RULE LXV.

174. Personification.-In vivid personification, the personified noun should begin with a capital.

"With eyes upraised, as one inspired,

Pale Melancholy sate retired."— Collins.

"And Melancholy marked him for his own."-Gray.

This usage is less common now than formerly, and is confined almost entirely to poetry. Even there, the best writers employ it but rarely. The following seem better as their authors give them, and yet the personification is strong

in each:

"Friends depart, and memory takes them

To her caverns, pure and deep.”—Bayly.

"Moping melancholy,

And moon-struck madness.”—Milton.

It was formerly the rule to capitalize the following: nature, the seasons-spring, summer, autumn, winter, time, the hours, dawn, night, the graces, the muses, music, and many other inanimate things, especially in poetry. This, however, is not now considered in the best taste, unless the personification is peculiarly strong.

RULE LXVI.

175. Terms Defined.-Words to be defined or explained are either capitalized or printed in heavy type or in Italic. A Verb is a word etc. A verb is a word etc. A pronoun is a word that denotes persons or things without naming them.

Under this rule may be included ordinary words occurring in the body of the text, and regarded as of extraordinary importance.

The region was in the heart of Ethiopia near the source of the river Zaire. Over the region there brooded a Presence-a Shadow, weird, intangible, oppressive.

It should be remarked that this is one of the tricks or devices employed in what has been contemptuously called "fine writing." For true excellence the ordinary resources of expression are always sufficient [see, however, rule LXVIII].

RULE LXVII.

176. Titles.-Titles of honor, respect, and office should begin with capitals.

His Honor the Mayor, His Excellency the Governor, Your Royal Highness, Dear Sir, My dear Madam, etc.

When used in a specific sense, as in rules, reports, and documents, such words as president, chairman, directors, committee, school, institution, congress, etc. should be capitalized; in ordinary generic use, small letters should be used. Official or honorary titles, when prefixed to proper names, should have initial capitals.

Professor Whitney, President McKinley, Admiral Dewey, Governor Roosevelt, Peace Commissioner Schurman, Pope Leo, Secretary of State John Hay.

Prefixed terms denoting mere relationship should begin with small letters; as, cousin John, aunt Mary, uncle Smith. When, however, these words do not denote real but official relationship, as is the case of officials in the Roman Catholic church, capitals are required; as, Brother Azarias, Sister Dorcas, etc.

RULE LXVIII.

177. Important Words.-Words and expressions that for any reason are of special importance, are capitalized in the same manner as quoted titles.

Such are the following:

(a) Events.

The Siege of Troy, the War of the Rebellion, the War of the Spanish. Succession, Battle of Manila Bay.

(b) Epochs.

The Renaissance, the Age of Stone, the Reformation, the Christian Era.

(c) Phenomena.

The Milky Way, the Gulf Stream, the Aurora Borealis, the Midnight Sun.

When such matters are introduced informally, and without' obvious intention to emphasize their importance, unneces

sary capitals are to be avoided. It is by discriminating carefully in such cases that a writer may show his good taste.

RULE LXIX.

178. I and 0.-The pronoun I and the interjection O should always be capitals.

The interjection oh should not be written with a capital, unless, as is often the case, it begins a sentence or a line of poetry.

LETTER WRITING.

(PART 1.)

HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,

Falling, like dew, upon a thought, produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.-Byron.

1. The antiquity of letter writing is undoubted. Since the very existence of an organized form of government depends on means of communication between the governing power and the governed, the sovereign, from the very remotest antiquity, has kept himself in touch with the ministers of his power and the agents of his authority by means of letters. Nor is there any room for doubt that commerce extended its influences and multiplied its benefits, even in the earliest ages, by like means. Learning, too, diffused its blessings not only within the confines of one state or country, but through various countries by means of letters exchanged between learned men and their disciples or admirers; while the ties of friendship and of kindred were, no doubt, also maintained and strengthened by letters despatched from city to city, from port to port, from country to country.

The civilization of ancient Egypt was strikingly benefited by this system of intercommunication between community and community, individual and individual. The Phenicians 8 21

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carried their commerce and letters to every portion of the known world. The Greeks, who surpassed in point of culture all other peoples of antiquity, held close communication with one another; and by means of letters the various Greek colonies of Asia Minor and of Italy were kept closely bound in thought, in trade, and in tongue to the mother land. The Roman empire owed much of its strength to its unrivaled system of roads, spreading throughout its vast extent, thus bringing its furthermost dependencies into close contact with the imperial city on the Tiber. We know from Gibbon and other historians that the Roman government maintained frequent and regular communication with its representatives in all the provinces. We know, also, that the men of letters, who flocked to Rome from every part of the empire, kept themselves, by means of epistolary communication, at the command of disciples in every city yielding obedience to Roman sway. The literary remains of antiquity show, with remarkable unanimity, that the learned men of old excelled as letter writers.

Herodotus mentions that a system of couriers existed in the Persian empire, and Xenophon states that post stations or houses were established by King Cyrus. Marco Polo describes a similar system existing in China in the 13th century, the stations being only three miles apart, thus securing great rapidity of communication. Among the ancient Aztecs in Mexico a complete system of couriers was likewise maintained, the stations being about two leagues apart, and providing a rapid means of communication by foot-messengers. In all these cases the posts seem to have been set up for the government service only.

2. During the last few years the Babylonian collection of the British Museum has been enriched by the important addition of several thousand tablets obtained chiefly by Dr. Budge during his expeditions to the East. Among the principal objects are a large number of small tablets, many of them of the envelope, or duplicate, class, which were found at Tell-sifr, in South Babylonia, representing the ancient