“Nor is it always in the most distinguished achievements that men’s virtues or vices may be best discerned; but very often an action of small note, a short saying, or a jest, shall distinguish a person’s real character more than the greatest sieges, or the most important battles.”—Plutarch.
Rule II. Expressions Complete in Themselves.—Short expressions, complete in themselves but slightly connected in meaning, may be separated by semicolons.
EXAMPLES.
“We do not want precepts so much as patterns; an example is the softest and least invidious way of commanding.”—Pliny.
“It is a beautiful thing to model a statue and give it life; to mould an intelligence and instil truth therein is still more beautiful.”—Hugo.
“There are on every subject a few leading and fixed ideas; their tracks may be traced by your own genius as well as by reading.”—Sheridan.
REMARK.
When as introduces an example, a semicolon should be placed before and a comma after it.
Rule III. Series of Expressions.—When several clauses follow each other in succession, having a common dependence on some part of the sentence, they should be separated from each other by semicolons, and from the clause on which they depend, by a comma.