a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?" (1 Cor. 9: 7, 8.) Affirmatively: "No one goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges; no one planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof; no one feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock. I do not say these things as a man; the law saith the same things also." Another example. "Shall a man obtain the favor of Heaven by impiety? by murder? by falsehood? by theft?" Affirmatively: "A man cannot obtain the favor of Heaven by impiety, by murder, by falsehood, by theft."

RULE 1. Direct Questions.-The Interrogation Point should be placed at the end of every direct question.

NOTE 1. A direct question is one in regular form, requiring, or at least admitting an answer; as, "Why do you neglect your duty?" An indirect question is one that is merely reported or spoken of; as, "He inquired why you neglected your duty."

NOTE 2. When there is a succession of questions, having a common grammatical dependence on some preceding word or clause, each question forming by itself an incomplete sentence, some writers place an interrogation point only at the end of the series, and separate the several members by a dash, or perhaps by a comma. This method of punctuation is not correct. Each question, no matter how short or broken, should have its own point. See the example immediately preceding Rule 1.

NOTE 3. Where the words on which a series of questions have a common dependence come after the questions, instead of preceding them, there should be an interrogation point only at the end; as, "Where be your gibes now; your gambols; your songs; your flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table in a roar?" Here the clause italicized refers back to all four items, the "gibes," "gambols," "songs," and "flashes of merriment." They all have a grammatical dependence upon it. If the sentence should be transposed, so as to place this clause first, then each question will come out complete, and will have its interrogation point. Thus: "Where now be those things of yours that were wont to set the table in a roar?-your gibes? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment?"

NOTE 4. Sometimes a question is intended, although the words are not put in the usual interrogative form. Thus: "You will come this afternoon?" In such cases the interrogation point should be used, as in this example, although the sentence may be declarative in its form.

NOTE 5. When a question formally introduces a remark or a quotation, the question should first be brought to a close with an interrogation point, and then the remark or quotation should follow; as, Who that has read can ever forget the words of Hamlet's soliloquy?

"To be, or not to be; that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them."

SECTION VI.

The Exclamation Point.

The Exclamation Point is used for marking strong emotion.

NOTE 1. In regard to the portion of discourse set off by it, the exclamation point, like the interrogation point, is equivalent commonly to a period; but it may be equivalent to a colon, a semicolon, or a comma. The same considerations govern here that govern in the case of the Interrogation. See Note under "Interrogation Point."

RULE 1. The Exclamation Point must be used at the close of every sentence, clause, or grammatical expression, intended to convey strong emotion.

NOTE. Inexperienced and weak writers are apt to deal largely in the use of the exclamation point, as if to make up for the feebleness of the thought by mere tricks of punctuation. Young writers therefore should be on their guard in this matter, and not use the exclamation point unless there is some real and strong emotion to be expressed.

RULE 2. The Exclamation Point must be used after an interjection; as,

Fie on him! Ah me! Oh! it hurts me. Oh that I could find him! O father Abraham! O Lord!*

NOTE 1. Where the interjection does not stand by itself, but forms part of a sentence, clause, or expression, the exclamation point should be placed at the end of the whole expression, and not immediately after the interrogation; as, "O wretched state! O bosom black as death!"

NOTE 2. Sometimes oh is grammatically separable from the words following it, though the emotion runs through the whole. In that case, there should be a comma after the oh, and the exclamation point at the end of the whole expression; as, “Oh, where shall rest be found!"

*In regard to the two words O and oh, Webster says: A distinction between the use of O and on is insisted on by some, namely, that O should be used only in direct address to a person or personified object, and should never be followed by the exclamation point, while oh should be used in mere exclamations where no direct appeal or address to an object is made, and may be followed by the exclamation point or not, according to the nature or construction of the sentence. This distinction, however, is nearly or totally disregarded by most writers, even the best, the two forms being generally used quite indiscriminately. The form O is the one most commonly employed for both uses by modern writers. "O for a kindling touch from that pure flame!" Wordsworth. "O what a rapturous cry!" "O Eldon, in whatever sphere thou shine." "Strike, oh Muse, in a measure bold!" Macaulay. "O, what a fair and ministering angel!" "O sweet angel!" Longfellow. "O sir, oh prince, I have no country: none." Tennyson.

NOTE 3. When an interjection is repeated several times, the words are separated from each other by a comma, the exclamation being put only after the last; as, “Fie, fie, fie! pah, pah! give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination."

NOTE 4. Two of the interjections, eh and hey, are sometimes uttered in a peculiar tone, so as to ask a question. In that case, they should be followed by the interrogation point; as, "You thought you would not be found out, eh?"

RULE 3. Where the emotion to be expressed is very strong, more than one exclamation point is sometimes used; as, “That man virtuous!! You might as well preach to me of the virtue of Judas Iscariot!!"

NOTE. This mode of repeating the exclamation point is much used in burlesque and satire.

