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some doubt whether it is the mothers or the children who are employed
in factories. And it would not be easy to give an answer, if we were
asked to state the precise meaning of Gray's line:
And all the air a solemn stillness holds.
In longer and more involved sentences the risk of ambiguity is
obviously much greater. Now by the judicious use of points ambiguous
language can occasionally be made clear. "The
mothers-of-young-children employed in factories" is no doubt a bold
form, but it leaves us in no doubt as to the meaning. So the ambiguous
word "too" does not embarrass us when we read: "This problem, too,
easy as it may seem, remains unsolved." (See other examples under
Rules XIV. and XV.) Only occasionally, however, can clearness be
secured by punctuation. No pointing can help us much in Gray's line, or
could have given to Pyrrhus the true reading of "Credo te Æacida
Romanos vincere posse." And, even where it would make the meaning
clear, it is a lazy device, the over-use of which is the sure sign of
careless or unskilful composition. The true remedy for ambiguity is not
punctuation, but re-writing.
Punctuation, it is sometimes said, serves to mark the pauses that would
be made in speaking. This is so far true; for by the pause we arrange
our spoken words into proper groups, thereby enabling our hearers
readily to seize the meaning. But between the punctuation of the pen
and that of the voice there is a great difference in degree. By the voice

we can express the most delicate shades of thought, while only in the
roughest way can the comma, the semicolon, and the other points,
imitate its effects. As to how far the attempt at imitation should be
carried, every writer will have to use his own discretion; but, whether
we point freely or sparingly, we must for the reader's sake point
consistently. It should at the same time be borne in mind that the lavish
use of points often leads to confusion.
General Rules.--Keeping in view the use of punctuation, we can now
form two general rules to guide us when we are in doubt which point
we should insert, or whether we should insert a point at all.
(1) The point that will keep the passage most free from ambiguity, or
make it easiest to read, is the right point to use.
(2) If the passage be perfectly free from ambiguity and be not less easy
to understand without any point, let no point be used.
The Relativity of Points.--In order to decide in any given case what
point ought to be used, we begin by considering the nature of the pause
in itself. But we must do more. We must consider how we have pointed
the rest of the passage. The pause that should be marked by a comma in
one case, may require a semicolon in another case; the colon may take
the place that the semicolon would generally fill. This will be best
understood by means of the examples that will afterwards be given.
(See Rules XXIII., XXV.)
Usage.--Except within somewhat narrow limits, usage does not help us
much. Different writers have different methods, and few are consistent.
To some extent there is a fair degree of uniformity; for instance, in the
placing of colons before quotations, and in the use of inverted commas.
But in many cases there can hardly be said to be any fixed usage, and in
these we can freely apply the general rules already laid down. Much
might be said for a complete disregard of usage, for a thorough
recasting of our system of punctuation. Sooner or later something must
be done to relieve the overburdened comma of part of the work which it
is expected to perform. Not only is the comma a less effective point
than it might be, but the habit of using it for so many purposes is

exercising a really mischievous effect on English style. In the
meantime, and as a step towards a better system, there is an evident
advantage in giving to the existing vague usage a more or less precise
form. Nothing more than this has been aimed at in the present work.
In giving rules of punctuation we cannot hope to deal with all, or with
nearly all, the cases that may arise in writing. Punctuation is intimately
connected with style. As forms of thought are infinite in number, so are
the modes of expression; and punctuation, adapting itself to these, is an
instrument capable of manipulation in a thousand ways. We can
therefore set forth only some typical cases, forming a body of examples
to which a little reflection will suggest a variety both of applications
and of exceptions.
It will be noticed