THE ELEMENTS OF PUNCTUATION; With Rules on the Use of Capital Letters. BEING AN ABRIDGMENT OF THE "TREATISE ON ENGLISH PUNCTUATION." PREPARED FOR SCHOOLS. BY JOHN WILSON. BOSTON : CROSBY, NICHOLS, AND COMPANY. CINCINNATI: GEORGE S. BLANCHARD. KE 11293 HARVARD UNIVERSITY Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by JOHN WILSON AND SON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. BOSTON: PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON AND SON, No. 22, SCHOOL STREET. PREFACE. Ar the urgent request of teachers, the author has abridged his "Treatise on English Punctuation," and now presents it, in a condensed shape, with a view to its being generally adopted in common schools. He has omitted the Essay which forms the Introduction to that work, the list of Abbreviations, the chapter on the Preparation of Copy and on Proof-reading, the Index, and almost all that relates peculiarly to authors and printers; but has, he thinks, retained every thing essential to the knowledge of an art, which, though long neglected or imperfectly comprehended even by a majority of literary men, should be understood by all persons, whether they be readers or writers. By the advice of those whom he has been permitted to consult, and to whom he is indebted for various suggestions, the author has interspersed throughout the book a few hints to teachers; and these he submits to them, in the hope that they will in most cases be found serviceable. But, having been placed by Providence in a sphere of labor different from the honorable and influential one of personally instructing youth, he would not prescribe any definite and unvarying mode of teaching the art which he has attempted to set forth: he has, therefore, composed the book according to a plan which will render it susceptible of being used, in a great measure, according to the taste and judgment of the teacher himself. The rules, the remarks, and the various kinds of exercises, he has so arranged as at once to meet the eye; and the instructor may, at discretion, require his pupil, either, as a first course, to take up only the rules with their explanations, and the exercises on the rules; or to go regularly through the book, and acquire thorough information on one branch before proceeding to another. 22, SCHOOL STREET, BOSTON, August, 1856. CONTENTS. CHAP. I.- NATURE AND PLAN OF THE WORK. Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, connected by the Conjunctions and, or, nor. 10 Two Words, of the same Part of Speech, not connected by a Conjunction 13 Phrases and Clauses in the same Construction Clauses having a Verb understood Clauses consisting of Short Quotations or Remarks |