

names of persons are so marked, not with any reference to personality, but

because they are _proper nouns_--or names of individuals, and not names of

sorts. Thus, Æsop's viper and file are both personified, where it is

recorded, "'What ails thee, fool?' says the _file_ to the _viper_;" but the

fable gives to these names no capitals, except in the title of the story.

It may here be added, that, according to their definitions of

personification, our grammarians and the teachers of rhetoric have hitherto

formed no very accurate idea of what constitutes the figure. Lindley Murray

says, "PERSONIFICATION [,] or PROSOPOPOEIA, is that figure by which we

attribute _life_ and _action_ to _inanimate_ objects."--_Octavo Gram._, p.

346; _Duodecimo_, p. 211. Now this is all wrong, doubly wrong,--wrong in

relation to what personification is, and wrong too in its specification of

the objects which may be personified. For "_life and action_" not being

peculiar to _persons_, there must be something else than these ascribed, to

form the figure; and, surely, the objects which _Fancy_ thinks it right to

personify, are not always "_inanimate_." I have elsewhere defined the thing

as follows: "_Personification_ is a figure by which, in imagination, we

ascribe intelligence and personality to unintelligent beings or abstract

qualities."--_Inst._, p. 234.

OBS. 14.--On Rule 11th, concerning _Derivatives_, I would observe, that not

only the proper adjectives, to which this rule more particularly refers,

but also nouns, and even verbs, derived from such adjectives, are

frequently, if not generally, written with an initial capital. Thus, from

_Greece_, we have _Greek, Greeks, Greekish, Greekling, Grecise, Grecism,

Grecian, Grecians, Grecianize_. So Murray, copying Blair, speaks of

"_Latinised English_;" and, again, of style strictly "_English_, without

_Scotticisms_ or _Gallicisms_."--_Mur. Gram._, 8vo, p. 295; _Blair's

Lect._, pp. 93 and 94. But it is questionable, how far this principle

respecting capitals ought to be carried. The examples in Dr. Johnson's

quarto Dictionary exhibit the words, _gallicisms, anglicisms, hebrician,

latinize, latinized, judaized_, and _christianized_, without capitals; and

the words _Latinisms, Grecisms, Hebraisms_, and _Frenchified_, under like

circumstances, with them. Dr. Webster also defines _Romanize_, "To

_Latinize_; to conform to _Romish_ opinions." In the examples of Johnson,

there is a manifest inconsistency. Now, with respect to adjectives from

proper names, and also to the nouns formed immediately from such

adjectives, it is clear that they ought to have capitals: no one will

contend that the words _American_ and _Americans_ should be written with a

small _a_. With respect to _Americanism, Gallicism_, and other similar

words, there may be some room to doubt. But I prefer a capital for these.

And, that we may have a uniform rule to go by, I would not stop here, but

would write _Americanize_ and _Americanized_ with a capital also; for it

appears that custom is in favour of thus distinguishing nearly all verbs

and participles of this kind, so long as they retain an obvious reference

to their particular origin. But when any such word ceases to be understood

as referring directly to the proper name, it may properly be written

without a capital. Thus we write _jalap_ from _Jalapa, hermetical_ from

_Hermes, hymeneal_ from _Hymen, simony_, from _Simon, philippic_ from

_Philip_; the verbs, to _hector_, to _romance_, to _japan_, to _christen_,

to _philippize_, to _galvanize_; and the adverbs _hermetically_ and

_jesuitically_, all without a capital: and perhaps _judaize, christianize_,

and their derivatives, may join this class. Dr. Webster's octavo Dictionary

mentions "the _prussic_ acid" and "_prussian_ blue," without a capital; and

so does Worcester's.

OBS. 15.--On Rule 12th, concerning _I_ and _O_, it may be observed, that

although many who occasionally write, are ignorant enough to violate this,

as well as every other rule of grammar, yet no printer ever commits

blunders of this sort. Consequently, the few erroneous examples which will

be exhibited for correction under it, will not be undesigned mistakes.

Among the errors of books, we do not find the printing of the words _I_ and

_O_ in small characters; but the confounding of _O_ with the other

interjection _oh_, is not uncommon even among grammarians. The latter has

no concern with this rule, nor is it equivalent to the former, as a sign:

_O_ is a note of wishing, earnestness, and vocative address; but _oh_ is,

properly, a sign of sorrow, pain, or surprise. In the following example,

therefore, a line from Milton is perverted:--

"_Oh_ thou! that with surpassing glory crowned!"

--_Bucke's Gram._, p. 88.

OBS. 16.--On Rule 13th, concerning _Poetry_, it may be observed, that the

principle applies only to regular versification, which is the common form,

if not the distinguishing mark, of poetical composition. And, in this, the

practice of beginning every line with a capital is almost universal; but I

have seen some books in which it was whimsically disregarded. Such poetry

as that of Macpherson's Ossian, or such as the common translation of the

Psalms, is subjected neither to this rule, nor to the common laws of verse.

