“Angling is always to be considered as a stick and a string, with a fly at one end and a fool at the other.”—Swift.
GENERAL REMARK.
A comma should always be used, when it aids in bringing out the meaning of the writer, or in avoiding ambiguity.
THE SEMICOLON.
Rule I. Long Sentences.—When the smaller divisions of sentences are separated by commas, the main divisions should be separated by semicolons.
EXAMPLES.
“Sheridan, Pitt, and Fox all drank hard and worked hard; they were all great in the councils of the nation, but not one could rule his own household.”—London Athenæum.
“Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong;
Was every thing by starts, and nothing long.”—Dryden.