ide us when we are in doubt which point we
should insert, or whether we should insert a point at all.

(1) _The point that will keep the passage most free from
ambiguity, or make it easiest to read, is the right point to
use._

(2) _If the passage be perfectly free from ambiguity and be
not less easy to understand without any point, let no point
be used._

_The Relativity of Points._--In order to decide in any given case what
point ought to be used, we begin by considering the nature of the
pause in itself. But we must do more. We must consider how we have
pointed the rest of the passage. The pause that should be marked by a
comma in one case, may require a semicolon in another case; the colon
may take the place that the semicolon would generally fill. This will
be best understood by means of the examples that will afterwards be
given. (See Rules XXIII., XXV.)

_Usage._--Except within somewhat narrow limits, usage does not help us
much. Different writers have different methods, and few are
consistent. To some extent there is a fair degree of uniformity; for
instance, in the placing of colons before quotations, and in the use
of inverted commas. But in many cases there can hardly be said to be
any fixed usage, and in these we can freely apply the general rules
already laid down. Much might be said for a complete disregard of
usage, for a thorough recasting of our system of punctuation. Sooner
or later something must be done to relieve the overburdened comma of
part of the work which it is expected to perform. Not only is the
comma a less effective point than it might be, but the habit of using
it for so many purposes is exercising a really mischievous effect on
English style. In the meantime, and as a step towards a better system,
there is an evident advantage in giving to the existing vague usage a
more or less precise form. Nothing more than this has been aimed at in
the present work.

In giving rules of punctuation we cannot hope to deal with all, or
with nearly all, the cases that may arise in writing. Punctuation is
intimately connected with style. As forms of thought are infinite in
number, so are the modes of expression; and punctuation, adapting
itself to these, is an instrument capable of manipulation in a
thousand ways. We can therefore set forth only some typical cases,
forming a body of examples to which a little reflection will suggest a
variety both of applications and o