OBS. 17.--On Rule 14th, concerning _Examples, Speeches_, and _Quotations_,

it may be observed, that the propriety of beginning these with a capital or

otherwise, depends in some measure upon their form. One may suggest certain

words by way of example, (as _see, saw, seeing, seen_,) and they will

require no capital; or he may sometimes write one half of a sentence in his

own words, and quote the other with the guillemets and no capital; but

whatsoever is cited as being said with other relations of what is called

_person_, requires something to distinguish it from the text into which it

is woven. Thus Cobbett observes, that, "The French, in their Bible, say _Le

Verbe_, where we say _The Word_."--_E. Gram._, p. 21. Cobbett says _the

whole_ of this; but he here refers one short phrase to the French nation,

and an other to the English, not improperly beginning each with a capital,

and further distinguishing them by Italics. Our common Bibles make no use

of the quotation points, but rely solely upon capitals and the common

points, to show where any particular speech begins or ends. In some

instances, the insufficiency of these means is greatly felt,

notwithstanding the extraordinary care of the original writers, in the use

of introductory phrases. Murray says, "When a quotation is brought in

obliquely after a comma, a capital is unnecessary: as, 'Solomon observes,

"that pride goes before destruction."'"--_Octavo Gram._, p. 284. But, as

the word '_that_' belongs not to Solomon, and the next word begins his

assertion, I think we ought to write it, "Solomon observes, that, '_Pride

goeth_ before destruction.'" Or, if we do not mean to quote him literally,

we may omit the guillemets, and say, "Solomon observes that pride goes

before destruction."

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

ERRORS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

[Fist][The improprieties in the following examples are to be corrected

orally by the learner, according to the formules given, or according to

others framed from them with such slight changes as the several quotations

may require. A correct example will occasionally he admitted for the sake

of contrast, or that the learner may see the quoted author's inconsistency.

It will also serve as a block over which stupidity may stumble and wake up.

But a full explanation of what is intended, will be afforded in the Key.]

UNDER RULE I.--OF BOOKS.

"Many a reader of the bible knows not who wrote the acts of the

apostles."--_G. B._

[FORMULE OF CORRECTION.--Not proper, because the words, _bible, acts_, and

_apostles_, here begin with small letters. But, according to Rule 1st,

"When particular books are mentioned by their names, the chief words in

their titles begin with capitals, and the other letters are small."

Therefore, "Bible" should begin with a capital B; and "Acts" and

"Apostles," each with a large A.]

"The sons of Levi, the chief of the fathers, were written in the book of

the chronicles."--SCOTT'S BIBLE: _Neh._, xii, 23. "Are they not written in

the book of the acts of Solomon?"--SCOTT, ALGER: I _Kings_, xi, 41. "Are

they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of

Israel?"--ALGER: _1 Kings_, xxii, 39. "Are they not written in the book of

the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"--SCOTT: _ib._, ver. 45. "Which were

written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the

psalms."--SCOTT: _Luke_, xxiv, 44. "The narrative of which may be seen in

Josephus's History of the Jewish wars."--_Scott's Preface_, p. ix. "This

history of the Jewish war was Josephus's first work, and published about A.

D. 75."--_Note to Josephus_. "'I have read,' says Photius, 'the chronology

of Justus of Tiberias.'"--_Ib., Jos. Life_. "A philosophical grammar,

written by James Harris, Esquire."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 34. "The reader is

referred to Stroud's sketch of the slave laws."--_Anti-Slavery Mag._, i,

25. "But God has so made the bible that it interprets itself."--_Ib._, i,

78. "In 1562, with the help of Hopkins, he completed the psalter."--_Music

of Nature_, p. 283. "Gardiner says this of _Sternhold_; of whom the

universal biographical dictionary and the American encyclopedia affirm,

that he died in 1549."--_Author_. "The title of a Book, to wit: 'English

Grammar in familiar lectures,'" &c.--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 2. "We had not,

at that time, seen Mr. Kirkham's 'Grammar in familiar Lectures.'"--_Ib._,

p. 3. "When you parse, you may spread the Compendium before you."--_Ib._,

p. 53. "Whenever you parse, you may spread the compendium before

you."--_Ib._, p. 113. "Adelung was the author of a grammatical and critical

dictionary of the German language, and other works."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._

"Alley, William, author of 'the poor man's library,' and a translation of

the Pentateuch, died in 1570."--_Ib._

UNDER RULE II.--OF FIRST WORDS.

"Depart instantly: improve your time: forgive us our sins."--_Murray's

Gram._, p. 61.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words _improve_ and _forgive_ begin with

small letters. But, according to Rule 2nd, "The first word of every

distinct sentence should begin with a capital." Therefore, "Improve" should

begin with a capital I; and "Forgive," with a capital F.]

EXAMPLES: "Gold is corrupting; the sea is green; a lion is bold."--_Mur.

Gram._, p. 170; _et al_. Again: "It may rain; he may go or stay; he would

walk; they should learn."--_Ib._, p. 64; _et al_. Again: "Oh! I have

alienated my friend; alas! I fear for life."--_Ib._, p. 128; _et al_.

Again: "He went from London to York;" "she is above disguise;" "they are

supported by industry."--_Ib._, p. 28; _et al_. "On the foregoing examples,

I have a word to say. they are better than a fair specimen of their kind,

our grammars abound with worse illustrations, their models of English are

generally spurious quotations. few of their proof-texts have any just

parentage, goose-eyes are abundant, but names scarce. who fathers the

foundlings? nobody. then let their merit be nobody's, and their defects his

who could write no better."--_Author_. "_goose-eyes_!" says a bright boy;

"pray, what are they? does this Mr. Author make new words when he pleases?

_dead-eyes_ are in a ship, they are blocks, with holes in them, but what

are goose-eyes in grammar?" ANSWER: "_goose-eyes_ are quotation points,

some of the Germans gave them this name, making a jest of their form, the

French call them _guillemets_, from the name of their inventor."--_Author.

