“Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
Idk, I got that from a transcription of a letter. All but one of the commas look appropriate to me, and even that one looks appropriate if it’s thought of as a spoken declaration.
James Madison, father of the Constitution:
“Every new & successful example therefore of a perfect separation between ecclesiastical and civil matters, is of importance. And I have no doubt that every new example, will succeed, as every past one has done, in shewing that religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.”
Misquote or was he that bad at commas?
Found it.
Looks like Madison enjoyed using commas, relevant quote from the original letter reads “…new example, will succeed, as every…”
Spelling and punctuation didn’t really get standardized into their modern form until the 19 th century.
Idk, I got that from a transcription of a letter. All but one of the commas look appropriate to me, and even that one looks appropriate if it’s thought of as a spoken declaration.
I’m interested though, I’ll try to find out