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old

Norse Viking in his leaden coffin, with all his fairy treasure and his
crown of gold; and, as the boy looks at the spot, he fancies, and almost
hopes, that the day may come when he shall have to do his duty against
the invader as boldly as the men of Devon did then. And past him, far
below, upon the soft south-eastern breeze, the stately ships go sliding
out to sea.
OR.--The rules for the conjunction "and" apply with little change to the
conjunction "or"; but there are one or two special points to note.
(a) When "or" is preceded at no great distance by "either" or "whether,"
the two words should be separated by no point.
They must either yield this point or resign.
It does not matter whether we go or stay.
But a point is inserted if the words stand farther apart, or if each is
followed by a complete clause.
Either this road leads to the town, or we have misunderstood the
directions.
(b) "Or," joining two alternatives, takes no point before it; but when it
joins two words that are used, not as real alternatives, but as synonyms,
a comma is inserted.
England or France might be asked to join the alliance.
Here "or" is used as a real alternative conjecture, and therefore without
any point. In the following examples, the "or" joins equivalent
expressions:
England, or the nation of shopkeepers, would never be asked to join
such an alliance.
We perceive, or are conscious of, nothing but changes, or events.
As a reason for the insertion of the comma in these two examples, it

may be said that the repetition of an idea already expressed does for a
moment stop the flow of the sentence. A real alternative, on the other
hand, forms an essential part of it, and is within its current.
XVII. In cases where no point would be used before a conjunction, a
comma is inserted if the conjunction be omitted.
I pay this tribute to the memory of that noble, reverend, learned,
excellent person.
In the following examples no point occurs; for it cannot be said that a
conjunction is omitted. To insert the conjunction would be to express a
slightly different shade of meaning:
A grand old man.
Three tall young soldiers.
"Old man" is virtually a single word and in fact many languages use
only a single word to express the idea.
XVIII. Where a comma would be used if the conjunction were
expressed, some stronger point may be used if it be omitted.
Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American Empire.
English privileges have made it all that it is; English privileges alone
will make it all that it can be.
XIX. A comma is placed after a noun or a pronoun in the vocative case,
if a mark of exclamation be not used, or be reserved till the first distinct
pause in the sentence.
Yet I own, my lord, that yours is not an uncommon character.
I am, Sir, yours truly, John Smith.
O Italy, gather thy blood into thy heart!
O Thou, who in the heavens dost dwell!

Whether a comma or a mark of exclamation ought to be used after the
vocative case, depends entirely on the degree of emphasis with which
the words would be spoken. If, in speaking, a slight pause would be
made, the comma, not the mark of exclamation, is the proper point.
XX. If a word be repeated in order to give it intensive force, a comma
follows it each time that it occurs; but, in the case of an adjective
repeated before a noun, not after the last expression of it.
It was work, work, work, from morning till night.
He travelled a long, long way.
Dean Alford, in "The Queen's English," says that this mode of pointing
such expressions as "the wide wide world," "the deep deep sea," makes
them absolute nonsense. The suggestion of a pause seems to us to bring
out more effectively the intensive force of the repetition. And we doubt
whether Dean Alford himself would have omitted the comma in our
first example.

THE SEMICOLON
XXI. The semicolon is the point usually employed to separate parts of a
sentence between which there is a very distinct break, but which are too
intimately connected to be made separate sentences.
The patient dates his pleasure from the day when he feels that his cure
has begun; and, perhaps, the day of his perfect re-establishment does
not yield him pleasure so great.
The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; no one
has so deeply meditated on the subject; no one is so sincerely interested
in the event.
Not one word is said, nor one suggestion made, of