21:  2.”—­True Amer., i. 29.  Others adopt the following method which seems preferable to any of the foregoing:  “Isa.  Iv, 3; Ezek. xviii, 20; Mic. vi, 7.”—­Gurney’s Essays, p. 133.  Churchill, who is uncommonly nice about his punctuation, writes as follows:  “Luke. vi, 41, 42.  See also Chap. xv, 8; and Phil., iii. 12.”—­New Gram., p. 353.

OBS. 6.—­Arabic figures used as ordinals, or used for the numeral adverbs, first, or firstly, secondly, thirdly, &c., are very commonly pointed with the period, even where the pause required after them is less than a full stop; as, “We shall consider these words, 1. as expressing resolution; and 2. as expressing futurity.”—­Butler’s Gram., p. 106.  But the period thus followed by a small letter, has not an agreeable appearance, and some would here prefer the comma, which is, undoubtedly, better suited to the pause, A fitter practice, however, would be, to change the expression thus:  “We shall consider these words, 1st, as expressing resolution; and, 2dly, as expressing futurity.”

OBS. 7.—­Names vulgarly shortened, then written as they are spoken, are not commonly marked with a period; as, Ben for Benjamin.  “O RARE BEN JOHNSON!”—­Biog.  Dict.

   “From whence the inference is plain,
    Your friend MAT PRIOR wrote with pain.” 
        —­LLOYD:  B.  P., Vol. viii, p. 188.

IMPROPRIETIES FOR CORRECTION.

FALSE PUNCTUATION.—­ERRORS CONCERNING THE PERIOD.

UNDER RULE I.—­DISTINCT SENTENCES.

“The third person is the position of the name spoken of; as, Paul and Silas were imprisoned, the earth thirsts, the sun shines.”—­Frazee’s Gram., 1st Ed., p. 21; Ster.  Ed., p. 23.

[FORMULE.—­Not proper, because three totally distinct sentences are here thrown together as examples, with no other distinction than what is made by two commas.  But, according to Rule 1st for the Period, “When a sentence, whether long or short, is complete in respect to sense, and independent in respect to construction, it should be marked with the period.”  Therefore, these commas should be periods; and, of course, the first letter of each example must be a capital.]

“Two and three and four make nine; if he were here, he would assist his father and mother, for he is a dutiful son; they live together, and are happy, because they enjoy each other’s society; they went to Roxbury, and tarried all night, and came back the next day.”—­Goldsbury’s Parsing Lessons in his Manual of E. Gram., p. 64.

“We often resolve, but seldom perform; she is wiser than her sister; though he is often advised, yet he does not reform; reproof either softens or hardens its object; he is as old as his classmates, but not so learned; neither prosperity, nor adversity, has improved him; let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall; he can acquire no virtue, unless he make some sacrifices.”—­Ibid.