"it_ is a personal pronoun, of the third person singular."--_Comly's

Gram._, 12th Ed., p. 126. "_ourselves_ is a personal pronoun, of the first

person plural."--_Ib._, 138. "_thee_ is a personal pronoun, of the second

person singular."--_Ib._, 126. "_contentment_ is a noun common, of the

third person singular."--_Ib._, 128. "_were_ is a neuter verb, of the

indicative mood, imperfect tense."--_Ib._, 129.

UNDER RULE III.--OF DEITY.

"O thou dispenser of life! thy mercies are boundless."--_W. Allen's Gram._,

p. 449.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _dispenser_ begins with a small

letter. But, according to Rule 3d, "All names of the Deity, and sometimes

their emphatic substitutes, should begin with capitals." Therefore,

"Dispenser" should here begin with a capital D.]

"Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?"--SCOTT: _Gen._, xviii, 25.

"And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."--_Murray's

Gram._, p. 330. "It is the gift of him, who is the great author of good,

and the Father of mercies."--_Ib._, 287. "This is thy god that brought thee

up out of Egypt."--SCOTT, ALGER: _Neh._, ix, 18. "For the lord is our

defence; and the holy one of Israel is our king."--See _Psalm_ lxxxix, 18.

"By making him the responsible steward of heaven's bounties."--_Anti-

Slavery Mag._, i, 29. "Which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me

at that day."--SCOTT, FRIENDS: 2 _Tim._, iv, 8. "The cries of them * * *

entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth."--SCOTT: _James_, v, 4. "In

Horeb, the deity revealed himself to Moses, as the eternal I am, the

self-existent one; and, after the first discouraging interview of his

messengers with Pharaoh, he renewed his promise to them, by the awful name,

jehovah--a name till then unknown, and one which the Jews always held it a

fearful profanation to pronounce."--_Author_. "And god spake unto Moses,

and said unto him, I am the lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac,

and unto Jacob, by the name of god almighty; but by my name jehovah was I

not known to them."--See[106] _Exod._, vi, 2. "Thus saith the lord the king

of Israel, and his redeemer the lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the

last; and besides me there is no god."--See _Isa._, xliv, 6.

"His impious race their blasphemy renew'd,

And nature's king through nature's optics view'd."--_Dryden_, p. 90.

UNDER RULE IV.--OF PROPER NAMES.

"Islamism prescribes fasting during the month ramazan."--_Balbi's Geog._,

p. 17.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _ramazan_ here begins with a small

letter. But, according to Rule 4th, "Proper names, of every description,

should always begin with capitals." Therefore, "Ramazan" should begin with

a capital R. The word is also misspelled: it should rather be _Ramadan_.]

"Near mecca, in arabia, is jebel nor, or the mountain of light, on the top

of which the mussulmans erected a mosque, that they might perform their

devotions where, according to their belief, mohammed received from the

angel gabriel the first chapter of the Koran."--_Author_. "In the kaaba at

mecca, there is a celebrated block of volcanic basalt, which the

mohammedans venerate as the gift of gabriel to abraham, but their ancestors

once held it to be an image of remphan, or saturn; so 'the image which fell

down from jupiter,' to share with diana the homage of the ephesians, was

probably nothing more than a meteoric stone."--_Id._ "When the lycaonians,

at lystra, took paul and barnabas to be gods, they called the former

mercury, on account of his eloquence, and the latter jupiter, for the

greater dignity of his appearance."--_Id._ "Of the writings of the

apostolic fathers of the first century, but few have come down to us; yet

we have in those of barnabas, clement of rome, hermas, ignatius, and

polycarp, very certain evidence of the authenticity of the New Testament,

and the New Testament is a voucher for the old."--_Id._

"It is said by tatian, that theagenes of rhegium, in the time of cambyses,

stesimbrotus the thracian, antimachus the colophonian, herodotus of

halicarnassus, dionysius the olynthian, ephorus of cumæ, philochorus the

athenian, metaclides and chamæleon the peripatetics, and zenodotus,

aristophanes, callimachus, erates, eratosthenes, aristarchus, and

apollodorus, the grammarians, all wrote concerning the poetry, the birth,

and the age of homer." See _Coleridge's Introd._, p. 57. "Yet, for aught

that now appears, the life of homer is as fabulous as that of hercules; and

some have even suspected, that, as the son of jupiter and alcmena, has

fathered the deeds of forty other herculeses, so this unfathered son of

critheis, themisto, or whatever dame--this melesigenes, mæonides,

homer--the blind schoolmaster, and poet, of smyrna, chios, colophon,

salamis, rhodes, argos, athens, or whatever place--has, by the help of

lycurgus, solon, pisistratus, and other learned ancients, been made up of

many poets or homers, and set so far aloft and aloof on old parnassus, as

to become a god in the eyes of all greece, a wonder in those of all

Christendom."--_Author_.

"Why so sagacious in your guesses?

Your _effs_, and _tees_, and _arrs_, and _esses_?"--_Swift_.

UNDER RULE V.--OF TITLES.

"The king has conferred on him the title of duke."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p.

193.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _duke_ begins with a small letter.

But, according to Rule 5th, "Titles of office or honour, and epithets of

distinction, applied to persons, begin usually with capitals." Therefore,

"Duke" should here begin with a capital D.]

"At the court of queen Elizabeth."--_Murray's Gram._; 8vo, p. 157; 12mo, p.

126; _Fisk's_, 115; _et al_. "The laws of nature are, truly, what lord

Bacon styles his aphorisms, laws of laws."--_Murray's Key_, p. 260. "Sixtus

the fourth was, if I mistake not, a great collector of books."--_Ib._, p.

