called "Lord of lords, and King of kings;" and, in the Old Testament, a great sovereign is styled a "king of kings."

c. From the vagueness of the ideas represented by the word nature, it is difficult to lay down any precise rule as to the mode of writing or printing it. In general, it should begin with a small n; as, "He looks through nature up to nature's God;" except when strongly personified, or when clearly used of the intelligent Principle of the universe.

d. Providence, with an initial capital, denotes the infinitely good Being who provides for the wants of his creatures; but, when beginning with a small p, it means either divine superintendence or human foresight. So, Heaven, with a capital H, signifies God, the Sovereign of heaven, or of the celestial regions.

e. The adjectives divine, heavenly, eternal, universal, providential, and others of a similar kind, when applied to God, his attributes, or his agency, are sometimes written initially with capitals; but, unless when particularly emphatic, small letters are preferable, because the names of the Deity occurring in the connection sufficiently indicate the Being referred to.

f. As exceptions to Remark e, the epithets occuring in First Cause, Divine or Supreme Being, Almighty God, Infinite One, should begin with large letters, because universal custom favors this mode of writing. The adjective Most High or Highest should also appear with an initial capital, when the noun which it qualifies is not used.

-as,

g. When the attributes of the Deity or of the Saviour are expressed, not by adjectives, but, in the Hebrew style, by nouns, Father of mercies, God of wisdom, Prince of peace, instead of the merciful Father, the wise God, the peaceful Prince, - they should begin, like the adjectives, with small letters, as here exemplified.

h. The appellation Son of man, when applied to Christ, whether by way of eminence or of humility, is probably better printed, not "Son of Man" 66 or 'son of man," but as it appears in the common version of the Bible, and in the first line of this remark.

i. The word Spirit, and the phrases Holy or Divine Spirit, Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, are usually capitalized, whether said of the Deity or of his gifts and influences. Some writers, however, restrict the capitals to these terms when they have a personal import, but use small letters when they signify merely divine inspiration or heavenly aid. As the mode of exhibiting these words is as much a matter of theology as of taste, authors should be particularly careful to write the initials as they wish them to be printed.

j. Pronouns referring to God and Christ should not begin with capitals, unless they are used emphatically without a noun. Hymns and prayers are often disfigured by the unnecessary use of these letters, as in the following lines:

These are Thy glorious works, Parent of good,

Almighty! Thine this universal frame,

Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then! -

which would lose none of their true grandeur, if more simply printed:

These are thy glorious works, Parent of good,

Almighty! thine this universal frame,

Thus wondrous fair: thyself how wondrous then!

RULE IV.

Titles of Honor and Respect.

Titles of honor and respect, either descriptive of persons in exalted stations or addressed to them, usually begin with capital letters; as,

1. Her Majesty, His Honor, Your Royal Highness, Your Grace.
2. My Lord, my Lady; dear Sir, respected Madam or Friend.

3. The President of the United States.

4. His Excellency the Governor of Massachusetts.

REMARKS.

a. In the rules and reports of societies, institutions, &c., names indicating office should begin with capitals; as, Chairman, President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Committee, Directors, Board of Managers. So, also, when used in a specific sense, the words Report, Society, Institution, Corporation, Constitution, Commonwealth, State, University, College, Academy, School, Congress, Parliament, Legislature, &c. In the plural number, or when used in a general sense, such words are properly put in small characters.

b. The pope; his or her majesty; king, queen; duke, duchess; lord, lady; sir, madam; president, governor, and words of a similar kind, should be written or printed with small initials, when they occur very frequently, or without any particular expression of honor. When prefixed to proper names, however, they are always begun

with capitals; as, President Jefferson, Governor Winthrop, Professor Longfellow, Lord Brougham, Countess of Blessington, Queen Victoria, the Emperor Napoleon, Pope Pius IX.

c. So, also, father, mother; brother, sister; uncle, aunt, &c., commence with capital letters when put before proper names; as, Aunt Dorothy, Brother Gray. But the term father, when applied to any of the early orthodox writers of the Christian Church, is begun with a capital, whether it be or be not prefixed to a proper name; as, "Even the soundest of the Fathers held some opinions inconsistent with the doctrines of the gospel."

RULE V.

Names of Persons, Places, &c.

All proper names, whether of animate or inanimate existences, begin with capitals; as,

1. Jupiter, Juno; Pompey, Penelope; William, Sarah.

2. America, Europe; France, Spain, Great Britain.
3. New York, Philadelphia; London, Edinburgh, Broadway.
4. The Atlantic, the Red Sea, Lake Erie, the Alps.
5. January, Monday, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter.

