RULE II. One Quotation within another. When one quotation is introduced within another, the included one should be preceded by a single inverted comma, and closed by a single apostrophe. EXAMPLES. 1. When treating of Christian orators, Maury asks the following apposite questions: "What is this you call eloquence? Is it the wretched trade of imitating that criminal, mentioned by a poet in his satires, who 'balanced his crimes before his judges with antithesis'? Is it the puerile secret of forming jejune quibbles; of rounding periods; of tormenting one's self by tedious studies, in order to reduce sacred instruction into a vain amusement?" 2. In describing the vast influence of a perfect orator over the feelings and passions of his audience, Sheridan forcibly says, "Notwithstanding the diversity of minds in such a multitude, by the lightning of eloquence they are melted into one mass; the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same way, become, as it were, but one man, and have but one voice. The universal ery is, 'Let us march against Philip; let us fight for our liberties; let us conquer or die!?" REMARK S. a. Double marks should be used before and after a quotation inserted in that which has been introduced into an extract; as, Channing, the friend of humanity in every condition and under every garb, says, 'When I consider the greater simplicity of their lives, and their greater openness to the spirit of Christianity, I am not sure but that the "golden age " of manners is to begin among those who are now despaired of for their want of refinement.'" b. Some writers and printers observe the following direction, in preference to the rule given in the text: That a single inverted comma should be prefixed to a single quotation occurring in composition, and a single apostrophe annexed to it; but that two inverted commas should be introduced before, and two apostrophes after, another quotation occurring within the primary one; as, 'There are times when the spirit, oppressed with pain, worn with toil, tired of tumult, sick at the sight of guilt, wounded in its love, baffled in its hope, and trembling in its faith, almost longs for the "wings of a dove, that it might fly away," and take refuge amidst the "shady bowers," the "vernal airs," the "roses without thorns," the quiet, the beauty, the loveliness, of Eden.' But the great objection to this mode of setting off extracts is, that, by using single marks to the quotations which are of primary importance, and double to those which are merely secondary, we exhibit the former less prominently than the latter. c. The marks under consideration may with propriety be omitted in some instances, where several quotations are so much involved one within another, that the insertion of all the inverted commas and the apostrophes would tend to obscure the meaning of the entire passage; as, In the New Testament we have the following words: "Jesus answered the Jews, 'Is it not written in your law, — I said, Ye are gods?'" By considering the example itself as an extract, there will be found here no fewer than five quotations; and yet, though two only are set off with quotation-marks, the passage is perhaps more intelligible, and to the eye certainly less offensive, than if printed thus: "In the New Testament we have the following words: Jesus answered the Jews, "Is it not written in your law, I said, "Ye are gods "?"" Ridiculous as it may appear, this mode of exhibiting quotations is only the application of the principle contained in the rule, but carried out beyond its legitimate purpose and extent. d. Indeed, in quoting from such texts of Scripture as contain citations from other books of the sacred canon, it is usual to present them as they appear in the Common Version, without any quotation-marks in the body of the passage; as, — St. Paul thus expresses himself: "Therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." In another place the apostle says, "David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness, then, upon the circumcision only?" &c. But the exhibiting of a quotation within a quotation without the inverted commas, though more pleasing to the eye, is less accurate, than it would be if they were used in a single form, as in the passage above, lines six and seven of Remark c. e. See page 156, Remark ƒ; and page 161, Remark e. RULE III. Extracts composed of Successive Paragraphs. When an extract is composed of successive paragraphs, each is commenced with inverted commas; but the apostrophes are not used till the quotation finally terminates. EXAMPLE. To exemplify this rule, a passage, consisting of more than one paragraph, may be taken from an essay by Godwin: "No subject is of more importance, in the morality of private life, than that of domestic or family life. "Every man has his ill humors, his fits of peevishness and exacerbation. Is it better that he should spend these upon his fellow-beings, or suffer them to subside of themselves? "It seems to be one of the most important of the arts of life, that men should not come too near each other, or touch in too many points. Excessive familiarity is the bane of social happiness." REMARK S. a. When phrases or sentences in an extract consist of portions not connected in the discourse or book from which they have