The writer on punctuation who says, as do many such writers, that the colon is an obsolete mark, except in its formal use for enumeration, does so, we believe, in ignorance of the useful and beautiful purpose it performs in a very large class of sentences.
EXAMPLES
1. There is purpose in pain; otherwise it were devilish.
2. But not thieves; nor robbers; nor mobs; nor rioters, insurgents, or rebels.
3. The people’s voice is odd; it is, and it is not, the voice of God.
4. He cared little for poetry; fact, and not fancy, satisfied him.
5. The second Folio, reprinted from the first, was published in 1632; the third Folio, in 1664; and the fourth, in 1685.
6. Wealth has greatly accumulated; machinery has come to do a large part of our work; and all sorts of people have more or less leisure on their hands.
7. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.