257. "Who at that time made up the court of king Charles the

second."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 314. "In case of his majesty's dying without

issue."--_Kirkham's Gram._, p. 181. "King Charles the first was beheaded in

1649."--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 45. "He can no more impart or (to use lord

Bacon's word,) _transmit_ convictions."--_Kirkham's Eloc._, p. 220. "I

reside at lord Stormont's, my old patron and benefactor."--_Murray's

Gram._, p. 176. "We staid a month at lord Lyttleton's, the ornament of his

country."--_Ib._, p. 177. "Whose prerogative is it? It is the king of Great

Britain's;" "That is the duke of Bridgewater's canal;" "The bishop of

Llandaff's excellent book;" "The Lord mayor of London's authority."--_Ib._,

p. 176. "Why call ye me lord, lord, and do not the things which I

say?"--See GRIESBACH: _Luke_, vi, 46. "And of them he chose twelve, whom

also he named apostles."--SCOTT: _Luke_, vi, 13. "And forthwith he came to

Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him."--See _the Greek: Matt._,

xxvi, 49. "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from

the dead, they will repent."--_Luke_, xvi, 30.

UNDER RULE VI.--OF ONE CAPITAL.

"Fall River, a village in Massachusetts, population 3431."--See _Univ.

Gaz._, p. 416.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the name _Fall River_ is here written in two

parts, and with two capitals. But, according to Rule 6th, "Those compound

proper names which by analogy incline to a union of their parts without a

hyphen, should be so written, and have but one capital." Therefore,

_Fallriver_, as the name of a _town_, should be one word, and retain but

one capital.]

"Dr. Anderson died at West Ham, in Essex, in 1808."--_Biog. Dict._ "Mad

River, [the name of] two towns in Clark and Champaign counties,

Ohio."--_Williams's Universal Gazetteer_. "White Creek, town of Washington

county, N. York."--_Ib._ "Salt Creek, the name of four towns in different

parts of Ohio."--_Ib._ "Salt Lick, a town of Fayette county,

Pennsylvania."--_Ib._ "Yellow Creek, a town of Columbiana county,

Ohio."--_Ib._ "White Clay, a hundred of New Castle county,

Delaware."--_Ib._ "Newcastle, town and halfshire of Newcastle county,

Delaware."--_Ib._ "Sing-Sing, a village of West Chester county, New York,

situated in the town of Mount Pleasant."--_Ib._ "West Chester, a county of

New York; also a town in Westchester county."--_Ib._ "West Town, a village

of Orange county, New York."--_Ib._ "White Water, a town of Hamilton

county, Ohio."--_Ib._ "White Water River, a considerable stream that rises

in Indiana, and flowing southeasterly, unites with the Miami, in

Ohio."--_Ib._ "Black Water, a village of Hampshire, in England, and a town

in Ireland."--_Ib._ "Black Water, the name of seven different rivers in

England, Ireland, and the United States."--_Ib._ "Red Hook, a town of

Dutchess county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Ib._ "Kinderhook, a town of

Columbia county, New York, on the Hudson."--_Ib._ "New Fane, a town of

Niagara county, New York."--_Ib._ "Lake Port, a town of Chicot county,

Arkansas."--_Ib._ "Moose Head Lake, the chief source of the Kennebeck, in

Maine."--_Ib._ "Macdonough, a county of Illinois, population (in 1830)

2,959."--_Ib._, p. 408. "Mc Donough, a county of Illinois, with a

courthouse, at Macomb."--_Ib._, p. 185. "Half-Moon, the name of two towns,

in New York and Pennsylvania; also of two bays in the West Indies."--See

_Worcester's Gaz._ "Le Boeuf, a town of Erie county, Pennsylvania, near a

small lake of the same name."--_Ib._ "Charles City, James City, Elizabeth

City, names of counties in Virginia, not cities, nor towns."--See _Univ.

Gaz._ "The superior qualities of the waters of the Frome, here called

Stroud water."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 223.

UNDER RULE VII.--TWO CAPITALS.

"The Forth rises on the north side of Benlomond, and runs

easterly."--_Glas. Geog_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the name "_Benlomond_" is compounded under

one capital, contrary to the general analogy of other similar terms. But,

according to Rule 7th, "The compounding of a name under one capital should

be avoided when the general analogy of other similar terms suggests a

separation under two." Therefore, "Ben Lomond" should be written with two

capitals and no hyphen.]

"The red granite of Ben-nevis is said to be the finest in the

world."--_Ib._, ii, 311. "Ben-more, in Perthshire, is 3,915 feet above the

level of the sea."--_Ib._, 313. "The height of Benclough is 2,420

feet."--_Ib._. "In Sutherland and Caithness, are Ben Ormod, Ben Clibeg, Ben

Grin, Ben Hope, and Ben Lugal."--_Ib._, 311. "Benvracky is 2,756 feet high;

Ben-ledi, 3,009; and Benvoirlich, 3,300."--_Ib._, 313. "The river Dochart

gives the name of Glendochart to the vale through which it runs."--_Ib._,

314. "About ten miles from its source, the Tay diffuses itself into

Lochdochart."--_Geog. altered_. LAKES:--"Lochard, Loch-Achray, Loch-Con,

Loch-Doine, Loch-Katrine, Loch-Lomond, Loch-Voil."--_Scott's Lady of the

Lake_. GLENS:--"Glenfinlas, Glen Fruin, Glen Luss, Ross-dhu, Leven-glen,

Strath-Endrick, Strath-Gartney, Strath-Ire."--_Ib._ MOUNTAINS:--"Ben-an,

Benharrow, Benledi, Ben-Lomond, Benvoirlich, Ben-venue, and sometimes

Benvenue."--_Ib._ "Fenelon died in 1715, deeply lamented by all the

inhabitants of the Low-countries."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 322. "And

Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king."--SCOTT, FRIENDS: 2

_Kings_, xxiii, 34. "Those who seem so merry and well pleased, call her

_Good Fortune_; but the others, who weep and wring their hands,

_Bad-fortune_."--_Collier's Tablet of Cebes_.

