CAPITALS.
Rule I. Sentences.—The first word of every sentence should commence with a capital.
EXAMPLES.
“The price we challenge for ourselves is given us.”—Schiller.
“The elder brother of Franklin ventured to start a newspaper, though warned that America could never support two newspapers.”—William Russel.
“Trust in yourself, and you have learnt to live.”—Goethe.
REMARKS.
1. A sentence is an assemblage of words making complete sense, and followed by a period. Sometimes a sentence has an interrogation or an exclamation point at its close; as,—
“For of the wholly common is man made,
And custom is his nurse!”—Schiller.
2. Any expression that is equivalent to a sentence should commence with a capital; as, Very affectionately. Price $5.00.
3. As a period indicates the close of a sentence, the word following the period should commence with a capital; as, “The little soul is like a vapor that hovers around a marshy lake. It never rises on the green hill, lest the winds meet it there.”—Ossian.
If, however, a period is used to indicate an abbreviation, it should not be followed by a capital, unless it is at the close of a sentence, or the word that follows it requires a capital; as, In Germany, the degrees of M. D., LL. D., and Ph. D. are only gained after passing a severe examination.
4. Although a capital is generally used after an interrogation or an exclamation point, as they usually indicate the close of a sentence, this is not always the case; as,—
“How poor! how rich! how abject! how august!
How complicate! how wonderful is man!
How passing wonder He who made him such!
Who centered in our make such strange extremes!”—Young.
Rule II. Poetry.—The first word of every line of poetry should commence with a capital.
EXAMPLES.
“There is a day of sunny rest
For every dark and troubled night;
And grief may bide an evening guest,
But joy shall come with early light.”—Bryant.
“But far more numerous was the herd of such,
Who think too little and who talk too much.”—Dryden.
Rule III. Persons and Places.—Names of persons, countries, cities, islands, rivers, mountains, &c., should commence with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
“The finest thief of old history is the pirate who made that famous answer to Alexander, in which he said that the conqueror was only the mightier thief of the two.”—Leigh Hunt.
America, France, London, New York, West Indies, Hudson, Rhine, Rocky Mountains, Mount Vernon, Pacific.
REMARKS.
1. When North, South, East, &c., refer to political or geographical divisions, they should commence with capitals; as, “But sectional bitterness has in a great measure passed away; the fatal cause of discord between North and South has been removed.”
When these words refer merely to the points of the compass, they should be written with small letters.
2. Words derived from the names of persons should commence with capitals; as, Socratic, Platonic, Elizabethan.
When words derived from the names of persons or places lose their individual character, and are used as common words, they should commence with small letters; as, god-like, hector, turkey, china-ware, laconic.
3. Heaven and hell are written with small letters in the Bible. Satan is always printed with a capital, but devil commences with a small letter, unless it stands for Satan; as, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”—Mat. iv. 1.
Rule IV. Nations.—The names of nations, or words derived from the names of nations, should commence with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
“‘Simply to be poor,’ says my favorite Greek historian, ‘was not held scandalous by the wise Athenians; but highly so, to owe that poverty to our own indiscretion.’”—Fielding.
American, German, French, Latins, Americanize, Latinize, Hellenize.
REMARK.
Italics and Italicize are frequently written with small letters.
Rule V. Sects and Parties.—The names of religious sects and political parties should commence with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
Christian, Mohammedan, Lutheran, Catholic, Protestant, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Unitarian.
Republican, Federalist, Democrat, Whig, Tory, Radical.
REMARKS.
1. When republican, radical, &c., are used as common words, and not as the names of political parties, they should commence with small letters; as, republican institutions, radical measures.
2. Some writers use small letters, when referring to political parties. If, however, it is incorrect to write Congregational, Methodist, with small letters, why is it not incorrect to commence Republican, Whig, with small letters?
3. Church should be written with a capital, when it refers to a religious sect; as, the Episcopal Church, meaning the whole body of Christians belonging to that denomination. When the word refers to a place of worship, it should commence with a small letter.
Rule VI. Months and Days.—The names of months and days should commence with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
“No one ever regarded the first of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left. It is the nativity of our common Adam.”—Lamb.
February, March, April, May; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, Good Friday, Easter.
REMARK.
Spring, summer, autumn, winter, should be written with small letters.
Rule VII. Titles of Books.—All the words, with the exception of articles, conjunctions, and prepositions, in the titles of books, should commence with a capital.
EXAMPLES.
Forsyth’s “Life of Cicero.” “The Fall of the Roman Republic,” Rev. C. Merivale.
REMARKS.
1. It is just as necessary to capitalize the title of a book, as it is the name of a person.
2. The title of an oration, essay, article for a newspaper, or of any written production, follows the same rule as the title of a book.