been taken, each portion should begin and end with the quotation-marks, as in those cited on p. 228, Remark a; unless several points (....) are inserted to indicate the omission, in which case it will be suf ficient to put the marks of quotation at the beginning and the end of the whole extract, if it is contained in one paragraph. b. In the leading articles of newspapers, and sometimes in books, when particular attention would be drawn to an extract embodied in the text, the inverted commas are placed at the beginning of each line of the quotation; as, "Slavery must fall, because it stands in "direct hostility to all the grand movements, principles, and reforms "of our age; because it stands in the way of an advancing world. "One great idea stands out amidst the discoveries and improvements "of modern times. It is, that man is not to exercise arbitrary, "irresponsible power over man." But, except in the more transient class of publications, this mode of exhibiting extracts is now seldom used. ORAL EXERCISE. Show how the Rules and the Remarks (pp. 228-30) apply to the use or omission of quotation-marks in the following sentences: The psalmist says again, "I am a stranger with thee and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." When Fenélon's library was on fire, " God be praised," said he, "that it is not the dwelling of a poor man." I repeat what I said on a former occasion, that "no man can be happy who is destitute of good feelings and generous principles.". "There is but one object," says St. Augustine, "greater than the soul; and that one is its Creator." Plato, hearing that some asserted he was a very bad man, said, "I shall take care so to live that nobody will believe them.” "Let me make the ballads of a nation," said Fletcher of Saltoun, "and I care not who makes its laws." 66 Any man," it has been well said, " who has a proneness to see a beauty and fitness in all God's works, may find daily food for his mind even in an infant." A minister of some experience remarks, "I have heard more than one sufferer say, 'I am thankful; God is good to me;' and, when I heard that, I said, 'It is good to be afflicted.'" The celebrated and ingenious Bishop of Cloyne, in his "Principles of Human Knowledge," denies, without any ceremony, the existence of every kind of matter whatever. After Cicero, the literary history of the Romans is written in one line of Tacitus, Gliscente adulatione, magna ingenia deterrebantur; "As adulation increased, great minds were deterred." A being crowned with all the blessings which men covet and admire, - - with youth, health, beauty, rank, genius, and fame, writes four cantos of melodious verse to prove that he is the most miserable of mortals. Trench well says, "What a lesson the word 'diligence' contains! How profitable is it for every one of us to be reminded, as we are reminded when we make ourselves aware of its derivation from diligo, 'to love,' that the only secret of true industry in our work is love of that work!" To the man who walks among the flowers which he has tended,— "Each odoriferous leaf, Each opening blossom, freely breathes abroad EXERCISE TO BE WRITTEN. Insert the marks of quotation agreeably to some of the directions given in pp. 228-32. Johnson's Lives of the English Poets may justly be considered as the noblest specimen of elegant and solid criticism which any age has produced. (Rule I. and Remark e.) Terrific examples of license and anarchy in Greece and Rome are quoted to prove, that man requires to be protected from himself; forgetting the profound wisdom wrapped up in the familiar inquiry, Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who shall guard the keepers? (Rule I. and Remark c.) An eloquent preacher asks, Who would not far prefer our wintry storm, and the hoarse sighings of the east wind, as it sweeps around us, if they will brace the mind to nobler attainments, and the heart to better duties? [The author of this passage quotes the phrase, "the hoarse sighings of the east wind."] (Rule II.) What is the soul? was a question once put to Marivaux. — I know nothing of it, he answered, but that it is spiritual and immortal. Well, said his friend, let us ask Fontenelle, and he will tell us what it is. No, cried Marivaux: ask anybody but Fontenelle; for he has too much good sense to know any more about it than we do. (Rule I.) D'Alembert congratulated a young man very coldly, who brought him the solution of a problem. I have done this to have a seat in the Academy, said the young man. - Sir, answered D'Alembert, with such motives you will never earn one. Science must be loved for its own sake, and not for the advantage to be derived. No other principle will enable a man to make true progress. (Rule I.) The following sarcastic rules for behavior are said by Goldsmith to have been drawn up by an indigent philosopher: 1. If you be a rich man, you may enter the room with three loud hems, march deliberately up to the chimney, and turn your back to the fire. 2. If you be a poor man, I would advise you to shrink into the room as fast as you can, and place yourself, as usual, upon a corner of a chair, in a remote corner. 3. If you be young, and live with an old man, I would advise you not to like gravy. I was disinherited myself for liking gravy. (Rule III.) |