UNDER RULE VIII.--OF COMPOUNDS.

"When Joab returned, and smote Edom in the valley of salt."--SCOTT: _Ps._

lx, _title_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the words _valley_ and _salt_ begin with

small letters. But, according to Rule 8th, "When any adjective or common

noun is made a distinct part of a compound proper name, it ought to begin

with a capital." Therefore, "Valley" should here begin with a capital V,

and "Salt" with a capital S.]

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill and said," &c.--SCOTT: _Acts_,

xvii, 22. "And at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called

the mount of Olives."--_Luke_, xxi, 37. "Abgillus, son of the king of the

Frisii, surnamed Prester John, was in the Holy land with

Charlemagne."--_Univ. Biog. Dict._ "Cape Palmas, in Africa, divides the

Grain coast from the Ivory coast."--_Dict. of Geog._, p. 125. "The North

Esk, flowing from Loch-lee, falls into the sea three miles north of

Montrose."--_Ib._, p. 232. "At Queen's ferry, the channel of the Forth is

contracted by promontories on both coasts."--_Ib._, p. 233. "The Chestnut

ridge is about twenty-five miles west of the Alleghanies, and Laurel ridge,

ten miles further west."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 65. "Washington City, the

metropolis of the United States of America."--_W.'s Univ. Gaz._, p. 380.

"Washington city, in the District of Columbia, population (in 1830)

18,826."--_Ib._, p. 408. "The loftiest peak of the white mountains, in new

Hampshire, is called mount Washington."--_Author_. "Mount's bay, in the

west of England, lies between the land's end and lizard point."--_Id._

"Salamis, an island of the Egean Sea, off the southern coast of the ancient

Attica."--_Dict. of Geog_. "Rhodes, an island of the Egean sea, the largest

and most easterly of the Cyclades."--_Ib._ "But he overthrew Pharaoh and

his host in the Red sea."--BRUCE'S BIBLE: _Ps._ cxxxvi, 15. "But they

provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea."--SCOTT: _Ps._ cvi, 7.[107]

UNDER RULE IX.--OF APPOSITION.

"At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus."--ALGER:

_Matt._, xiv, 1.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word Tetrarch begins with a capital

letter. But, according to Rule 8th, "When a common and a proper name are

associated merely to explain each other, it is in general sufficient, if

the proper name begin with a capital, and the appellative, with a small

letter." Therefore, "tetrarch" should here begin with a small _t_.]

"Who has been more detested than Judas the Traitor?"--_Author_. "St. Luke,

the Evangelist, was a physician of Antioch, and one of the converts of St.

Paul."--_Id._ "Luther, the Reformer, began his bold career by preaching

against papal indulgences."--_Id._ "The Poet Lydgate was a disciple and

admirer of Chaucer: he died in 1440."--_Id._ "The Grammarian Varro, 'the

most learned of the Romans,' wrote three books when he was eighty years

old."--_Id._ "John Despauter, the great Grammarian of Flanders, whose works

are still valued, died in 1520."--_Id._ "Nero, the Emperor and Tyrant of

Rome, slew himself to avoid a worse death."--_Id._ "Cicero the Orator, 'the

Father of his Country,' was assassinated at the age of 64."--_Id._

"Euripides, the Greek Tragedian, was born in the Island of Salamis, B. C.

476."--_Id._ "I will say unto God my Rock, Why hast thou forgotten

me?"--SCOTT: _Ps._ xlii, 9. "Staten Island, an island of New York, nine

miles below New York City."--_Univ. Gaz._ "When the son of Atreus, King of

Men, and the noble Achilles first separated."--_Coleridge's Introd._, p.

83.

"Hermes, his Patron-God, those gifts bestow'd,

Whose shrine with weaning lambs he wont to load."

--POPE: _Odys._, B. 19.

UNDER RULE X.--OF PERSONIFICATIONS.

"But wisdom is justified of all her children."--SCOTT, ALGER: _Luke_, vii,

35.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _wisdom_ begins with a small

letter. But, according to Rule 10th, "The name of an object personified,

when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital."

Therefore, "Wisdom" should here begin with a capital W.]

"Fortune and the church are generally put in the feminine

gender."--_Murray's Gram._, i, p. 37. "Go to your natural religion; lay

before her Mahomet, and his disciples."--_Blair's Rhetoric_, p. 157: see

also _Murray's Gram._, i, 347. "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where

is thy victory?"--_1 Cor._, xv, 55; _Murray's Gram._, p. 348; _English

Reader_, 31; _Merchant's Gram._, 212. "Ye cannot serve God and

Mammon."--SCOTT, FRIENDS, ET AL.: _Matt._, vi, 24. "Ye cannot serve God and

mammon."--IIDEM: _Luke_, xvi, 13. "This house was built as if suspicion

herself had dictated the plan."--See _Key_. "Poetry distinguishes herself

from prose, by yielding to a musical law."--See _Key_. "My beauteous

deliverer thus uttered her divine instructions: 'My name is religion. I am

the offspring of truth and love, and the parent of benevolence, hope, and

joy. That monster, from whose power I have freed you, is called

superstition: she is the child of discontent, and her followers are fear

and sorrow.'"--See _Key_. "Neither hope nor fear could enter the retreats;

and habit had so absolute a power, that even conscience, if religion had

employed her in their favour, would not have been able to force an

entrance."--See _Key_.