3. Names of sacred writings should always be capitalized; as, Bible, Old and New Testament, the Scriptures, Acts, Revelation, Gospel of John, Koran, Vedas.
Rule VIII. Title-Pages.—The title-pages of books are generally printed entirely with capitals. The title-page of any book will illustrate this rule.
REMARKS.
1. This rule concerns more especially the printer.
2. The first word of a chapter is generally printed in small capitals, the first letter of the word being a large capital.
3. In handbills and advertisements, all important words are capitalized, so as to attract special attention.
Rule IX. Titles of Persons.—All titles of respect or honor should be capitalized.
There are three classes of titles:—
1. Common Titles.
Mr., Mrs., Miss, Master.
2. Professional Titles.
Prof, Dr., D. D., LL. D., &c.
3. Official Titles.
Hon., His Excellency, His Honor, President, Secretary, Senator, Mr. Chairman, &c.
EXAMPLES.
President Hayes, Senator Morton, Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Dr. Chas. Rynd, Mr. Fred. J. Todd.
REMARKS.
1. A distinction should always be made between words used as titles, and words used in a general sense. For example, senator should commence with a small letter, if it is not placed before the name of a person as a title, or does not refer to a particular individual. This is the same with president, secretary, doctor, &c.; as, “A patient owes some thanks to a doctor who restores him with nectar smooth and fragrant, instead of rasping his throat and flaying his interior with the bitters sucked by sour-tempered roots from vixenish soils.”—Winthrop.
2. Father, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, &c., should commence with a capital, when they are used like titles with the names of persons; as, Father Pierce, Cousin Blackmar.
3. Sir, father, brother, friend, &c., when used as introductory words to a letter, should commence with capitals, as a mark of respect; as, My dear Sir, My dear Friend.
4. In writing such titles as the President of the United States, Secretary of State, Alexander the Great, all the words in the title should commence with a capital, except of and the.
Rule X. The Deity.—All names of the Supreme Being or his Son should commence with a capital.
EXAMPLES.
“But it is now time to depart,—I to die, but you to live. But which of us is going to the better state is unknown to every one but God.”—Socrates.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”—John iii. 16.
REMARKS.
1. Writers differ somewhat in the use of capitals in words referring to the Deity. Some capitalize all words in any way referring to the Supreme Being, while others simply capitalize the words that to them seem important. There should be some uniformity in the use of capitals in words of this character. As a general rule, it is better to follow the usage of an authorized version of the Scriptures.
2. Such words as First Cause, First Principle, Almighty God, Supreme Being, Lord God Almighty, Infinite One, should always be written with capitals.
3. King of kings, Lord of lords, Son of man, Father of lights, Father of spirits, God of hosts, Father of mercies, Prince of life, Prince of kings, and expressions of a similar character, should only commence with a capital. This is the almost invariable usage of the Scriptures. These expressions are not commonly used in the Bible as titles, in the strict sense of the word. For example, King of kings really means that the Deity is the supreme King of all human kings. For illustration see 1 Tim. vi. 15; Dan. vii. 13; Jas. i. 17; Heb. xii. 9; Psa. lxxx. 7; 2 Cor. i. 3; Acts iii. 15; Mat. xii. 32. When these forms are used as titles, they may be capitalized like titles.
4. The adjectives eternal, divine, heavenly, are not printed with capitals in the Scriptures, when referring to the Deity; as, the eternal God, heavenly Father. See Deut. xxxiii. 27; Heb. ix. 14; Mat. vi. 32; 2 Pet. i. 3. When, however, these adjectives are used in an emphatic or special sense, they may commence with capitals.
5. The pronouns referring to the Deity should not be capitalized, when they are used with some name of the Supreme Being; as, “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.”—Mat. xi. 25. Any chapter of the New Testament will give similar illustrations.
When, however, a pronoun referring to the Deity stands alone, it should commence with a capital; as,—
“O Thou! with whom the night is day,
And one the near and far away.”—Whittier.
6. The capitalization of pronouns is sometimes carried to a ridiculous excess by some writers, especially in poetry; as,
“We praise Thee, O God! for the Son of Thy love.”
7. God, goddess, deity, applied to heathen divinities, should not commence with a capital.
Rule XI. Quotations.—When the exact words of another are given, the first word of the quotation should commence with a capital, if it forms a complete sentence.
EXAMPLES.
“When the celebrated Chesterfield was asked by a Parisian lady, ‘Why, my Lord, does England still retain Christianity?’ ‘Madame,’ he replied, with that mixture of repartee and philosophy which met the case he was dealing with, ‘Madame, because, as yet, we have been able to find nothing better.’”
Fielding somewhere says, “A good face is a letter of recommendation.”
