Not that we are to think that Homer wanted judgment, because Virgil had it in a more eminent degree; or that Virgil wanted invention, because Homer possessed a larger share of it: each of these great authors had more of both than, perhaps, any man besides, and are only said to have less in comparison with one another.
Homer hurries and transports us with a commanding impetuosity; Virgil leads us with an attractive majesty: Homer scatters with a generous profusion; Virgil bestows with a careful magnificence.
Compare these examples with those given to show how the semicolon replaces the comma. (Rule XXIII.) Note also how the last sentence is divided in the middle into two parts, and that each of these two parts is itself divided into two parts. By Rule XXII. the second division is indicated by the semicolon; and we bring out the grouping of the sentence by using a colon for the first division.
XXVI. The colon is used before enumerations, especially where "namely," or "viz.," is implied but is not expressed; and when so used it is sometimes followed by the dash.
Three nations adopted this law: England, France, and Germany.
One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor.
Dr Johnson's chief works are the following:--"Rasselas," The Dictionary, "The Lives of the Poets," and "The Vanity of Human Wishes."
When, as in the last example, a list of things is given in a formal way, the dash is generally added. The combination of the two points is partly an attempt to find a point stronger than the colon and not so strong as the full stop, partly, perhaps, an imitation of a finger-post.
XXVII. The colon is generally placed before a quotation, when notice of the quotation is given by some introductory words. In this case also the dash is sometimes used.
In this passage exception may fairly be taken to one short sentence, that in which he says: "The law ought to forbid it, because conscience does not permit it."
On the last morning of his life he wrote these words:--"I have named none to their disadvantage. I thank God He hath supported me wonderfully."
The colon and the dash are used together where the quotation is introduced by formal words such as the following:--"He spoke these words," "he spoke as follows," "he made this speech." But, in the first sentence quoted above, the introductory words are grammatically incomplete without the quotation, which forms the object of the verb "says"; the colon accordingly is the strongest point that can be used. Sometimes the connexion between the introductory words and the quotation may be so close, or the quotation itself may be so short, as to make the comma sufficient.