"In colleges and halls in ancient days,

There dwelt a sage called discipline."--_Wayland's M. Sci._, p. 368.

UNDER RULE XI.--OF DERIVATIVES.

"In English, I would have gallicisms avoided."--FELTON: _Johnson's Dict._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _gallicisms_ here begins with a

small letter. But, according to Rule 11th, "Words derived from proper

names, and having direct reference to particular persons, places, sects, or

nations, should begin with capitals." Therefore, "Gallicisms" should begin

with a capital G.]

"Sallust was born in Italy, 85 years before the christian era."--_Murray's

Seq._, p. 357. "Dr. Doddridge was not only a great man, but one of the most

excellent and useful christians, and christian ministers."--_Ib._, 319.

"They corrupt their style with untutored anglicisms."--MILTON: _in

Johnson's Dict._ "Albert of Stade, author of a chronicle from the creation

to 1286, a benedictine of the 13th century."--_Universal Biog. Dict._

"Graffio, a jesuit of Capua in the 16th century, author of two volumes on

moral subjects."--_Ib._ "They frenchify and italianize words whenever they

can."--See _Key_. "He who sells a christian, sells the grace of

God."--_Anti-Slavery Mag._, p. 77. "The first persecution against the

christians, under Nero, began A. D. 64."--_Gregory's Dict._ "P. Rapin, the

jesuit, uniformly decides in favour of the Roman writers."--_Cobbett's E.

Gram._, ¶ 171. "The Roman poet and epicurean philosopher Lucretius has

said," &c.--_Cohen's Florida_, p. 107. Spell "calvinistic, atticism,

gothicism, epicurism, jesuitism, sabianism, socinianism, anglican,

anglicism, anglicize, vandalism, gallicism, romanize."--_Webster's El.

Spelling-Book_, 130-133. "The large ternate bat."--_Webster's Dict. w_.

ROSSET; _Bolles's Dict., w_. ROSET.

"Church-ladders are not always mounted best

By learned clerks, and latinists profess'd."--_Cowper_.

UNDER RULE XII.--OF I AND O.

"Fall back, fall back; i have not room:--o!

methinks i see a couple whom i should know."--_Lucian, varied._

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _I_, which occurs three times, and

the word _O_, which occurs once, are here printed in letters of the lower

case.[108] But, according to Rule 12th, "The words _I_ and _O_ should

always be capitals." Therefore, each should be changed to a capital, as

often as it occurs.]

"Nay, i live as i did, i think as i did, i love you as i did; but all these

are to no purpose: the world will not live, think, or love, as i

do."--_Swift, varied_. "Whither, o! whither shall i fly? o wretched prince!

o cruel reverse of fortune! o father Micipsa! is this the consequence of

thy generosity?"--_Sallust, varied_. "When i was a child, i spake as a

child, i understood as a child, i thought as a child; but when i became a

man, i put away childish things."--_1 Cor._, xiii, 11, _varied_. "And i

heard, but i understood not: then said i, o my Lord, what shall be the end

of these things?"--_Dan._, xii, 8, _varied_. "Here am i; i think i am very

good, and i am quite sure i am very happy, yet i never wrote a treatise in

my life."--_Few Days in Athens, varied_. "Singular, Vocative, _o master_;

Plural, Vocative, _o masters_."--_Bicknell's Gram._, p. 30.

"I, i am he; o father! rise, behold

Thy son, with twenty winters now grown old!"--See _Pope's Odyssey_.

UNDER RULE XIII.--OF POETRY.

"Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense,

lie in three words--health, peace, and competence;

but health consists with temperance alone,

and peace, O Virtue! peace is all thy own."

_Pope's Essay on Man, a fine London Edition_.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the last three lines of this example begin

with small letters. But, according to Rule 18th, "Every line in poetry,

except what is regarded as making but one verse with the preceding line,

should begin with a capital." Therefore, the words, "Lie," "But," and

"And," at the commencement of these lines, should severally begin with the

capitals L, B, and A.]

"Observe the language well in all you write,

and swerve not from it in your loftiest flight.

The smoothest verse and the exactest sense

displease us, if ill English give offence:

a barbarous phrase no reader can approve;

nor bombast, noise, or affectation love.

In short, without pure language, what you write

can never yield us profit or delight.

Take time for thinking, never work in haste;

and value not yourself for writing fast."

See _Dryden's Art of Poetry:--British Poets_, Vol. iii, p. 74.

UNDER RULE XIV.--OF EXAMPLES.

"The word _rather_ is very properly used to express a small degree or

excess of a quality: as, 'she is _rather_ profuse in her

expenses.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 47.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _she_ begins with a small letter.

But, according to Rule 14th, "The first word of a full example, of a

distinct speech, or of a direct quotation, should begin with a capital."

Therefore, the word "She" should here begin with a capital S.]

"_Neither_ imports _not either_; that is, not one nor the other: as,

'neither of my friends was there.'"--_Murray's Gram._, p. 56. "When we say,

'he is a tall man,' 'this is a fair day,' we make some reference to the

ordinary size of men, and to different weather."--_Ib._, p. 47. "We more

readily say, 'A million of men,' than 'a thousand of men.'"--_Ib._, p. 169.

