aw, I said, Ye are gods?"--_John_, x, 34.
"Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not
steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy
mother."--_Luke_, xviii, 20.

RULE XV.--CHIEF WORDS.

Other words of particular importance, and such as denote the principal
subjects treated of, may be distinguished by capitals; and names subscribed
frequently have capitals throughout: as, "In its application to the
Executive, with reference to the Legislative branch of the Government, the
same rule of action should make the President ever anxious to avoid the
exercise of any discretionary authority which can be regulated by
Congress."--ANDREW JACKSON, 1835.

RULE XVI.--NEEDLESS CAPITALS.

Capitals are improper wherever there is not some special rule or reason for
their use: a century ago books were disfigured by their frequency; as,
"Many a Noble _Genius_ is lost for want of _Education_. Which wou'd then be
Much More Liberal. As it was when the _Church_ Enjoy'd her _Possessions_.
And _Learning_ was, in the _Dark Ages_, Preserv'd almost only among the
_Clergy_."--CHARLES LESLIE, 1700; _Divine Right of Tythes_, p. 228.

OBSERVATIONS.

OBS. 1.--The letters of the alphabet, read by their names, are equivalent
to words. They are a sort of universal signs, by which we may mark and
particularize objects of any sort, named or nameless; as, "To say,
therefore, that while A and B are both quadrangular, A is more or less
quadrangular than B, is absurd."--_Murray's Gram._, p. 50. Hence they are
used in the sciences as symbols of an infinite variety of things or ideas,
being construed both substantively and adjectively; as, "In ascending from
the note C to D, the interval is equal to an inch; and from D to E, the
same."--_Music of Nature_, p. 293. "We have only to imagine the G clef
placed below it."--_Ib._ Any of their forms may be used for such purposes,
but the custom of each science determines our choice. Thus Algebra employs
small Italics; Music, Roman capitals; Geometry, for the most part, the
same; Astronomy, Greek characters; and Grammar, in some part or other,
every sort. Examples: "Then comes _answer_ like an ABC book."--_Beauties of
Shakspeare_, p. 97. "Then comes _question_ like an _a, b, c_,
book.--_Shakspeare_." See A, B, C, in _Johnson's quarto Dict._
Better:--"like an _A-Bee-Cee_ book."

"For A, his magic pen evokes an O,
And turns the tide of Europe on the foe."--_You