REMARKS.
1. When a quotation is introduced by that, it should not commence with a capital; as, Napoleon banished Madame de Stael because he said that “she carried a quiver of arrows that could hit a man if he were seated on a rainbow.”
2. When only a part of a sentence is quoted, a small letter should be used; as, “For what satisfaction hath a man, that he shall ‘lie down with kings and emperors in death,’ who in his lifetime never greatly coveted the society of such bedfellows?”—Lamb.
3. Sometimes a single word comprises the entire saying of another. When this is so, it should commence with a capital; as, “He shouted, ‘Victory.’”
4. When examples are given as illustrations of some general principle, they naturally follow the same rule as quotations. If an entire sentence is given as an example, it should commence with a capital. When disconnected words are given, small letters may be used, unless the words themselves require capitals.
Rule XII. Resolutions.—In writing resolutions, the word immediately following Resolved, should commence with a capital.
EXAMPLE.
“Resolved, That the Declaration, passed on the fourth, be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style of ‘The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America;’ and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress.”
REMARK.
Resolved commences with a capital in resolutions, and a comma immediately precedes That.
Rule XIII. Special Words.—Words used in a special sense, or of special importance, commence with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
“As nowadays we build monuments to great men, so in the Middle Ages they built shrines or chapels on the spots which saints had made holy.”—Froude.
“The Reformation broke the theological shackles in which men’s minds were fettered.”—Froude.
“That Popularity is alone valuable and enduring which follows you, not that which you run after.”—Lord Mansfield.
REMARK.
Although it is the universal custom to capitalize a word when used in a special sense to mark an important period or event in history, there is another class of words to which writers assign a special importance, the capitalization of which must necessarily be left to the judgment and taste of each writer. It should, however, be remembered that an injudicious or too frequent use of capitals lessens their value and force, and disfigures a written or printed page.
Rule XIV. Words Personified.—When things without life are represented as persons, they may commence with capitals.
EXAMPLE.
“Father Time is not always a hard parent, and though he tarries for none of his children, he often lays his hand lightly upon those who have used him well; making them old men and women inexorably enough, but leaving their hearts and spirits young and in full vigor. With such people the gray head is but the impression of the old fellow’s hand in giving them a blessing, and every wrinkle but a notch in the quiet calendar of a well-spent life.”—Dickens.
REMARK.
Care should be taken not to carry this rule to an excess. Unless the personification is vivid and emphatic, use small letters; as,—
“Many a daylight dawned and darkened,
Many a night shook off the daylight
As the pine shakes off the snow-flakes
From the midnight of its branches.”—Longfellow.
Rule XV. I and O.—The pronoun I and the interjection O should always be written with capitals.
EXAMPLES.
“True faith, I tell thee,
Must ever be the dearest friend to man:
His nature prompts him to assert its rights.”—Schiller.
“As wise as when I went to school.”—Goethe.
“O day! O day! O day! O hateful day!
Never was seen so black a day as this.”—Shakespeare.
Rule XVI. References.—In referring to passages in books, numbers are sometimes represented by capital letters.
EXAMPLES.
Irving’s “Life of Washington,” vol. III. p. 77.
Mommsen’s “History of Rome,” vol. IV. p. 18.
REMARKS.
1. Some commence volume and chapter with a capital, but this is not the usual custom.
2. The volume, chapter, and page may be given, but the volume and page are sufficient.
3. In referring to passages in the Bible, the chapter and verse are given; as Luke, chap. ix. 15. It is the usual custom to omit the word chapter, the letters representing the chapter; and the number, the verse; as, “It may be fit to remember that Moses, Lev. xi. 9, Deut. xiv. 9, appointed fish to be the chief diet of the best commonwealth that ever yet was.”—Izaak Walton.
Rule XVII. Divisions of a Statement.—When a general statement is divided into separate and distinct parts, it is better to commence each division with a capital, even when they do not form complete sentences, and are not separated from each other by a period. This is especially the case when the divisions are numbered.
EXAMPLE.
“The history of the normal development of the individual has its counterpart in the history of humanity. There is, 1. The age of popular and unconscious morality; 2. The transitional, skeptical, or sophistical age; and 3. The philosophic or conscious age of morality.”
REMARKS.
1. When each division commences with a capital and is also numbered, they will be more readily recognized and understood.
2. Some writers number the divisions, but do not commence them with capitals; as, “The teaching of composition requires, (1) a cultivation of thought; and (2) a cultivation of the faculty of expression.” It is better to commence each division with a capital.
3. When a sentence is broken off to commence a new line, in order to give special prominence to a statement, or to attract attention, a capital should be used; as,—
I am, dear Mother,
Your dutiful son,
Sam. Johnson.