"So in the instances, 'two and two are four;' 'the fifth and sixth volumes

will complete the set of books.'"--_Ib._, p. 124. "The adjective may

frequently either precede or follow it [the verb]: as, 'the man is

_happy_;' or, '_happy_ is the man:' 'The interview was _delightful_;' or,

'_delightful_ was the interview.'"--_Ib._, p. 168. "If we say, 'he writes a

pen,' 'they ran the river, 'the tower fell the Greeks,' 'Lambeth is

Westminster-abbey,' [we speak absurdly;] and, it is evident, there is a

vacancy which must be filled up by some connecting word: as thus, 'He

writes _with_ a pen;' 'they ran _towards_ the river;' 'the tower fell

_upon_ the Greeks;' 'Lambeth is _over against_ Westminster-abbey.'"--_Ib._,

p. 118. "Let me repeat it;--he only is great, who has the habits of

greatness."--_Murray's Key_, 241. "I say not unto thee, until seven times;

but, until seventy times seven."--See _Matt._, xviii, 22.

"The Panther smil'd at this; and when, said she,

Were those first councils disallow'd by me?"--_Dryden_, p. 95.

UNDER RULE XV.--OF CHIEF WORDS.

"The supreme council of the nation is called the divan."--_Balbi's Geog._,

p. 360.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _divan_ begins with a small letter.

But, according to Rule 15th, "Other words of particular importance, and

such as denote the principal subjects treated of, may be distinguished by

capitals." Therefore, "Divan" should here begin with a capital D.]

"The British parliament is composed of kings, lords, and

commons."--_Murray's Key_, p. 184. "A popular orator in the House of

Commons has a sort of patent for coining as many new terms as he

pleases."--See _Campbell's Rhet._, p. 169; _Murray's Gram._, 364. "They may

all be taken together, as one name; as, the _house of commons_."--

_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 25. "Intrusted to persons in whom the

parliament could confide."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 202. "For 'The Lords'

house,' it were certainly better to say, 'The house of lords;' and, in

stead of 'The commons' vote,' to say, 'The votes of the commons.'"--See

_ib._, p. 177, 4th _Amer. Ed._; also _Priestley's Gram._, p. 69. "The house

of lords were so much influenced by these reasons."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo,

p. 152; _Priestley's Gram._, 188. "Rhetoricians commonly divide them into

two great classes; figures of words, and figures of thought. The former,

figures of words, are commonly called tropes."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 132.

"Perhaps figures of imagination, and figures of passion, might be a more

useful distribution."--_Ib._, p. 133. "Hitherto we have considered

sentences, under the heads of perspicuity, unity, and strength."--_Ib._, p.

120.

"The word is then depos'd, and in this view,

You rule the scripture, not the scripture you."--_Dryden_, p. 95.

UNDER RULE XVI.--OF NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

"Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid."--ALGER: _Matt._, xiv, 27.

[FORMULE.--Not proper, because the word _It_ begins with a capital _I_, for

which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to Rule

16th, "Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or

reason for their use." Therefore, 'it' should here begin with a small

letter, as Dr. Scott has it.]

"Between passion and lying, there is not a Finger's breadth."--_Murray's

Key_, p. 240. "Can our Solicitude alter the course, or unravel the

intricacy, of human events?"--_Ib._, p. 242. "The last edition was

carefully compared with the Original M. S."--_Ib._, p. 239. "And the

governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews?"--ALGER:

_Matt._, xxvii, 11. "Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame,

that say, Aha, Aha!"--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Ps._, lxx, 3. "Let them be desolate

for a reward of their shame, that say unto me, Aha, aha!"--IB.: _Ps._, xl,

15. "What think ye of Christ? whose Son is he? They say unto him, The Son

of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in Spirit call him

Lord?"--SCOTT: _Matt._, xxii, 42, 43. "Among all Things in the Universe,

direct your Worship to the Greatest; And which is that? 'T is that Being

which Manages and Governs all the Rest."--_Meditations of M. Aurelius

Antoninus_, p. 76. "As for Modesty and Good Faith, Truth and Justice, they

have left this wicked World and retired to Heaven: And now what is it that

can keep you here?"--_Ib._, p. 81.

"If Pulse of Terse, a Nation's Temper shows,

In keen Iambics English Metre flows."--_Brightland's Gram._, p. 151.

PROMISCUOUS ERRORS RESPECTING CAPITALS.

LESSON I.--MIXED.

"Come, gentle spring, Ethereal mildness, come."--_Gardiner's Music of

Nature_, p. 411.

[FORMULES.--1. Not proper, because the word _spring_ begins with a small

letter. But, according to Rule 10th, "The name of an object personified,

when it conveys an idea strictly individual, should begin with a capital."

Therefore "Spring" should here begin with a capital S.

2. Not proper again, because the word _Ethereal_ begins with a capital E,

for which there appears to be neither rule nor reason. But, according to

Rule 16th. "Capitals are improper whenever there is not some special rule

or reason for their use." Therefore, "ethereal" should here begin with a

small letter.]

As, "He is the Cicero of his age; he is reading the lives of the Twelve

Cæsars."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 36. "In the History of Henry the fourth, by

father Daniel, we are surprized at not finding him the great

man."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 151. "In the history of Henry the fourth, by

Father Daniel, we are _surprised_ at not finding him the great

man."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 172; _Ingersoll's_, 187; _Fisk's_, 99. "Do not

those same poor peasants use the Lever and the Wedge, and many other

instruments?"--_Murray_, 288; from _Harris_, 293. "Arithmetic is excellent

for the gauging of Liquors; Geometry, for the measuring of Estates;

Astronomy, for the making of Almanacks; and Grammar, perhaps, for the

drawing of Bonds and Conveyances."--_Harris's Hermes_, p. 295. "The wars of

Flanders, written in Latin by Famianus Strada, is a book of some

note."--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 364. "_William_ is a noun.--why? _was_ is a

verb.--why? _a_ is an article.--why? _very_ is an adverb.--why?"