Examples for Practice.

[TO THE STUDENT. These examples, though intended mainly for illustrating the Rules for the marks of Interrogation and Exclamation, will yet serve the incidental purpose of reviewing all the preceding rules.]

2. Greece indeed fell but how did she fall Did she fall Did she fall like Lucifer never to rise again

like Babylon

3. Rouse ye Romans rouse — ye slaves

4. Down soothless insulter I irust not the tale o

5. Have you eyes Could you on this fair mountain leave to

feed and batten on this moor

call it love for at your age it's humble, and waits upon the would step from this to this

Hao have you eyes You cannot the hey-day in the blood is tame, judgment and what judgment

6. Charge Chester charge on Stanley on

7. Who in a sea-fight ever thought of the price of the chain which beats out the brains of a pirate or of the odor of the splinter which shatters his leg

8. King Charles ● forsooth ✪ had so many private virtues – And had James no private virtues ○ Was even Oliver Cromwell – his bitterest enemies themselves being judges destitute of private virtues And what after all are the virtues ascribed to Charles O 9. Ho trumpets sound a war-note 10. Oh was there ever such a knight as our sovereign lord – King Henry

in friendship or in war o the soldier of Navarre o

SECTION VII.

The Dash.

The Dash is used chiefly either to mark a sudden change or interruption in the structure of the sentence, or to mark some elocutionary pause.

NOTE. The Dash, which is of modern origin, has been used so indiscriminately and injudiciously by ill-informed writers, that some critics have insisted on banishing it entirely. This would be only going to another extreme. There are, in many passages, in those particularly which are highly rhetorical, turns of thought, which can be indicated by a dash, and which cannot be indicated by any of the ordinary grammatical points. The dash, therefore, is a necessity in many kinds of composition. But it should not be used as a substitute for the comma, semicolon, colon, period, or interrogation, as inexpert writers sometimes do mistakenly use it, but should be employed where these regular marks cannot be used, and to express things which they cannot express. The dash, therefore, is incorrect whenever any one of these marks could be substituted for it without changing the meaning. Young writers particularly need to be on their guard in using the dash. Mark every dash as wrong, unless some positive reason for its use can be given, and unless it can be shown that none of the ordinary marks would express the idea.

RULE 1. Construction Changed. - A Dash is used where the construction of the sentence is abruptly broken off or changed; as,

Was there ever a bolder captain of a more valiant band? Was there ever- but I Scorn to boast.

RULE 2. Unexpected Change in the Sentiment.-The Dash is sometimes used to mark a sudden and unexpected change in the sentiment; as,

He had no malice in his mind

No ruffles on his shirt.

RULE 3. Emphatic Generalization.-A Dash is sometimes used to mark the transition from a succession of particulars to some emphatic general expression which includes them all; as,

He was witty, learned, industrious, plausible, everything but honest.

RULE 4. Elocutionary Pause. - A Dash is sometimes used to mark a significant pause, where there is no break in the grammatical construction; as,—

You have given the command to a person of illustrious birth, of ancient family, of innumerable statues, but-of no experience.

NOTE. The mark here is purely elocutionary. A good reader will pause some perceptible time after the but, whether there is a mark there or not. The dash serves to indicate to the eye what the good reader will indicate by his voice. This particular use of the dash is pretty well established, and it is not worth while to make any change in regard to it now. But were the matter of elocutionary notation to be undertaken anew, it would seem better to mark this suspension of the voice by a blank space than by a dash, the dash being used for other and very different purposes.

RULE 5. Expressions dependent upon a Concluding Clause. When there is a long series of clauses or expressions, all dependent upon some concluding clause, it is usual, in passing from the preceding part of the passage to that upon which the whole depends, to mark the transition by inserting a Dash, in addition to the comma; as,

The great men of Rome, her beautiful legends, her history, the height to which she rose, and the depth to which she fell,-these make up one-half of a student's ideal world.

NOTE. The most common example of this use of the dash is where the grammatical subject or nominative is loaded with numerous adjuncts, so that there is danger of its being lost sight of when the verb is introduced. The insertion of the dash here seems to give the mind an opportunity of going back to the main subject; as, "Every step in the attainment of physical power; every new trait of intelligence, as they one by one arise in the infantine intellect, like the glory of night, starting star by star into the sky,—is hailed with a heart-burst of rapture and surprise."

RULE 6. Rhetorical Repetition. When a word or an expression is repeated for rhetorical purposes, the construction being begun anew, a Dash should be inserted before each such repetition; as,

Shall I, who was born, I might almost say, but certainly brought up, in the tent of my father, that most excellent general-shall I, the conqueror of Spain and Gaul, and not only of the Alpine nations, but of the Alps themselves-shall I compare myself with this half-year captain?

NOTE. This kind of repetition is sometimes called by elocutionists the Echo.

RULE 7. Reflex Apposition.- Words at the end of a sen