REMARK S.

a. When the word devil is used of Satan, it may begin with a capital; as, the Devil and his angels. But, when employed of demoniacal agents or of wicked men, whether in the singular or the plural number, it commences with a small letter.

b. The words heaven, hell; paradise; the celestial and the infernal regions, representing either states of mind or places of reward and punishment, usually begin with small letters; but Elysium, Tartarus, and Pandemonium, with capitals.

c. Appellatives, merely expletory, coming before proper names, are begun with small letters; but, when put immediately after them, they are distinguished by capitals; as, the river Thames, the city of London; London City, the Thames River.

d. When North, South, East, West, &c., denote certain countries of which we are accustomed to speak, or the people who reside in certain parts of the globe or in districts of our own land, they are written or printed with initial capitals; as, "This man's accent shows that he belongs to the South." But, when they refer to

places or things as being more to the north, south, &c., than others, these words are begun with small letters; as, "London is situated east of Windsor."

e. Sunday, as one of the days of the week, always has an initial capital; while, on the contrary, sabbath, or sabbath-day, is perhaps more frequently written and printed with a small s than with a large one. The initials in Lord's Day, New Year's Day, &c., are usually capitalized.

RULE VI.

Nouns and Adjectives derived from Proper Names.

Gentile nouns, adjectives derived from gentile nouns, and nouns or adjectives formed from proper names, begin with capitals; as,

1. A Hebrew, a Greek, a Roman, a German, a Spaniard, a Frenchman. 2. Hebrew, Grecian, Roman, Italian, French, Spanish, American. 3. A Christian, a Brahmin, a Mahometan; Augustan, Elizabethan.

REMARK S.

a. Names of sectaries, whether formed from proper nouns or otherwise, should begin with capitals; as, "Good men are found among Christian denominations of the most opposite doctrines, among Roman Catholics and Protestants, Athanasians and Arians, Trinitarians and Unitarians, Lutherans, Calvinists, Arminians, and Universalists." So, also, when used adjectively; as, the Wesleyan doctrines; Papal, Protestant, and Episcopal ceremonies.

b. A few adjectives and common nouns, derived from proper names, are usually printed with small initials; as, godlike, stentorian, hermetical, hymeneal, prussic; epicure, epicurism; philippic, simony, jalap, damask, cashmere (shawl), china (ware), guinea (a coin), turkey (a fowl), champagne (wine). These and similar words are so written, because usually little or no reference is made to the proper names from which they were derived.

c. For the same reason, the verbs to hector, to philippize, to romance, to galvanize, to japan, should be written with small letters. But, on account of their more obvious allusion to the proper names whence they have been taken, Judaize and Christianize are better written or printed with initial capitals. The compounds unchristian, antichristian, &c., are, however, done with small characters.

RULE VII.

Words of Primary Importance.

Words of primary importance, especially if they indicate some great event, or remarkable change in religion or government, are commenced with capital letters; as,

1. The Reformation, effected mainly by Luther, is one of the most wonderful events in modern times.

2. Glorious New England! around thy hills and mountains cling, like gathering mists, the mighty memories of the Revolution.

REMARKS.

a. The use of capitals in important words and phrases seems to be, in some measure, a matter of mere taste or caprice. Channing not unfrequently represents the greatest of his great ideas by words having initial capitals; Carlyle, and other imitators of German thought and expression, employ them superabundantly, and with little discrimination; while others are particularly careful that the uniformity which is so desirable in a printed page be marred as little as possible by the practice referred to.

b. Every noun or leading word in the titles of books and other publications must begin, wherever it occurs, with a capital letter; as, "Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard' is perhaps the finest poem of the kind in the English or any other language.”

6

c. Terms denoting the records of the Jewish and Christian revelations are distinguished by initial capitals; as, the Scriptures, the Holy Bible, the Sacred Writings, the Old and the New Testament. But the phrase word of God, when employed in this sense, is begun with a small letter; while the term Word, or "Logos," as used by St. John in the introduction to his Gospel, and so much discussed by divines, is generally written and printed with a capital.

d. The word gospel has a small letter for its initial when it means the religion of Jesus, but a capital when it denotes one of the four Gospels; as, the Gospel of Matthew. So, also, the term revelation, when denoting the divine instructions contained in the Bible, begins with a small letter; but, used of the Apocalypse, or Revelation of St. John, it must be distinguished with a capital.