&c.--_Merchant's School Gram._, p. 20. "In the beginning was the word, and

that word was with God, and God was that word."--_Gwilt's Saxon Gram._, p.

49. "The greeks are numerous in thessaly, macedonia, romelia, and

albania."--_Balbi, varied_. "He is styled by the Turks, Sultan (Mighty) or

Padishah (lord)."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "I will ransom them from the

power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy

plagues;[109] O grave, I will be thy destruction."--SCOTT, ALGER, ET AL.:

_Hosea_, xiii, 14. "Silver and Gold have I none; but such as I have, give I

unto thee."--_Murray's Gram._, 8vo, p. 321. "Return, we beseech thee, O God

of Hosts, look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine."--_Ib._,

p. 342. "In the Attic Commonwealth, it was the privilege of every citizen

to rail in public."--_Ib._, p. 316. "They assert that, in the phrases,

'give me _that_,' '_this_ is John's,' and '_such_ were _some_ of you,' the

words in italics are pronouns: but that, in the following phrases, they are

not pronouns; '_this_ book is instructive,' '_some_ boys are ingenious,'

'_my_ health is declining,' '_our_ hearts are deceitful,' &c."--_Ib._, p.

58. "And the coast bends again to the northwest, as far as Far Out

head."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p. 308. Dr. Webster, and other makers of

spelling-books, very improperly write "sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday,

thursday, friday, saturday," without capitals.--See _Webster's Elementary

Spelling-Book_ p. 85. "The commander in chief of the Turkish navy is styled

the capitan-pasha."--_Balbi's Geog._, p. 360. "Shall we not much rather be

in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live?"--SCOTT'S BIBLE:

_Heb._, xii, 9. "Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father

of Spirits, and live?"--FRIENDS' BIBLE: _Heb._, xii, 9. "He was more

anxious to attain the character of a Christian hero."--_Murray's Sequel_,

p. 308. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount

Zion."--_Psalms_, xlviii, 2. "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear

what man shall do unto me."--SCOTT: _Heb._, xiii, 6. "Make haste to help

me, O LORD my Salvation."--SCOTT: _Ps._, xxxviii, 22.

"The City, which Thou seest, no other deem

Than great and glorious Rome, Queen of the Earth."

_Harris's Hermes_, p. 49.

LESSON II.--MIXED.

"That range of hills, known under the general name of mount

Jura."--_Priestley's Gram._, p. 110. "He rebuked the Red sea also, and it

was dried up."--SCOTT: _Ps._, cvi, 9. "Jesus went unto the mount of

Olives."--_John_, viii, 1. "Milton's book, in reply to the _Defence of the

king_, by Salmasius, gained him a thousand pounds from the parliament, and

killed his antagonist with vexation."--See _Murray's Sequel_, 343.

"Mandeville, sir John, an Englishman, famous for his travels, born about

1300, died in 1372."--_Biog. Dict._ "Ettrick pen, a mountain in

Selkirkshire, Scotland, height 2,200 feet."--_Glasgow Geog._, Vol. ii, p.

312. "The coast bends from Dungsbyhead in a northwest direction to the

promontory of Dunnet head."--_Ib._, p. 307. "Gen. Gaines ordered a

detachment of near 300 men, under the command of Major Twiggs, to surround

and take an Indian Village, called Fowl Town, about fourteen miles from

fort Scott."--_Cohen's Florida_, p. 41. "And he took the damsel by the

hand, and said unto her, Talitha Cumi."--ALGER: _Mark_, v, 4. "On religious

subjects, a frequent recurrence of scripture-language is attended with

peculiar force."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 318. "Contemplated with gratitude to

their Author, the Giver of all Good."--_Ib._, p. 289. "When he, the Spirit

of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth."--_Ib._, p. 171;

_Fisk_, 98; _Ingersoll_, 186. "See the lecture on verbs, rule XV. note

4."--_Fisk's E. Gram._, p. 117. "At the commencement of lecture II. I

informed you that Etymology treats, 3dly, of derivation."--_Kirkham's

Gram._, p. 171. "This VIII. lecture is a very important one."--_Ib._, p.

113. "Now read the XI. and XII. lectures _four_ or _five_ times

over."--_Ib._, p. 152. "In 1752, he was advanced to the bench, under the

title of lord Kames."--_Murray's Sequel_, p. 331. "One of his maxims was,

'know thyself.'"--_Lempriere's Dict., n. Chilo._ "Good master, what good

thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"--See _Matt._, xix, 16.

"His best known works, however, are 'anecdotes of the earl of Chatham,' 2

vols. 4to., 3 vols. 8vo., and 'biographical, literary, and political

anecdotes of several of the most eminent persons of the present age; never

before printed,' 3 vols. 8vo. 1797."--_Univ. Biog. Dict., n. Almon_. "O

gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frighted thee?"--_Merchant's

School Gram._, p. 172. "O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse,"

&c.--SINGER'S SHAK. _Sec. Part of Hen. IV_, Act iii. "Sleep, gentle sleep,

Nature's soft nurse," &c.--_Dodd's Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 129.

"And Peace, O, Virtue! Peace is all thy own."--_Pope's Works_, p. 379.

"And peace, O virtue! peace is all thy own."--_Murray's Gram._, ii, 16.

LESSON III.--MIXED.