The Malaprop Comma.

THE MALAPROP COMMA .

" Commas and points they set exactly right , And ' twere a sin to rob them of their mite . " Pope , Prol . to " Satires . " COMMA is a Greek word , which properly moans a segment , or a pait cut o / a complete sentence . ' Lindley Murray is said

to have laid down twenty rules to govern the use of this , the smallest grammatical division in printed or written matter , and Wilson , in his ' Treatise on Punctuation , ' gives nineteen . Yet notwithstanding these guides , many illustrations can be furnished to indicato the important nature of tho errors arising from its omission , or improper use . "

Walker , in his " Elem . of Elocution , " speaking of the comma , says that " not half tho pauses are found in printing which are heard in the pronunciation of a good reader or speaker ; and that , if we would read or speak well , we must pause , upon an average , at every fifth or sixth word . "

Booth , in his " Principles of English Composition , " says : — " The early alphabets of nations had one set of characters ; and the manuscripts of tho fourth and fifth centuries are written in large letters , similar to those on medals and inscriptions , without points , aspirates , or accents ; and even without any division between the words . " """

As the system of dispensing with points in legal deeds is the cause of tautology , so the writings of our forefathers were often rendered unintelligible by a similar absence of punctuation . The want of a comma led to a strange result in the bill which was presented to a farmer . It ran— " To hanging two barn-doors and myself seven hours , 4 s . Gd . "

The following incident occurred in tho experience of a preceptor . According to a lesson book , " In the years 1847-48 , potatoes formed the solo food of the Irish peasantry . " A schoolboy read tho passage thus : — " In the year 1 F 47 forty-eight potatoes formed the sole food of the Irish peasantry . "

In the " Impernl Dictionary , " tho word " tarn " is thus defined : "A small mountain , lake , or pool . " Qhe improper use of the comma after mountain , makes tarn signify three things , 1 st , a mountain ; 2 nd , a lake ; and 3 rd , a pool , —instead of simply a mountain-lake , or pool .

A curious effect has sometimes been produced by the transposition of a comma , or the insertion of a word . In Bamessa , there dwelt a prior of great liberality , who caused these lines to be placed over his door : —

"Be open evermore , 0 thou my door , To none be shut , to honest or to poor . " His successor , a priest , by name Baynard , was as penurious as the other had been hospitable , and disliking the tone of the legend , although he would not go to the expense of painting it out , simply altered the position of one point , which made the couplet read thus : —

" Be open evermore , 0 thou my door , To none , be shut to honest or to poor . " William Sharp , the celebrated London engraver , was bom in 1749 at Haydon Yard in the Minories . Though eminent in his profession he was a religious enthusiast and visionary of the most pronounced type . Tho latest delusion found in him a film believer , and easy

dupe . So easily was he imposed upon , that " the doctrines of Mesmer , the rhapsodies of the notorious Eichard Brothers , and the gross delusion of Joanna Southcott , in turn found in him a warm disciple . His sincerity cannot be doubted , for ho actually engraved two plates of the fanatical Eichard Brothers , under the belief that one would not supply the great number of impressions that would

be wanted when the advent should arrive . He appended to each the inscription : — " Fully believing this to be the man appointed by God , I engrave this likeness : —W . Sharp . " But the wags of that day varied the reading by putting the comma-pause after the word appointed , and gave quite a blasphemous turn to his piety . It is said that Sharp ' s portrait of John Hunter , the surgeon , is one of the finest prints in the world .

King Edward II . is said to have lost his life by the simple mis placement of a comma . The following lines : —

" To shed King Edward ' s blood Eefuse , to fear I count it good . " having been sent to the keeper of Berkeley Castle , the comma , instead of being placed after the word " refuse , " was inserted after " fear , " so that the line read , " refuse to fear , " and the keeper , accepting the error , allowed the king to be murdered .

Tho clerk of a congregation in Scotland had a paper handed to him , as the custom is , to read just before the minister stood up to pray with and / or the congregation , containing the following words , unpointed : — " A man going to sea his wife desires the prayers of

the congregation . " Tho clerk read it as if the comma had been put at the end of the word wife , and unfortunately excited , in no small degree , the risible faculties of the worshippers : —thus , "A man going to sea ( nee ) his wife , desires the prayers of the congregation . " °

" The wicked flee when no man pursueth , & c , " by a pause after flee , instead of after pursueth , made it read : — " The wicked flea , when no man pursueth but the righteous , is bold as a lion . " At a Delmonico dinner , the toast , " Woman—without her , man would be a savage , " got the punctuation in the wrong place , which entirely altered the sense , thus : —" Woman without her man , would be a savage . "

# A printer , interfering with the verdict oi a coroner's jury , by inserting a comma after "drinking , " instead of after " apoplexy , " made it read thus : — " Deceased came to his death by excessive drinking , causing apoplexy in the minds of the jury . " The following instance , showing the necessity of correct punctuation , was afforded by an advertisement , in which the commissioner for lighting Liverpool during the year 1819 , by tho mis-

The Malaprop Comma.

placing of a comma in his advertisement , would have contracted for the supply of but half the required light . The advertisement represented the lamps as " 4050 in number , having two spouts each , composed of not less than twenty threads of cotton . " This implied that the lamps 'had each two spouts , and that the two spouts had twenty threads—that is , each spout had ten threads .

But the meaning that the commissioner intended to convey was , that each spout had twenty threads ; and his advertisement should havo had the comma after " spouts , " instead of after " each , " thus The lamps had two spouts , each composed of twenty threads , & c , A clergyman , in a lecture on temperance , was reported as saying : —" Last Sunday a young man died in my neighbourhood , while I was preaching in a beastly state of intoxication . "

An anecdote is told of a barber , who had a couplet over his door without any punctuation at all ; but which the passers-by read thus : —

" What do you think ? I'll shave you for nothing , and give you a drink . " If any victim went in to avail himself of his apparently magnani mous offer , he found that the barber ' s rendering of it was : —

" What I do you think I'll shave you for nothing and give you a drink ?" A preacher , who had been a printer , once concluded his sermon as follows : — " Youth may be compared to a comma , manhood to a semicolon ; and old age to a colon : to which death puts a period . " Here is an example which can be read in two ways , describing

a very bad man or a very good man , the result depending upon the manner in which it is punctuated : — " He is an old and experienced man in vice and wickedness he is never found in opposing the works of iniquity he takes delight in the downfall of his neighbours he never rejoices in the prosperity of his fellow creatures he is always ready to assist in destroying the peace of society he takes no pleasure

in serving the Lord he is uncommonly diligent in sowing discoid among his friends and acquaintances he takes no pride in labouring to promote the cause of Christianity he has not been negligent in endeavouring to stigmatize all public teachers he makes no effort to subdue his evil passions he strives hard to build up Satan's

kingdom he lends no aid to the support of the gospel among the heathen he contributes largely to the evil adversary he pays great heed to the devil he will never go to heaven he must go where he will receive the just recompense of reward . " " Book of Earities , " by Bro . Edward Eoberts P . M . Asst . Prov . G . T .

Segontium Chapter, No. 606.

SEGONTIUM CHAPTER , No . 606 .

AT the annual installation Major Boss was installed as M . E . Z ., by Comp . Cornelius Davies P . Z ., who also installed Comp . John Williams in the chair of H .

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